2024 Audi A3 Sedan 35 TFSI review

Heading into 2024 Audi’s A3 range has come with an increased price across the line-up, from the entry-level A3 Sportback 35 TFSI, right through to its range-topping RS3 Sedan. 

But even with a price increase and a features update to boot, the 2024 A3 range is just about Audi's most affordable set of models, after only the smaller A1 hatchback (of which a new one hasn’t launched since 2020) and the compact Q2 SUV.

So, with an air of British cynicism, I’m here to ask: what’s the catch?

The A3 range starts at $50,600 with the hatchback variant, but I’m in the A3 Sedan 35 TFSI priced at $53,100 plus on-road costs. Heck, this makes it more affordable than the 2023 Hyundai Sonata and 2023 Honda Accord: both well-revered cars by the Drive team, but neither boasting the prestige that an Audi badge has.  

My test model came in Ibis White (I don’t think Audi were thinking of the friendly Australian Bin Chicken when they named this colour), which is one of the two solid colours available. Metallic paint finishes are more varied and come at an extra cost, which is determined based on which colour you pick.

The car also comes with 18-inch alloy wheels, and my model came with the additional Comfort Package, which includes four-way electric lumbar support, electric and heated front seats, and electric, heated and folding exterior mirrors. On the one hand, I know the price of the A3 is impressive and means some cost-cutting exercises somewhere, but on the other, I would probably expect some of these things as standard from a luxury brand.

The sedan has a sleek design that feels typical of Audi, with premium LED lights on both the front and rear of the car, made available even on the entry-level model. The grille reaches all the way down to the fascia, and the car is dotted with black features such as the wing mirrors, which break up the white design and give the whole aesthetic a slightly more premium quality. The panoramic sunroof, also an optional extra, manages to black out three quarters of the roof.  

There are no exposed exhausts on the car, which I personally like, although I know some may prefer the authenticity and sportiness of an old-fashioned exposed exhaust.    

In terms of competitors, well let’s start with the obvious: what do BMW and Mercedes-Benz offer? The BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe starts at $56,900 before on-road costs. At $61,900, the starting price of the Mercedes-Benz A200 is nearly $10K more expensive than the A3, but it does came laden with a heap more features to start with than the Audi and the BMW, so you would have to consider what your non-negotiable extras are before making a final cost comparison. 

Then there is another highly regarded sedan that doesn’t have the same luxury brand name attached as an Audi, though is part of the same family. The 2023 Skoda Octavia won the 2023 Drive Car of the Year’s Best Medium-To-Large Car, and more broadly, the Octavia hasn’t received a score less than an 8.0 out of 10 in reviews since 2017. The 2024 Skoda Octavia 110TSI Style, which is the approximate counterpart of the A3 35 TFSI that I'm driving, starts at $43,990 drive-away.

Press the smart entry keyfob (available at every level) and you're inside the car. For a sedan, it feels pretty spacious upon first glance, and no doubt aided by the panoramic sunroof. 

The seats are electric, which is an extra that comes as part of the Comfort Package. They come in a black leather and, as I've come to expect with Audi, are comfy even on long journeys.

The dashboard is a combination of mottled black (faux) leather which felt swish, and then hard plastics in a gunmetal grey that unfortunately left the interior feeling a little unrefined for me. 

Sitting in the driver’s seat, the leather steering wheel is slim and nimble, which makes it feel a bit sporty. It's manually adjustable with stalk stems to control the indicators and windscreen wipers.

There are also buttons on the wheel that allow for voice control, volume control and more. The 10.25-inch driver's instrument display can also be controlled from the steering wheel. Known as the Virtual Cockpit, all the available views feature perfectly clear graphics and helpful information.

To the driver’s left is the central console covered in a shiny plastic that again dilutes the high quality of the finish for me. Physical buttons can be used to control the air conditioning and heated seats (again only a perk with the Comfort Package), and below that is a wireless phone charger and two USB-C points.

I detail connectivity further down in this review, but I will call out that my phone got exceptionally hot in the charging dock – ironically to the point where it was too hot to charge any longer. 

There’s a toggle-style gear shifter on the central console. I prefer an old-school gearstick, but I’ll take a toggle over gear shifter buttons. There are also audio controls on the central console, which are on the passenger’s side.

They’d certainly be too distracting for a driver to use, and I’m left thinking they’re a bit redundant, but I guess it means the passenger can have some fun with the audio.

