A3 Versus Volvo C30? No.

I just test drove a C30 with package 1 (in C30 parlance, that means the less sporty suspension, wheels and tires). Oh my god, if you're not suicidal now, just drive the C30. You will be. It seems like the C30 was intensionally put together to cause sensory death. Everything about it (except the exterior rear end) moans of depression. Throttle response is soft. Exhaust note sounds like a dying dog. Chassis communication seems intentionally designed to send you the wrong signals. Steering feedback is like that of a Chevrolet Cavalier from the 1980's. Oh and the sometimes lauded interior feels like a sensory deprivation penalty-box (to me anyway). Sweden has the world's highest suicide rate. Do their cars cause this or do suicidal people design their cars?

I test drove the C30 before I bought my A3.  It was okay, but yeah feels very removed from the road...like an Buick.  

The numbers say the C30 is faster than A3 2.0  It didn't feel that way to me.  I liked the seats in the Volvo, but that's about it.  Oh yea and the C30 is several thousand cheaper. 
 
 

You all might find it interesting what the C30 group said about the A3
http://www.c30world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1671&highlight=Audi+A3
 
ps It was me who started this thread.
 

hmmm interesting it seems like if it werent for crapy sales experiance about 60% of them would have gone with the A3

quote:

ORIGINAL: Swaynest

hmmm interesting it seems like if it werent for crapy sales experiance about 60% of them would have gone with the A3

 
I'm beginning to wonder if poor dealership practices are engrained in Audi dealer cullture.  There seems to be more problems in sales with Audi than any other dealership, period...let alone just premium brands.  Does Audi WANT their dealerships to perform so poorly?

C30 backend reminds me of those pickup trucks with the door that goes down into the tailgate.  Hideous in my opinion.  Plus Volvo has always seemed more like a womans car to me, but that could just be cause my mom and gf were always saying they wanted one.

WOW! You think Audi USA should have someone checking threads like this. Almost all of them had crappy dealer expreiances. The funny part about that is if you go back and read some of our threads our love of the A3 has us deal with that. It sounds like its becoming a bad problem with Audi and horrible dealership service. And hence it used to be the standard.

And don't you love it when the sales and service reps pressure you into answering "excellent" to all the questions on the surveys? I guess I was lucky to have a good experience at the dealership.

Ditto for dealership experience here in Taiwan.

Extremely nice. Extremely incompetent. You literally have to research the problem and then show them the solution. And they completely rip you off on the options pricing. One example...add $2500US if you want Open Sky. $2000 for bi-xenon.

That is all really interesting about the Audi dealerships.  That almost completely turned me away from Audi's during my initial search session when seeking to purchase a car back in 2006.  In a way, it was good that the only Audi dealership in the Baltimore metro area was not the on located north of the beltway only five minutes from my place of employment.  I had originally experienced that fine dealership experience to the point that it gave the term "letting the car sell itself" a whole new meaning.  Fortunately, there was another dealership west of the city which was outstanding.  From the moment I walked in the first time to when I came back and closed the deal.  There service department is great.  It's like night and day, when comparing those two dealerships.  When Audi USA called me about my purchasing experience - I let them know about how pleased I was about the dealership I had purchase the A3 from.  I also let them know about the dealership I had not purchased an A3 from.  It's truly unfortunate that the car is being judged by the actions of a bunch of boneheads working (or not working) at certain dealerships. 
 

I would take what some of them say about performance with a a grain of salt. One of them saying a C30 is faster and handles better than an STi....

I being that I own and A3 and an STi and test drove a C30 I can say that the C30 is slightly faster than an A3 2.0T but does not handle nearly as well, the steering is also numb and the brakes are not really as good with the C30.

As far as the STi is concerned they should not compare it to either the A3 or C30.