UPDATED 03-08-2005

[WARNING THIS IS A VERY LONG PAGE]

NEWS: The 2005 TFSI is here. I've seen one. Only one !

And there's a prototype. See here !

Audi A3 1.8T 193HP

I am not a great fan of driving on the edge.
But it's nice to have a car that allows you to do a fly by, every now and then.
Utterly fun for me, is climbing on a motorway, specially while turning.

Some "calças" I "gave" to other Portuguese drivers after they acted like kings of the road.
 

• A3 TDI 130HP, on IC117 (Cabos d'Ávila) uphill towards Alfragide.
  My car is so much faster J

• A8 2.8, in A1, after IP6 junction to Abrantes, uphill towards Fátima.
  Those big heavy cars...

• BMW 325tds,, on A1, after IP6 junction, uphill up towards Fátima.
  Once a diesel...

• Mercedes Class E, on IC16 after leaving IC19, uphill towards Sintra.
  It was tough!

• BMW X5, after leaving A2, uphill Serra de Grandola towards Sines.
  You won't believe,the guy suddenly went BOOM and pulled over with a lot of smoke J

• Ibiza GT TDI, in A8, after the portagens in Lisboa, uphill towards the Shell station
  Bye bye TDI

• Another new Ibiza GT TDI in A1, near Aveiras de Cima, uphill, downhill and full speed ahead. Over 240Km/h with A/C on.

• Newest BMW 320d. That shit is fast...but not enough. A1, Fatima uphill. Bye bye BMW !

• Ibiza TDI, on IC16 after leaving IC19, uphill towards Sintra. Bye bye ;-)

• BMW 325i Cabriolet, on A8 near Óbidos. Bye bye at 230kph.

• BMW 320 td compact, in A2, from Alcacer until Lisboa. My full acceleration is so much faster, and I had +persons in the car.

• Oct.2004: Honda ? Coupe ? (Which car was that ? looked very low, 2+2 I think), on IC16, after leaving IC19, uphill towards Sintra. I went full-power after he did, and still I got to the top always gaining on him, in the end the looser breaked and I flew past him at >180 :)

• Time to relax. Let them pass and crash ahead. Actually I saw one BMW 5xx crash 60 seconds after cruising past me with heavy rain. Also I saw a CBR crash 10 seconds after full throttling on a red-green transition. I almost lowered my window and yelled "Bem Feito!". Speed is for circuits.
   

Some "calças" I "got" from other Portuguese drivers while I thought I was the king of the road

• S3 in A1, Fatima downhill
  Scary

• Seat Toledo in A1 near Pombal
  Was this a 1.8T 180HP?? It was night, no traffic, and he came so fast, no can do!

• A6 Avant 2.7T in A1, Carregado
  Twin turbo....

• Porsche in A8 uphill near Óbidos.

I'm still waiting for a climbing match with a Golf or Leon TDI 150HP or Ibiza Cupra. That should  be fun.

INDEX

Discussion
Pictures of my A3
Pictures of the 2003 A3
Pictures of S3 
Pictures of other modified A3 
 

Sorry, your browser doesn't support Java(tm).

AUDI movies (S6, allroad, quattro, S3, etc, etc)

S3 going around  (MPEG)
Elvis (MOV)
Audi_Quattro_Snowman (MOV)
chase_scaled_raw_dsl_sor.mov (MOV)
A6_waterski_1.avi (AVI)
allroad_river.avi (AVI)
Audi_quattro_no_tyres.avi (AVI)
Quatrro_matchbox.avi (AVI)
Quatrro_banned.avi (AVI)
RS6-VOX.avi (AVI)
S3_chapmans.avi (AVI)
S6_dog1.avi (AVI)
Tiptronic.avi (AVI)

(see MPEG,AVI movies with www.bsplayer.org and MOV movies with www.quicktime.com)
 

Before I go down on + A3 blabla, take a good GOOD look at the 2002 RS6
(courtesy of Audiworld)

Wanna see one ? Go to Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa in Benfica, Lisboa. One of the top guys there has one parked right in front of the main entrance.

My car is good, except for a "glitch": a defective Turbo replaced at 5000Km, no questions asked !
My bad luck is a known curse from the past.
The car costed 33.000 EUR in Portugal. An excessive price. Shame on the Portuguese law, which does not tax the rich, instead taxes everyone that cannot fake the IRS and wants a decent car. Outrageous!

