Check out the new Audi A3. Is it better than its predecessor?

With the new A3, it's not just a simple case of giving an old car a new face. Audi has played around with its dimensions and the new A3 is shorter in length and narrower, but taller. That translates into less shoulder-, leg- and knee-room but more head-room.

To the naked eye, however, the dimensional differences are imperceptible. At least from the outside. What is perceptible, though, is the wider single-piece grille with sharper contours, which works together with the newly designed headlamps to give the A3 a bit more presence on the road than before. On the inside, the cabin does not feel cramped, but only while you are sitting in the front. Shift to the rear of the car and the old chink in the A3's otherwise shining armour becomes all too visible yet again. Knee-room at the rear continues to be limited and will remain a cause for criticism with the new A3 as well, just as it was with the old car.

Switch on the ignition and you realise that the car doesn't have an instrument panel. Instead there is a 12.3-inch TFT screen that the driver can configure to show her whatever info she desires. Audi call this a ‘Virtual Cockpit'. You have the choice of seeing the regular conventional instrumentation on it but you can also switch views via a button on the flat-bottomed steering wheel, which seemed to be a standard fitment in all the cars we saw in Germany (even though the literature Audi provided lists it as an optional extra).

Knee room still an issue in the second row of the A3. PICS/ audi

The MMI system's Voice Control function, too, has been optimised to recognise everyday phrases. Apart from these, the new Audi A3 gets a host of new innovative technologies such as Audi Connect wherein an embedded SIM card allows passengers to access customised online services. There are assist technologies such as Traffic Jam Assist and Cross Parking Assist, which will most likely not make it to India.

The updated TDI engine produces slightly more power and torque

Although in global markets Audi will offer a choice of five engines, ranging from a smart 1.0 TFSI petrol to the familiar 2.0 TDI diesel, what we're likely to see in India is the continuation of the latter in unchanged form. The current 1.8 TFSI petrol option sold here, however, is likely to be replaced by the new 2.0 TFSI from Audi but it'll still be the 2.0 TDI-equipped vehicle that will drive the numbers for the A3 in India.

The virtual cockpit is a new addition to the A3

This is the one we drove in and around Munich. Be it under the sculpted bonnet of the sedan or the cabriolet (we drove both), the now familiar 150-PS 1,968-cc four-cylinder in-line turbo-diesel feels at home. Power delivery is linear, making the A3 an easy car to drive through traffic or cruise on highways (the latter being better enjoyed in the cabriolet with the roof down in the crisp Bavarian weather). The fact that the 340 Nm of twist force is provided at a low 1,750 RPM and then stays with you all the way up to 3,000 revs helps this facet of the A3 no end. Stamp on the throttle hard and Audi says you should be able to do 0 to 100 km/h in just 8.5 seconds before hitting a top speed of 218 km/h. Audi also offers a more powerful 184-PS 380-Nm version of the 2.0 TDI with quattro and after driving that for some time, the more sober front-wheel-drive A3 feels less punchy and fun.

On the narrow and winding roads around Ascheim, just outside Munich, the A3's handling felt confident. The electro-mechanically assisted steering makes you always conscious of where the wheels are. The result is greater confidence to push harder round a bend. Thus, so far as driving pleasure goes, the new A3 is as much fun as the old one was. The A3's four-disc setup is capable of a drama-free brake. It's all too easy. Even so, there are ABS, EBD and ESC (Electronic Stability Control) to assist the driver through almost all kinds of driving environments.

If the old Audi A3 was a great car, the new one promises to be even better. But there are two critical questions that Audi will have to answer and the responses to these will decide the future of the A3 in India: first, how many of these new technologies will Audi be offering here, and, second, at what price.