For the last 3 months I have been working in Germany and have had an Audi A3 2.0 TDi CR DSG as my Hire car, so far spending 10 weeks in it (taking 2 weeks out in a diesel SMART Cabrio, which was fun).

I have owned the following so am drawing on my experiences from these in this micro review.

Fabia vRS

Octavia vRS 2.0TFSi

Octavia PD140 DSG

vRoomster

Why do it when it's an A3? well I can see this being a popular choice of Engine / Gearbox both in the new Superb and Facelifted Octavia.

First impressions on the A3 are really positive, you can see where the money goes when you look at a Skoda and similarly spec'd Audi, the interior is a big step up from the interior on any of my previous Skoda's, no silver painted trim, but proper brushed aluminium, but this is born out by the extra cost.

On to business

The 2.0 CR Engine is in my opinion the best diesel engined car I have driven from VAG yet. I am a petrol head, and yes I have owned, do own a diesel, but I really would take a petrol over a diesel if it was not for the mileage I tend to cover.

What makes it so good? it just feels well engineered, the PD140 and the current PD105 clatter away on start up, for a split second the CR clatters then settles into a gentle "thrum". On the A3 the throttle response is instantaneous and long cruises have been sublimely quiet and comfortable (In an Audible sense)

I picked it up from the airport car park in Bremen last night, out onto the autobahn and on the unrestricted sections of the A1 had the cruise set to 200kph (120MPH) and apart from the odd crash from the S-Line suspension it settled down and dispatched the 70 ish miles of Autobahn without breaking a sweat or without deafening me.

the engine seems to lack a tiny amount of the "whack" that the PD engines have, but it's not a bad thing, the CR is beautifully smooth, responsive and really linear in it's power delivery. In some ways, because of the reduction in the amount of diesel clatter and the way it delivers it's power, it "feels" similar to driving a V6 petrol motor, and is just missing the top couple of thousand RPM.

the DSG box is as good as ever, I was quite a fan of the DSG box on my previous Octy, but hated the PD140 motor it was mated to. I used to have some minor criticism about the box getting "confused" if you coasted down or had "on the gas / off the gas" driving. I have driven this car now for almost 2000Km and this seems to be greatly reduced, maybe it's because it's Audi, maybe it's a software update? but the gearbox has been virtually perfect.

I am doing a mixture of Autoahn work and city centre driving through Hamburg and the DSG has been fantastic, especially in the heavy city traffic. When I first got the car on extended hire, I noticed the flappy paddles and was like a kid at Christmas. I have used them maybe half a dozen times, and if they cost extra, I don't think I would bother............

So why not bother with flappy paddles? well, the DSG box does a good enough job in normal or sport mode, and the paddles themselves on the A3 are very fiddly. It's easy to hit the screen washer or headlight flash / cruise stalk unless you actually get your finger's in position and ready for some flappy paddle madness. On a petrol, with the extra rev range, they could be fun, on the CR, imho, the money could be better spent elsewhere.

So, it's only a micro review, nothing major, but thought I would post up as it may be of use to someone.

In summary the CR170 motor is, for a diesel motor, an absolute peach, and mated to the DSG gearbox gives a very smooth package, perfect for motorway cruising, perfect for city traffic. It's torquey, feels powerful and seems to hold that power well into the upper reaches of it's rev range. It's quiet and refined when compared to the PD 105 / 130 / 140 engines I have owned in previous cars and is (if diesel prices were "sensible") something that will suit both the Superb 2 and the Octavia facelift perfectly imho.

I need to go and lie down now, because I feel slightly strange after praising a diesel, but I have lived with this one for almost 3 months straight, and I would be more than happy to own it

Edited 10 December, 200817 yr by Fluffmeister

I need to go and lie down now, because I feel slightly strange after praising a diesel, but I have lived with this one for almost 3 months straight, and I would be more than happy to own it

Nice little report and a nice car. Audi do the best quality interiors at present and I think the A3 is a nice shape.

Have you got any fuel consumption figures?

Good review, a resident hack

Nice little report and a nice car. Audi do the best quality interiors at present and I think the A3 is a nice shape.

Have you got any fuel consumption figures?

Well, I have not really been driving with economy in mind, but I just checked Trip 2 and the average consumption over the last 1900KM is 7.8l / 100KM

I will let you do the maths John

Nice review Tony. Certainly fancy the CR170 in something next

I might be a bit rusty, but is that about 36MPG then?

Steve

Well, I have not really been driving with economy in mind, but I just checked Trip 2 and the average consumption over the last 1900KM is 7.8l / 100KM

I will let you do the maths John

Thankfully, someone cleverer than me provides an on-line convertor (Fuel consumption Converter.)

So that works out at 36.22 mpg. I see what what you mean when you say you've not really being driving with economy in mind .

Still if someone else is paying, it'd be rude not to assess it's performance envelope and report back to us!!

Well to be fair to the car, that is with 200 miles per week done at around 100 - 120MPH on the A1 (I travel at quiet times to maximise the fun) and then the rest is in stop start city traffic. When you consider the high speed cruising it's not a bad figure for MPG at all.

Here's a few bad iPhone pics of the beastie, it's a lovely car and I am going to be sorry to give it back, it's made me even more envious of Stu and his S3 ....... at least I have the vRoomster

The vroomster is fettled isnt it so i cant imagine the performance is too much different between these two.