The real question about this purchase was wether I should have gotten the 180HP version, or the S3 with 210 HP.
Well, my answer is simple: 

Abt

This is the name of the most famous Audi A3 sport-modifier, named after Hans-Jürgen and Christian Abt, DTM racers.

So, take my A3, add an Abt-ECU and a K&N filter, the total costing about 2.000 EUR.

What do you get ? A nearly 200HP machine, which beats the 180 HP A3, the 180HP TT, and goes just an inch behind the S3. And of course, beats every diesel in the market (yes, even the Toledo, Leon and Golf TDI) except may be the BMW 330d, which is btw owned by the Portuguese Police as chaser!

So you see, my car is a bargain ;-) well may be not quite.

A3 FIRST GENERATION ('96-'00)

Model	cc [cm3]	Power [kW(PS or HP)/rpm]	Binary or Torque [Nm/rpm]	weight [kg]	Speed [km/h]	Accel 0-100 [s]	Consumption [l/100km]	1 9 9 6	1 9 9 7	1 9 9 8	1 9 9 9	2 0 0 0
A3 1.6	1595	74(101)/5600	145/3800	1065	188	11.0	7.6
A3 1.6 5d	1595	74(101)/5600	145/3800	1065	188	11.0	7.6
A3 1.8	1781	92(125)/6000	170/4200	1115	202	10.1	8.4
A3 1.8 5d	1781	92(125)/6000	170/4200	1115	202	10.1	8.4
A3 1.8 T	1781	110(150)/5700	210/1750-4600	1120	217	8.1	7.8
A3 1.8 T 5d	1781	110(150)/5700	210/1750-4600	1120	217	8.1	7.8
A3 1.9 TDI	1896	66(90)/3750	202/1900	1145	181	12.6	4.9
A3 1.9 TDI 5d	1896	66(90)/3750	202/1900	1145	181	12.6	4.9
A3 1.9 TDI	1896	81(110)/4150	235/1900	1155	194	10.5	4.9
A3 1.9 TDI 5d	1896	81(110)/4150	235/1900	1155	194	10.5	4.9
A3 1.8 T Q	1781	110(150)/5700	210/1750-4600	1290	215	8.2	8.6
A3 1.8 T	1781	132(180)/5500	235/1950-5000	1180	228	8.2	7.8
A3 1.8 T Q	1781	132(180)/5500	235/1950-5000	1300	226	8.2	8.9
S3	1781	154(210)/5800	270/2100-5000	1375	238	6.8	7.8

A3 SECOND GENERATION ('00-'03)

Model	cc [cm3]	Power [kW(PS or HP)/rpm]	Binary or Torque [Nm/rpm]	weight [kg]	Speed [km/h]	Accel 0-100 [s]	Consumption [l/100km]	2 0 0 0	2 0 0 1
A3 1.6	1595	75(102)/5600	148/3800	1090	189	10.9	6.9
A3 1.8	1781	92(125)/6000	170/3500-4400	1160	202	9.7	7.8
A3 1.8 T	1781	110(150)/5700	210/1750-4600	1175	217	8.2	7.8
A3 1.8 T (180HP)	1781	132(150)/5500	235/1950-5000	1180	228	7.6	7.8
A3 1.9 TDI	1896	74(100)/4000	240/1800-2400	1185	181	12.4	4.9
A3 1.9 TDI quattro	1896	96(130)/4000	310/1900	?	205	?	?
A3 1.9 TDI	1896	96(130)/4000	310/1900	1200	205	9.2	5.1
A3 1.8 T quattro	1781	110(150)/5700	210/1750-4600	1290	215	8.2	8.7
A3 1.8 T (180HP) quattro	1781	132(180)/5500	235/1950-5000	1305	226	7.5	9.4
A3 1.9 TDI quattro	1896	96(130)/4000	310/1900	1320	203	9.1	6.0
S3	1781	165(225)/5900	280/2200-5500	1375	243	6.8	7.8

A3 THIRD GENERATION ('03-)

