What are your dislikes re: the A3? - Page 3

Let's be happy it's not that purplish-blue lighting as seen in Volkswagen vehicles! The red is merely OK and I think a gentle green would be superior. Red warning indicators would contrast nicely against green.

I agree.   I much prefer the red illumination and I find it much nicer on long drives at night.   It messes with your night vision much less.

personally i love the red lighting. Its one of Audi's trademarks. I think a 'gentle green' would resemble that older indiglo of honda's past...Would definately turn me off of the car and i would have bought something else. I personally like the VW lighting scheme, but i've never driven one so I dont know if i'd still like it behind the wheel.

I have to say that I took a real liking to the car, I really enjoy it but there are some things that I also wished Audi would have done differently.

Trip Computer – There are 2 sets but you cannot have one in km and one in miles, both have to be the same. I do not want to have to convert if they have both inside, I still think in liters/100km but when I talk to Americans I have to go to miles/gallons. Since everything is inside, why can’t it do both?
Back Climate Control – We do have a dual climate control but not climate control in the back???? Tsk tsk tsk, the GTI has that. Personally, I do not really care for left and right, and maybe the manual does say how to do this but I want to control both sides at once, is there a way? I hate to read manuals.
AC – the AC does not work very well and living in Florida it does get hot.
Armrest - The armrest is a real pain and trying to use the hand brake in order to start uphill was not fun. I have the armrest all the way back but it kind of defeats the purpose of the armrest.
Floor mats – I used to hate them, now I just despise them. They do not look the part as far as I am concerned.
MT – yes I love my MT but I would have preferred a shorter shift.
 
Everything else can be made better but those should be dealt at the factory level.
 
I love my A3 and I am looking forward to some great time together!!!

quote:

ORIGINAL: olivier

"...AC – the AC does not work very well and living in Florida it does get hot..."

Do you have the OpenSky system or a traditional closed roof? I'm wondering if having that option is something to be avoided in warm-weather states?

Olivier - push and hold the auto button for about 3 seconds - it will re-synchronize the left and right temp controls.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Blue Jays

quote:

ORIGINAL: olivier

"...AC – the AC does not work very well and living in Florida it does get hot..."

Do you have the OpenSky system or a traditional closed roof? I'm wondering if having that option is something to be avoided in warm-weather states?

I was wandering myself and I believe you touch on something. I do not have the Open Sky. I mentioned this to my boss who has the S6 with a roof and he tells me that he gets a breeze from the warm air going to the roof even before he turns on the AC. One of my colleage with an Allroad with no roof mentioned that his AC does not work well.
 
It would be good to do a poll on this. I have to say that we had company and after a 20 minute drive with a toal of 3 people in the car, the car was just cool. Not very impressed.

quote:

ORIGINAL: hesaputz

Olivier - push and hold the auto button for about 3 seconds - it will re-synchronize the left and right temp controls.

Thanks!!! I knew you guys were faster than me reading the manual............

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the A3 brakes. They are fine for tooling around town, but in sporting driving (are there perhaps a few of us who drive our A3s vigorously?) they are scary weak with wimpy stopping power. First time I tried howling down the Sunset blvd twisties, my foot almost went through the floor trying to haul my car down from 70 as I approached a bend.
 
Other than that, the Bose stereo stinks.... all midrange, no decent bass or treble. I don't know why anyone puts any faith in Bose as a quality audio brand. Probably because their Wave radio is so popular. Would be interested to hear Audi's Bang & Olufsen in the R8. LA Times' Pultitzer-winning auto critic Dan Neil recently had a writeup on the R8. Not much about the performance of the car...all about the stereo. Hmmmm.

Some people mentioned the idle sound being loud, it is on the louder side but no big deal, my beef is when I start the car, it sounds like a diesel, am I the only one? Is there something wrong with the car? With me? Quite possibly on the last, I hope the rest is OK…
 
About the Bose system, I cannot say that I am thrilled by it, actually, it was a little downer but it works and I tried all the way up with a little classic – Danzig Mother – with the windows down and no sound distortion, it was still clear. Not the best sound ever, just decent. It does not give me chills or thrills for an upgraded system for sure, but it does the job I guess. Not a great connoisseur and personally, I have the volume way down or turn it off altogether when I drive a little faster than I should [up to the speed limit of course], I like to hear the engine and do enjoy the little ‘hiss’ sound, even though I may have to drive with the windows down which slows me down… This particular sound does give me a lot of pleasure, music to my ears!!!

Brakes are mentioned pretty frequently if you search the archives. They were my biggest complaint about the car. You can improve them considerably with;
 
Carbotech bobcat or Akebono ceramic pads
Tyrolsport solid front bushings
a good bleeding
 
they aren't Porsche quality, but this will give you a more solid pedal with less travel.
 
 

Just read through this thread and I can't believe that the stock ride height has not been mentioned. The front gap is 3" and the rear is 2.5." I could live with 2" front and 1.5" rear, wish there was a spring/shock or coilover set that would bring me close to this height. Most sets will bring me to a little over 1.5" front and about 3/4" rear after settling.
 
I am going to have to pull the trigger soon, being "El Gapo" is stupid, well back to sailing the three seas

quote:

ORIGINAL: hesaputz

That's right - just push and hold the radio volume knob for 2 seconds. Steering wheel controls are disabled, however.

 
no need to hold it. just press and release, and then the radio comes on after 2 sec.

