Road Trip Notes
Our road trip was also a great opportunity to test out various elements we don’t normally experience. First of all, the nav system is superb. Not once did it miss providing an instruction for the appropriate direction (that’s not to say we didn’t get lost…), with turn countdowns displayed in the gauges and lane choices displayed on the main five-inch dash-top screen, whose rendering quality is excellent. Trunk space was surprising – it’s not a huge trunk, but its square shape made packing easy. In-cabin storage was enough even with all five seats occupied, bottle holders in the doors supplementing the console cupholders and armrest.
  2015 Audi A3 in Quebec City. Click image to enlarge |
While the A3 isn’t designed as a family car, it passed this test with flying colours, carting my whole family on this long highway drive efficiently and comfortably (well, for four of five occupants, at least). On the way up to Quebec, we took our time, taking lower speed diversions like the Thousand Islands Parkway and saw high sixes, while the return trip was mainly major highways, and it creeped into the low sevens. Overall, our fuel consumption for the entire test remains at 8.7 L/100 km.
This upcoming month we have a face-off with the A3’s natural competitor, the Mercedes-Benz CLA 250, with a little bit of an Autos.ca twist.
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Pricing: 2015 Audi A3
Base Price (1.8 TFSI FWD Komfort): $31,100
Base Price (2.0 TFSI Komfort): $35,900
Base Price (2.0 TFSI Technik): $43,200
Options: Glacier White Metallic – $800; S Line Package – $1,500; Advanced Technology Package – $1,400; LED headlights – $1,050
A/C Tax: $100
Destination: $1,995
Price as tested: $50,045
Competitors:
Acura ILX
BMW 2 Series
Buick Verano
Infiniti Q30
Lexus CT200h
Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class