There are two decent-sized cupholders – enough for a large keep cup – and a spot to hold keys so that they don’t have to jangle around in another empty spot. While the centre console storage isn’t particularly big, it doubles up as an adjustable armrest, which is useful.  

Leg room is adequate in both the front and back. I’m 171cm and found I had plenty of leg space when I was in the driver's seat, but was a little more compromised on the passenger's side when my son’s rear-facing car seat was plugged in behind me (on that note, there are ISOFIX attachments on both the outer rear seats). Typical of any sedan, there isn’t heaps of head space, and this was naturally felt more keenly in the second row with the sloping roof, but the A3 is marginally taller than its BMW and Mercedes-Benz rivals so it has the edge on headspace there. 

The amenities in the second row include two USB-C ports and two cupholders in the middle seat, as well as small door bins and map-holders. Perhaps it was being in the smaller second row, but I did feel very aware of the amount of plastic used on the interior in the back. Once again, I’m reminded that even though this is a luxury car, certain sacrifices on quality have been made to accommodate that price point. 

Finally the boot. At 425 litres, it’s equal to or bigger than all of the A3’s premium Euro rival like the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe (425L) and Mercedes-Benz A-Class sedan (395L). It’s probably not the ideal size (or shape) if you’re lugging a hefty pram in and out of the boot on a daily basis like I am, but for the segment it’s decent. 

The A3 Sedan comes with a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system that supports both wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. While wired connectivity worked fine for me, I did try wireless connectivity as that is always my preference. After a couple of days of working perfectly smoothly, the connection randomly dropped and I was not able to connect wirelessly again for the rest of my time in the car.

To be transparent, I reached out to the Audi team to find out whether this is a common occurrence for A3 drivers and I haven't heard back at the time of writing this review. So there is every possibility it was just a glitch with my test model, but I will update the article with Audi's response. 

While my wireless connectivity was down, I was able to rely on Audi Connect Plus to keep me connected to my car via my phone. I used Connect Plus to punch in my route details and, when I took a longer drive, I used the app to check the weather at my destination. Nothing groundbreaking there, but using the system to locate not only the nearest petrol station but also the petrol station that provided the cheapest petrol for the A3, was pretty darn useful.

Fortunately one service I didn't have to rely on and hope to never have to, is Connect Plus' capability to locate your Audi and connect you with Emergency Services in the case of a serious incident. Certainly not something I wish on anyone but comforting to know it's there.

The Audi A3 was awarded a full five-star safety rating back in 2020, which expires only two years from now in 2026. Note as well that this rating only applies to front-wheel-drive models. 

The car was awarded 89 per cent for adult occupant protection, 81 per cent for child occupant protection, 68 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 73 per cent for safety assist systems. 

The car comes with seven airbags in total: front airbags for the driver and passenger, side airbags for the front seats, a centre airbag, and head-level curtain airbag for the front and rear. 

Audi-heads likely already know the brand's famous motto Vorsprung durch Technik – progress through technology. With that in mind, my expectations for the safety technology in this 2024 model are high.

As standard, Audi has park assist, a rear-view camera, adaptive cruise control, lane-change assist and rear cross-traffic alert. Autonomous emergency braking and pedestrian and cyclist detection are also included. A 360-degree camera is available as optional equipment, but only on the more expensive A3 40 TFSI and S3 models, not on the entry-grade 35 TFSI. 

All the safety features that the car did come with were equal parts non-intrusive and very practical. Rain-sensing wipers were useful during a couple of classic Sydney downpours, and come rain or shine, parking assist was always a help with a crisp and clear camera to boot. 

And if safety warnings are not your cup of tea, then you can turn them off via the infotainment system. 

The Audi A3 is covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty guarantee and servicing intervals once every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.  

Audi Genuine Care Plans are service plans of varying lengths. A five-year service plan for the A3 costs $2520, which comes with various inclusions reflective of the age of the car. The cost of an equivalent-length plan for the S3 is just a snip more expensive at $2820, and the RS3 is considerably dearer at $4010. 

BMW's five-year servicing package for the 2 Series by comparison is a touch less at $2210, while Mercedes's offer over the same time period for the A-Class range is over $5000 – yikes.

Comprehensive insurance came to $1956 based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance quotes will vary depending on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances. For what it's worth, there’s barely a hair between the A3 Sportback and the Sedan when it comes to insurance – using the same details, the Sportback costs $1936 annually. 

When it comes to other competitors, however, there is more of a marked difference. 

The BMW 218i Gran Coupe, for example, is a whole $570 more expensive annually to insure at $2560, while the Mercedes A-Class A200 is $1814 – $142 a year less.