RE: the rear ride height and narrow track. 
 
The car is front wheel drive, both the above help keep the car neutral, tho also make it look somewhat odd. The more changes you make to the rear to render the car with a more "aggressive" rear stance, the more you will potentiate understeer. 
 
With a fwd car always think balance and compromise against the classic big wheel, high offset, low pro rear tire (classic rwd set up).
 

Gator - Check out Neuspeed (neuspeed.com) for a shifter kit.  I don't have one yet - but it's on the list!

Olivier - I agree about the idle sounding like a deisel.  It drives me nuts.  I haven't asked the dealer if there's anything that can be done as I just thought it was a product of the engine design.  I'm thinking of adding a Jake brake and Playboy mudflaps to complete the theme.

quote:

ORIGINAL: lavadrifter
Olivier - I agree about the idle sounding like a deisel.  It drives me nuts.  I haven't asked the dealer if there's anything that can be done as I just thought it was a product of the engine design.  I'm thinking of adding a Jake brake and Playboy mudflaps to complete the theme.

I believe I will speak in everyone's name when I say, DO NOT!  Personally, the worst is when I start the engine, is it the FSI technology that does that? I am not certain. It is annoying; I am almost ashamed to start whe. other people are present… Almost.
 

You have to remember that this car was built on diesel technology.   That's something that I love about this car.   The 12,000psi fuel pump with the injector sitting right in the head.   Very nice!!!   BTW, that's also why you have gobs of torque sitting at your toe, ready to go.   Don't anyone tell me that they don't love that feature!
 
Cheers!

quote:

ORIGINAL: hesaputz

Brakes are mentioned pretty frequently if you search the archives. They were my biggest complaint about the car. You can improve them considerably with;

Carbotech bobcat or Akebono ceramic pads
Tyrolsport solid front bushings
a good bleeding

they aren't Porsche quality, but this will give you a more solid pedal with less travel.

 
I agree, brakes is  my only complaint.  I have changed to Carbotech Bobcat back and AX7 front.  They do help stopping tremendously, but they are also very loud.  Might have to swap them out, the wife is not too happy about the sound effects and the stares from pedestrians.
 
My 2nd complaint is the armrest on the handbrake design just like most owners.

I have Bobcats on the front of one car, and Akebonos on the front of the other. Neither makes significant noise. Rears make noise while backing, but that seems to be an A3 thing.

chef i love diesels and thats the reason why it sounds like the diesel the noise we hear are comming from injectors!!!!!!

All right smarty pants, if this is such a nice thing, why didn’t Audi list in the feature – ‘Awesome diesel sound’ or ‘real breathtaking diesel-like experience’??? I went to Audi’s site in order to see what they said about the FSI and they did not mentioned coming from diesel technology, why, I wonder…. Well, not really…
 
Chef, odroggy, this may be a very attractive sound at your local pickup place also called the local Truck Stop [sorry to all truck drivers, I mean no disrespect, just trying to prove a point] but it does not really cut it anywhere else. IMO.
Like I said, I enjoy my A3, I can live will all the different shortfalls mentioned by many drivers in this thread and some I mentioned but this is a real bummer.

I'm not sure if this has been previously addressed, but the placement of the window controls on the driver door is an ergonomic crime.  They are too far rearward.  Trying to access the rear window controls is an excercise in arm/wrist yoga.  I'm 6' tall, so it's not a case of the driver's seat being too far forward.  Minor design flaws like this are acceptable (though the infamous armrest / hand brake is NOT), just surprising on an Audi.   

quote:

ORIGINAL: olivier

All right smarty pants, if this is such a nice thing, why didn’t Audi list in the feature – ‘Awesome diesel sound’ or ‘real breathtaking diesel-like experience’??? I went to Audi’s site in order to see what they said about the FSI and they did not mentioned coming from diesel technology, why, I wonder…. Well, not really…

Chef, odroggy, this may be a very attractive sound at your local pickup place also called the local Truck Stop [sorry to all truck drivers, I mean no disrespect, just trying to prove a point] but it does not really cut it anywhere else. IMO.
Like I said, I enjoy my A3, I can live will all the different shortfalls mentioned by many drivers in this thread and some I mentioned but this is a real bummer.

Hey Olivier,
 
My last car was a TDI, so I came from the diesel point of view when purchasing this car.   I was already familar with the technology and the awesome torque of the TDI, so I knew that the extra horses in the TFSI and the big torque would be a blast!   Remember, you purchase horsepower, but you drive torque.   That is what makes our cars more fun to drive than a similarly powered car.   You can feel the torque throw your butt back into the seat.   Well, maybe not so much on the stock version, but definitely on the well modded one!!!
 
Cheers!

quote:

ORIGINAL: lavadrifter

I'm not sure if this has been previously addressed, but the placement of the window controls on the driver door is an ergonomic crime.  They are too far rearward.  Trying to access the rear window controls is an excercise in arm/wrist yoga.  I'm 6' tall, so it's not a case of the driver's seat being too far forward.  Minor design flaws like this are acceptable (though the infamous armrest / hand brake is NOT), just surprising on an Audi.   

Funny, they are too far forward for me. I always hit the rear window control instead of the front. The only thing I have to complain about is the lack of an off button for the climate control. Oh yeah, and lack of Quattro option for the 2.0T.