03:53AM - 14.10.'14
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News Source: autoblog.com
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What kind of watch do you wear? Especially today, when wearing a wristwatch is practically obviated by the near-ubiquitous use of cellphones, the timepiece found on one's arm makes a statement about how people perceive themselves. A sport watch from Nike or Garmin would seem to indicate enthusiasm for athletic pursuit. Inexpensive fashion statements from Nixon or Nooka could signify a love of high design. Splashing out on a true luxury timepiece from Rolex, Bell & Ross or Breitling serves as a sort of human plumage display to connote, "I have thousands of dollars – at least – of disposable income." Any yet, every one of those mechanized bracelets is less functional than the iPhone or Galaxy in your front pocket. A similar lesson can be seen in the world of luxury cars – and it's especially poignant in the hot entry-level premium segment that Audi's A3 has made its home. Looked at under the harsh lens of the non-premium car market, there are clearly vehicles that offer more – or at least equal – in terms of performance and feature-set than does the $29,900-base A3. That said, just as that vintage Omega Seamaster says something on your wrist that that admittedly more versatile Casio G-Shock does not, for some of us, piloting the sleekly designed Audi point-of-entry makes a kind of sense that the larger, more powerful and equally surefooted Subaru Legacy 3.6R, for example, does not. For a lot of you, the introduction above is Marketing 101 – so why do I bring it up? I mention it because, in response to our First Drive of the A3, a ton of you commented along the lines of "not enough car for the money" or "why wouldn't I just buy a Jetta?" Those are fair points in their own way, but they really serve to underscore that for the A3 – or the Mercedes-Benz CLA, or the Acura ILX, etc. – to really 'make sense,' you have to care about the brand. And it shouldn't surprise you to learn that a lot of people do. Even as early as this summer Audi PR was busy typing up press releases to trumpet the company's staggering growth, with a good portion of that the attraction of new buyers by way of the A3. Mercedes-Benz has painted a similar story with the CLA, so it's clear that there's some merit to this recipe of: fresh looks, premium positioning and a starting price around thirty grand. For me, that formula becomes a lot easier to understand if the sheetmetal wrapper is irresistible, or at least quite unique. Before I was loaned the A3, I actually assumed that the CLA had a big leg up in that regard. This new A3 has a tidy design, to be sure, but for me it's not nearly as evocative or compelling as that of its front-driver rival from Benz. As I showed the small Audi off to friends around Ann Arbor, MI, though, and talked with more than a handful of interested strangers about the car, the overwhelming feedback I got was that the A3 was, to paraphrase, "gorgeous." That the A3 wears the unmistakable hallmarks of its more expensive brand-mates is probably the key here. Shield grille (remember when that was controversial?), sharp character lines along the body, liberal use of LED lighting elements, and an aggressive wheel-height-to-bodyside ratio all speak volumes. Again, I consider the A3 to be among the most conservative designs from the company in the last few years, but my 30-something-professional peer group apparently can't get enough of it. You could almost convince me that the A3 exterior and interior were designed by the same individual, as that clean, unfussy (and vaguely boring) character is found in the cabin as well. Audi has really worked to consolidate control of its systems and clean up its user interfaces in the process. On the positive side of that, I found that functionality offered by this iteration of its MultiMedia Interface infotainment system is very high, and the controls simple to understand. Notably, the touchpad on the top of the central control dial is remarkably clever at understanding inputs, and all menus are both easy to read and to navigate. The central display pops out of the dash in a way that a few of you have taken issue with in other cars, but the fact that it can be stowed flush into the dashtop should help assuage that peccadillo. Harder to fix is the expanse of black plastic from the driver's eyes forward – those not interested in ultra minimal interior design might be tempted to call this sleek space "boring" or worse. |
