Hi

Been driving an A3 2.0 TDI SE for about 2 years and looking at upgrading. With Britains roads so overwhelmed with traffic we have been thiking of going auto. With this in mind I was wondering what people's opinions of the stronic box is?

Hoping to get a test drive this weekend at our local dealer but seeing as dealer's don't exactly go out of their way to be helpful unless your buying a car with your own money I aint counting on it.

We will be going for the 170ps 2.0 TDi which I've already had for a weekend in manual form and it was fantastic, amazing how it gets the power down even in the wet for a front wheel drive car. If we go with s tronic we will also get the steering wheel mounted gear change.

Anyway, any help much appreciated.

 

Tronicshifts better than a human.
If you control shifts, you can only shift or downshift 1 gear at a time - 6th to 2nd will take a while. Tronic does it in a flash.

Noticestartup from 0 in both forward and reverse. It seems unusual.

 

You'll love it!!

 

it's amazing. you could in 6th gear at 2rpm, a couple of taps on you are in 3rd blasting through cars. with the torque of the TDI it should be even better. can wait for Audi to make bring the A3 2.0TDI quattro in the US.
does anyone know if the 3.0TDI (223hp) would fit in the A3?

 

The question is, what qualities are you looking for when you are asking if it is "good"? I know you Europeans don't have much experience with automatic transmissions, but the S Tronic (or DSG as we call it in the States) pretty much behaves like most other automatics, although I feel it is a tad faster in switching gears. As for using the paddles to change gears, I think you'll find this to be a neat gimmick but not one that you would use in normal driving. The car is so much more efficient and faster in controlling the gears on its own, there's no reason to manually control the gears. I know this is a big change for people used to manual their whole life, but after a while you will let go of your old habits. Overall, if you can afford it, I think you will be very happy with the DSG.

 

I sure love mine, and I'm a guy whopreviously believed "give me amanual or give me death".

 

Good choice (the 170ps 2.0 TDi). The S Tronic (DSG) has been highly praised for giving you the mileage/efficiency of a manual transmission. Upshifting is ultra smooth as well as when you come to a stop you will notice how smoothly you go from sixth gear back to first. The steering wheel paddle's make things very easy while driving if you prefer to shift manually. You still have a slight roll back or forward if you are on a slope (Audi has hill assist to aid you). If you are tired of extra foot movement and shifting gears but don't want to loose the efficiency of a manual then you can't go wrong with S Tronic (DSG). [sm=smiley20.gif]

 

I wouldn't have thought the 3.0TDI would fit in the A3. Even if it did, i doubt they would put it in there anyway, as the 3.0TDI is aimed at the A4 and A6. Putting it in the A3 would be a bad move as it would create more competition for those two higher priced cars.

 

Considering all the new models that Audi is working on, a lot of models might compete against each other in the future.

 

I would LOVE to have the 3.0TDI. LOVE IT!!!