Sport is back!

Loin of new car and really good. And the front is impressive. And behind the wheel of aesthetic pleasure from the design blends in with the pleasure of driving. Here in Monaco, the Monte Carlo Rally in 1981, rivals faltered under the pressure of the first compartment Audi Quattro. And now - the sport is back! If you think that the Audi A3 Sportback - entirely the brainchild of the new Audi chief designer Walter da Silva, you're wrong. As responsible for the car we introduced Harry Telaaka of the Munich design studio Audi. He worked on the project for five years - long before da Silva. But the new boss, no doubt, influenced the look of the car. Indeed, the very idea of ??the grille in the form of a trapezoid chrome started with a concept car Audi Nuvolari, who da Silva has marked his arrival on the Audi. After that, tried on a new grille flagship sedan Audi A8 W12, then - the latest business sedan Audi A6. Finally, the five-door Sportback. And in general, with the advent of da Silva, who previously was the chief stylist of Italian firm Alfa Romeo, there was talk of turning the Audi in a kind of German Alpha. Judge for yourself: shield grille, rear lights horizontal vrazlet ... The approach to the formation of an image very much like Alfa Romeo! At first glance, Sportback - a cross between a conventional hatchback and station wagon. The creators were not limited to redrawing the car door openings. The five-door body - really new. He's 68 mm longer than the three-door, with all of this increase went to increased cargo space (trunk volume has turned out more than kin Golf - 370 l). But in practice Sportback - it's just beautiful, proportional to the hatchback with a very dynamic silhouette. Rear overhang not seem like much, it balances the massive front end. But short trehdverka Audi A3 next to the new machine is fed karapuzov. By the way, three-door modification in the near future is waiting for restyling: most likely, the front of the A3 will put the overall corporate mask, but at the same time - and tail lights a la Sportback.V cabin is only one new piece - three-spoke steering wheel hub with trapezoidal, nearly as large sedans Audi A6 and A8. Bagel comfortable, though not as nice as the old one, with a circular hub. In general, the ergonomics claims at least. Home - traditionally long-stroke clutch pedal, which forces the driver move up front so that the number of the right knee is notorious decorative brace on the center console. Even on machines with the new navigation system, DVD-climate-control unit is strongly shifted down - uncomfortable. By the way animated image on a large LCD screen is not always kept pace with the road - you can zabluditsya.Szadi as spacious as a three-door car. But only two of them: living is divided in half the high tunnel. To get back, of course, much easier than in trehdverke, but the doorways would be broader. At least the doors open to a wide angle ... Weight amenities. Shelves, pockets, cup holders, mesh fabric. Lovely double hook for bags fastened to the bottom of the luggage rack. And yet, it touches, it is nice to the touch, everything clicked, opens and closes properly. Dorogo.Vprochem, Golf today is also not cheap. But if the earlier Golf was the main and very serious competitor for the Audi A3, but now they are "divorced" on. Today, conservative averaged between golf and sports, really beautiful Sportbekom lies an abyss! But there are also external enemies. This is "not exactly the profile" rivals - sportuniversal Volvo V50 and Mercedes A-Class, and the most that either there is a direct competitor - BMW first series. But while Audi A3 has several advantages over the Bavarian "penny." First, Sportback roomy, versatile. Second, "edinichka" enters the market with only rear wheel drive and to start with only four engines: gasoline - 1.6 liter (115 hp) and 2.0 liter (150 hp) - and two diesel - 2.0-liter (122 and 163 hp). And the Audi A3 engine already seven - up to 250-horsepower V6. And in the asset Audi - preselektivnaya unique DSG gearbox and four-wheel drive car transmissiya.Kakuyu choose to explore? Of course, the latest two-liter engine family FSI, direct injection - and turbocharging. Before such a combination is found only in championship racing prototype Audi R8 in Le Mans. And now - in a production engine. This engine has everything: a mechanism for changing the timing of the inlet, and balancer shafts, and swirl flaps in the intake manifold ... How easy! Moreover, the claimed 200 turbo power, like all engines FSI, shows on gasoline with an octane number of 98, although consumption and 95th. Consumes, it must be said, with relish - while driving, "the floor" on-board computer shows about 16 l/100 km.A different travel impossible. After all, I got a machine with a robotic preselektivnoy transmission DSG! As amended Autoreview people are divided into those who have traveled with a box of DSG, - and for those to whom it is to come. And while you're on your own skin did not feel like running robot preselektivnaya "mechanics" with two clutches, all the enthusiasm of his colleagues on the switches without breaking the flow of power perceive with skepticism. And then just as they stare and choke epithets. Fantastic unit! In four-cylinder 2.0 TFSI combines direct injection and turbocharging. For the first time in a production engine. Compression ratio is huge for the turbo - 10,5:1! System pressure common rail fuel reaches 110 bar External speed of the engine 2.0 TFSIRazgon. Instead of the expected "plugging" and klevkov when switching - just a short shooting exhaust. Sensation of continuous forward movement intoxicating - each with a traffic light after each barrier would like to experience