Model	cc [cm3]	Power [kW(PS or HP)/rpm]	Binary or Torque [Nm/rpm]	weight [kg]	Speed [km/h]	Accel 0-100 [s]	Consumption [l/100km]	2 0 0 3	2 0 0 4
A3 1.6	1598	102/5600	148/3800	1205	185	11,9
A3 1.6 tiptronic	1598	102/5600	148/3800	1255	183	12,9
A3 1.6 FSI	1598	115/6000	155/4000		196	10,9
A3 1.9 TDI	1896	105/4000	250/1900	1295	187	11,4
A3 2.0 TDI	1968	140/4000	320/1750-2500	1340	207	9,5
A3 2.0 FSI	1984	150/6000	200/3500	1275	211	9,1
A3 2.0 FSI tiptronic	1984	150/6000	200/3500	1305	209	9,5
A3 3.2 quattro	3189	250/6300	320/2500-3000	1495	250	6,5
A3 2.0 TFSI	1984	200/5100	280/1800-5000	1470	234	7,1	my next car? But...GTI
A3 3.2 V6 (2005)	3189	250					no quattro
A3 2.0 TDI (2005)	1984	163					my next car ?
A3 2.5 TDI (2005)	2500	185					low sales
S3 3.2 (2005)	3189	280					nice improv.
RS3 3.2T (2005)	3189	350					uau !

What are the differences between the first and second A3 generations ?

This is my RPM vs Speed curve.

(Speed measured in the A/C display, that is, real computer speed)

*..well, 226kph already reached in A2 on my way to Algarve, in the new path below Grandola, on a weekday with no traffic whatsoever. Nice! 225 measured by electronics! There wasn't much time to look at the revs). Yes, I know it's illegal and dangerous. I know !

Below is what Abt considers the change did to my engine.

In a closer look, one notices that the top HP is achieved with the basis engine only at 5300 RPM. This means,only over 180 Km/h will the Engine shout his guts out. But, this is already too fast, too rotating, too loud and too late.Abt achieves the same HP performance by 3600 rpm. This means A LOT, because this will be about the average highway cruising speed, 130 Km/h. Good.
Another thing you may notice is that the Torque has increased from 210 to 260, but it has not gone to the 300 Nm levels of other modifiers, like MTM, Digitech, etc. Well, what happens is that the tuning is done in such a way that the Horse Power is increased with little increase in pressure inside the engine, unlike others. Example, not for direct comparison, since it's a Diesel: The new Golf TDI 150 HP (effectively more, as it seems) has a binary of 310 Nm, which is monstruous for 1900 Diesel engine. Although this means a very responsive vehicle, it also means that the engine is subjected to high pressure from low revs, which means less duration. It's the same for these "Tech tunings" based solely on binary increase. For all this, I prefer Abt.

I prefer the chipped 150HP.

Take a look at this power and torque versus weight gain comparison:

This describes 150 HP vs higher HP A3 vs chipped 150 HP versions. Noticed, when adding Quattro, performance will be worse, because of the additional 4WD system weight that does not add to uphill performance, "only" stability.
 

You want pictures ? We're getting there. Before, let me tell you about some links:

Abt

ProjektZwo

MTM

Digitec

OK, now for the pictures.

After the Abt tuning, besides 193HP, there a few tiny differences.
Can you notice them ?

I am in love with the latest S3. A few pictures below, 2nd generation model (2001)

Who says older is not beautiful ? This is the S3 first generation 

This is the Abt ailleron. A bit strange isn't it ?

The Abt modifications. A front, rear and side spoilters, different 17" wheels... what else ?

2004 Sportback A3

RS3 Prototype

2003 A3

31.Aug.2003
Audi A3 3.2 quattro Goes On Sale In Germany
 

The other side of the road Video

Low resolution




Early comments on Motor choices

• 2.0TDI 140 HP
  so what ? It is heavier than the previous 1.9TDI 130HP, and it will take a punch of the Leon and Golf 1.9 TDI 150 and.... Bad for a sports looking car. Clearly, CLEARLY, they should have 160 HP with the 2.0 TDI.
   

• 2.0 FSI 150 HP
  How awful, this shit is slower than the 1.8T 150 HP and has less binary. (Binary 200nm !). Ok the fuel consumption is smaller, so is the noise... SO WHAT ? I am waiting to see one passing me uphill.

I am waiting for a 2.0 Turbo Quattro Tiptronic...
2004 ? 2005 ?

And now for the strange less known modifiers. Zender, Projektzwo, MS-Design, and amateurs. Have fun !

I cannot finish this Audi page without referencing the Abt-TT...

Audi prototypes at Petit Le Mans

And the final burst: Le Mans 24 Hours prototype at warp speed.

Ah, not the end. This is even better. JJ Lehto at Laguna Sega. What a turn-on.