After throwing a lot of numbers out there, put simply: Audi sits comfortably in the middle of both its major competitors to both service and insure. Mercedes's A200 is the most expensive car of the three compared to service but the most inexpensive to insure. Flip that on its head for BMW's 2 Series, which is the cheapest to service (though Audi is not far off) but returns the most expensive insurance quote.

Audi claims a fuel consumption figure of 4.9 litres per 100 kilometres. In reality, I found I wasn’t too far off, with a reading of 5.9L/100km, which I think is very respectable. For context, I had my test model for six days. I did a couple of big freeway drives over the weekend and I do 35km both ways on the highway as part of my daily commute. Other than that, I was doing short daily drives around my suburb.

Using the same competitors as I did at the start of this article (the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe, the Mercedes A200, it looks as though the 2024 Audi A3 35 TFSI is returning the most fuel-efficient reading. 

The 1.5-litre engine in the 35 TFSI features 48V mild hybrid technology, which could account for this efficiency. 

Unlike the rest of the range, the A3 35 TFSI variant has a 50-litre fuel tank. The other variants all have a 55-litre capacity. 

The Audi A3 I’m driving has a 1.5-litre turbo four-cylinder engine with 110kW of power and 250Nm of torque, so I wasn’t expecting a hugely impressive power output from this car. The Audi A3 40 TFSI is a 2.0-litre engine with 140kW/320Nm if you’re looking for something a bit more powerful from the off (and significantly more expensive at $60,200 drive-away). 

But my reservations around the power were somewhat unfounded. I will start with the one quibble I had, which was that the car seemed to struggle on hills or slight inclines: there was a lot of juddering when I tried to accelerate. While dual-clutch transmissions have come a long way, there's still some areas they could improve.

Hill starts aside, mostly the car felt very agile. It feels quick but never out of control thanks to light but very accurate steering. It's just as well that the handling is smooth given the car only comes with 18-inch wheels; there is no option for larger wheels.

On highways and freeways the car was at its best, fast and perfectly nimble when I needed to slip between lanes. When I needed to go slower, however, tootling around my suburb the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission is neatly fast-shifting and feels refined. 

As expected in a sedan, you’re sitting low to the ground, so while you can hear the lumps and bumps beneath you, I will say you don’t feel them too noticeably. Visibility out of the front of the car is good, whereas, and again this is just a by-product of driving a sedan, the sloping roof naturally compromises rear visibility a wee bit. Fortunately that rear-view camera works a treat. 

At first glance, what’s not to love? A sleek design with an Audi badge but a price tag in line with more mass-market brands. 

So far, so good, but of course there are a couple of catches. Firstly, how much grunt do you want from your car? My own conclusion was that this A3 still had some impressive chutzpah behind it despite its smaller engine and power output. But for some, a luxury car is synonymous with power. If you're looking for a little more oomph, the 2.0-litre Audi A3 40 TFSI might be worth a test drive.

Then there are the finishing touches in the interior. I can't fault the quality of the exterior, but inside the car feels a little heavy on the plastics. Again, maybe not a big deal for some, but for so many the appeal of a luxury car is in the craftsmanship.  

Finally, before you make any decisions, I think it is important to consider what features are non-negotiable in your next vehicle. This A3 may come with a prestige badge and a reasonable price tag, but many items that come as standard in competitors are costly add-ons here.

Having said all that, the exterior looks slick, the safety features are second to none, and the size – both interior and boot – are pretty darn good for a sedan. Plus there's the glaringly obvious – the cost at face value.

If you're not going to opt in for any additional features that might bump up the final price, then you can't argue with a $53K Audi that's proven relatively inexpensive to run, service and insure compared to its nearest competitors.

Along with the Audi A3 Sedan 35 TFSI that's been given an equipment upgrade for 2024, the A3 hatchback has also had an update for 2024 (and remains the most inexpensive of the pack). Both hit the mark when it comes to prestige motoring, but if you're looking for more performance the all-wheel drive A3 40 TFSI could also appeal, albeit at the next rung up the price ladder.

Meanwhile, the two A3 variants are very much available, both online and at local dealerships – find a local dealer stocking your preferred model here. My recommendation would be to test-drive a couple of competitors alongside the A3, and the BMW 2 Series and Mercedes-Benz A200 would always be my go-to comparisons.

You can also find a range of Audi vehicles listed for sale at Drive.com.au/cars-for-sale.

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