Articles
Originally published on Tuesday, 15th January 2013
Drive - Audi A3 Sportback Test Drive
I sent my car to the graveyard earlier this year. It was long overdue, but heart wrenching nonetheless. Seeing your only child being picked up by a crane and hauled away to its fate is never nice…
I have, however, also been shopping around for a replacement. I want a vintage Porsche (too pricey to fix and someone will probably back into me in London). Minis are the right size, but they just don’t suit me. Love Saabs, but my dealership has closed, and sadly, it seems parts are now going to be hard to come by. I’m not a Beemer or a Merc girl (yet) and although I love Land Rovers, I think they’ll only work in my Ibiza house (one day) – I’m picturing a turquoise beat-up exterior and an interior with bucket seats.
But Audis. I’ve been thinking that an Audi might be something I could work with, especially the A3. I like the shape, size, and interior glow. One of my best friends recently bought one (he called me from the dealership and asked if he should buy two, to get a deal for me, too). Alas, he got one and I got none (I’m not spontaneous enough, it seems, when it comes to a large sum of cold, hard cash).
So, when Audi randomly called and asked if someone wanted to come to test the new A3 Sportback, we thought this must be fate. The office immediately said I had to go. Me with all the moto-journos. It would be funny. And they were right.
Now here’s the thing about auto press trips. Before you arrive, the only question asked is: Do you have a driver’s licence? I do. (It also allows me to drive buses, FYI – I worked at a summer camp once.) Fast forward to arriving in Nice, France, and suddenly you realise there is a lot more to it than you initially might have considered.
First: a driving partner. I was going to be driven by someone I had just met, or rather, hadn’t really met yet and definitely didn’t know the name of or what publication he wrote for. All I knew was that he had a camera that strapped onto the top of the car and I had a Mulberry.
I also hadn’t thought about which side of the road we’d be driving in; after all, we were in France. I was fine (Yank/Canuck background), but I’m not sure how thrilled he was.
Then there’s the usual road sign, one-way, U-turn malarkey. The good news was that I didn’t know him – we couldn’t be rude to each other or get into a fight.
It was also a good thing that we were driving a fully loaded ride (the sat nav even had Facebook and Twitter…) with equally sophisticated directions. Assuming we could follow the red line (there were two options, we went with the coastal one), we’d be okay.
An hour later, pretty much on track, we arrived at our hotel in one piece. After a quick lunch, however, it was my turn. I kept joking with my dear partner… “helmets on!” I said. He laughed – kind of. When we went to collect our car, they didn’t have an automatic in. I thought for a moment that I might be spared, but a white automatic Audi soon arrived.
We decided on the mountain route. (Go big or go home, right?) So off we went. High, steep, narrow, and hairy; pretty sure I saw the same route on Top Gear recently (my brother spotted it), a drive they billed as one of the best drives in the world. Scary yes, but great as well.
Some tech notes – the sat nav never failed, the radio was easy to figure out even in French (there were genres listed beside each station), the sport gear really did give extra pep, and the lights were always on, which is nice. The wheel was also remarkably easy to turn, which is something I haven’t had in ages.
Apart from a toll that we weren’t prepared for (Euros?) and a berating from a local after we stopped to take pics, we did a pretty good job. When we got back, we realised it could have been a lot worse. Others had tales of photo ‘taxes’, police, and one-way roads….
We went from sunny coasts in Nice (must go back) to mountains in Monaco in less than 8 hours. Partner and I did well.
The Audi A3 Sportback is available from March. Prices starting from £19,825.
www.audi.co.uk
Want to ask the pros some questions? Head to their Audi City gallery (74-76 Piccadilly) where you can digitally see colour combos and other models and options.