it again and again. Motor is very flexible. On the shelf the moment you can grow mushrooms. Maximum traction is already available from 1800 r / min, speed of maximum power - on the threshold of the red zone. Somewhere in the middle - a smooth pickup on the road ... you know, that box DSG still nebezgreshna. At partial throttle is a no-no, and suddenly go down to the level of "lower" - so to speak, from an excess of emotion. But, realizing that I'm not going to accelerate, the box returns to its previous transmission - before I have time to rein in its stalk gashetkoy.Elektrousilitel steering is so good that I want to complain about - suddenly do better? Steering wheel slightly to near-zero pustovat zone at speeds up to 120 km / h. Driving on the highway at a moderate pace requires more attention than we would like. Especially feel the lack of feedback when the machine starts to work out a relief - it is characterized by vertical swinging slightly. Head know what Sportback still clings to the asphalt, but his hands involuntarily looking for "support" in a stabilizing force on the handlebars. But it is necessary to go faster, and the steering is perfectly understandable. This car is simply provokes an active ride: if you want clarity - PUSH! And as DSG gearbox is always ready to serve ... Intermediate stop at Chateau Saint-Martin. I looked into the description of the route: go to the right - on the road will enter, go to the left - will enter the highway, just go - he go wrong and the horse will lose. There - the rise in the Kohl-de-van, which often hosts national rally competition. Five and a half miles of nerve cords running, blind traps and "Teschin language." I there! Twenty times I went up to the mark 963 meters above sea level and went down to St. Maarten. First on the front-drive car with a DSG, then for all-wheel drive (with Haldex clutch to drive the rear wheels) with a manual transmission. By the way, other options for the Sportback 2.0T version yet - wheel drive vehicle gearbox DSG is not set osnaschaetsya.V Sportbeka chassis lies a fair share of understeer. Propensity to drift does not appear in moderate driving and do not play a significant role on the highway, but on the streamer, this feature "get out" in the first sharp turn. Moreover, the front-wheel car slips out bend aggressive, fatal. The system ESP stabilization in the Audi A3 has not learned to quickly recognize the demolition. And when the round rock, its reaction can not wait: tkneshsya nose - and all-wheel-drive car ... less prone to drift. Maybe this is the merit of transmission: electronically controlled clutch because connects the rear wheels at the slightest (45 degrees) a mismatch in the rotation of the drive shaft and smoothly changes the degree of lock - up to a rigid connection between the axles. Or maybe a different weight distribution affects versions of quattro, or other suspension tuning. But obviously, all-wheel drive Sportback is more predictable and merciful to errors at speeds in bends. It can already afford ... So I go down to St. Maarten for the last time - all this fast, sporty, dvuhsotsilny. Suddenly, from behind lights, noise, dust, brake, and in the rearview mirror appear ... Citroen C2! Caught up and hung on the tail. I added, but I see that people were quick, "rolled-in" to the track - not far behind. And as we go downhill, then the power does not play a decisive role ... I Sitroenchik missed - and settled down in his wake. Sweet rides man! Ahead of me in racing well, well-constructed path. All stud licks on three wheels with the "handbrake", while I often have to go on a wide path. Does he always goes, not sparing the tires? I'm not falling behind - good thing, Sportback allows. Energy-intensive suspension gradually work out a relief, not annoying with excessive roll and klevkami even with very hard braking. The body is silent - for torsional stiffness, by the way, he does not concede trehdverke. Assists in the manual included easily and clearly, and the engine pleases almost no "turboyamy." Steering wheel is still not enough "zero", but with the rapid rotation of alternating electric power steering wheel does not go astray, returning the steering wheel in the neutral position, and not "shut up" as some analogues. And the only brake with final sing in two voices: front - tenor, rear - baritone. However, they were raped for three weeks and journalists. Vzvoesh tut.Spustivshis in St. Maarten, I stopped next to Sitroenchikom. The car turned out to be "official", with stickers of some company on board. That's why it does not feel sorry ... Behind the wheel - tanned shaven guy. It's funny: I'm exhausted, wet, and he - like standing in a traffic jam. I lowered the window and shouted in French - merci! The guy smiled: purkua? Why, they say, for that mercy? Yes, just like that. For what proved the road. For what I feel now quite happy ... In the evening, after the press conference, I was meditating, looking at exposed in the spotlight Sportback. Well done all the same designer Harry Telaak. And Da Silva - also well done. And all the rest - engineers, test drivers. Another would be a tendency to drift a front wheel drive vehicles to treat ... Yes, Audi A3 Sportback is one of those cars that are not ashamed to recommend even my best friends. True, prices bite: a front-Sportback with a motor 1.6 and the "automatic" Tiptronic Russian dealers will ask for as much as $ 28,674. What to say about the more powerful versions of ... But even if some of my friends will not want to pay such money for a hatchback-class golf, I still find a way to again ride the five-door "three rubles." And more than once. After all, sport has returned - hopefully for a long time.