Yeah I know what your thinking (why the hell would you put a hitch on an Audi) it's an alternative bike rack method for us cyclists, as far as I know this is the only manufacture that provides a solution for the A3. This is probably the least evasive method for a bike rack, due to the fact that it doesn't actually touch the paint. I had put in an inquiry several months ago, they just emailed me back, and these are shipping next week. Paired with this hitch Thule and others provide several racks with lots of options. To bad I already purchased the factory roof rack system and blemished the clear coat...but for any others interested here is the website.

http://www.hitch-web.com/

 

At least you weren't asking about pulling a 21' boat. LOL

The rear bike mount is a good idea, but I'm not sure that our car was ever designed for a hitch? It definitely has enough power, but??? Who's installing the hitch on your car?

 

I just took a look under mine. It looks really tricky getting the hitch mounted to the frame properly while dealing with the exhaust. And I was hoping for a better picture when I went to the link. Please posts pictures after you have it done. I'm really curious. On the other hand, a buddy of mine down in Fort Lauderdale has a tow hitch on his325 convertible so that he can tow his waverunner. For his boat he uses his F150 (common sense). And it does look good: one toy towing along another toy.

 

Hmmm... it says "Minor fascia trimming required." and that the rear bumper cover need to be taken off...

After reading the pdf fille, it says that you need to cut a 2.25 x 2 inch square hole in the bumper. I don't think so!

Anyone know any other alternative?

Paul

 

Yeah I'm definetly not about to have somebody chopping the fascia or touching the rear bumper....not sure if there is another way around that. I did see one installed on a new A3 in Seattle, the guy had the factory roof rack and the rear hitch and bike rack...after a close inspection I didn't see any alteration to the bumper or fascia, and it was pretty clean and hidden? There is hitch info. right in our A3 manuals specifying that it can accept a class 1 or 2 hitch with weight limits etc.
Like I said I already dropped $500 plus on the factory roof rack so I'm not pursuing the hitch, but I was puting in out there if anybody was interested.

 

I purchased the A3 class I hitch from Hitch-web.com. It looks great and works well with the Thule T2 rack. The cut in the fascia is not visible at all, and my local mechanic was able to install it for $200. I'm very happy with it. See the reply in this thread for pics, and feel free to get in touch with any questions. If a roof rack does not work for you I would highly recommend this option.

https://www.audiforums.com/m_737449/tm.htm

 

Ditto - I have the Curt hitch installed on my A3, not a problem. The cut in the bumper cover is underneath, doesn't show, and it's a generally neat installation. And yeah, you do gotta remove the whole back cover and taillights, but it's not that bad ( like the front).
I use it for hauling my shifter kart trailer.

 

picture from the ground up showing what was cut out?
I was thinking about a roof rack to carry my bike and skiis but after hearing everyone say that the feet have marked up there roofs I'm deffinatly looking for other alternatives.

 

I purchased a Curt hitch for my '07 A3 over the web. I had it installed at a Cole Muffler shop in town. It is an excellent hitch and fits the car perfectly. The hitch receiver is out of sight below the rear bumber. Nothing was cut out. It took about three hours to install.

The A3 tows a light canoe trailer with ease. Hint: If you install the wiring package that comes with the Curt hitch (recommended), you need to hook the brake light line into the rear window brake light wire, it will not work if wired into either rear light brake light.

I highly recommend the Curt hitch, it's slick and extremely well designed and attached.

 

^^ Pictures please we all love to see how it looks before we do it. Don't want cutting done on our babies.
Thanks