Audi A3 2025 review: Sportback 35 TFSI

For $54,800, before on-road costs, the A3 can be had as a hatchback - aka Sportback if you’re Audi - or for $57,800 as a sedan.

It’s a little over $4000 more expensive than the pre-facelift version, but Audi reckons there’s about $10,000 more value than before.

And value can be an important when you’ve got the BMW 118 ($57,600) and Mercedes A200 ($61,900) not sitting too far away in terms of price.

Part of the A3’s value equation comes thanks to the addition of the S Line package as standard, which not only makes the A3 look sportier but adds heated sports seats, aluminium interior trim elements and stainless steel on the pedals.

There’s also a larger 12.3-inch screen for the driver display as standard rather than an option. Audi has also reconfigured the air vents for the three-zone climate control, as well as adding a new style gear shifter.

Continued standard kit on the A3 is a wireless phone charger as well as a 10-speaker sound system, an ambient lighting package, a leather steering wheel and synthetic leather trim on the seats which all make for a sporty feel on the inside.

But on the outside there’s also customisable LED headlights and daytime running lights, as well as dynamic indicators and a set of 18-inch alloy wheels.

The car we tested also has a couple of options, its 'Python Yellow' paint is $1350 which I’ll come back to in the design section, but there’s also optional leather seats for $1100 and an electric tailgate for $660, the latter certainly worth it, I reckon.

All up, the car on test comes to $57,910, before on-roads, so even an optioned-up A3 comes in at either the same or less than its closest rivals from BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Starting from what’s right in front of you as a driver, the steering wheel is the same as in bigger, more expensive Audis. That’s a good thing, because it’s nice to hold, has a good shape for the nine-and-three hand position and it’s not too thick. 

As well as the nice, clear buttons on the wheel, you’ve got some physical controls for the climate control and some of the vehicle functions like parking assist and stop-start under the multimedia screen.

For a car this size, the 10.1-inch central touchscreen is plenty big enough, and the fact it doesn't sit up high over the dash is great. It's like a perfect arm's length for your standard-sized adult (like me). I can reach the other side of the screen without needing to lean.

The fact there’s no head-up display is a bit of a let-down, but the now-standard 12.3-inch driver display is very good. It’s configurable yet clear, and means you can get detailed navigation information in front of you rather than having to look to the multimedia screen. 

The test A3 has genuine leather upholstery, which is $1100 extra. Not the most you’d pay for leather seats in a Euro, and the seats are comfortable. They're nicely bolstered, the drivers’ side is electrically adjustable and the leather doesn’t feel hard or rough to the touch.

Sitting behind my own seating position in the second row is a little tight, however. At 178cm, my knees almost touch the seat in front. There's also no sunroof, and even though there's just about enough light, that omission doesn’t help the cramped feeling.

There are, like the front, two USB-C ports and the air vents in the back, the latter separately adjustable to avoid arguments, though the cupholders in the armrest are in an awkwardly central position.

Behind that, under the 380-litre boot's floor is a space-saver spare tyre. That's better than some SUVs designed for family adventures that only offer up an inflator/repair kit. Keep that up, Audi. Good job. Well done. 

If you fold the rear seats, you get 1200 litres of space. Interestingly, those luggage space figures are the same as the BMW 1 Series.

The A3 is powered by a 1.5-litre, turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that makes 110kW and 250Nm.

It drives the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch auto transmission and it can hit 100km/h in a claimed 8.1 seconds.

2025 Audi A3

It’s also got a 48-volt mild hybrid system to help with efficiency, though you’d need to be told about it to notice. It also helps with the A3’s (smooth) stop-start system.

The A3’s 50-litre fuel tank needs to be filled with RON 95 premium fuel and it’ll drink a claimed 5.3-litres per 100km on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle.

Theoretically you’re topping 900km a tank there, but given how fun this car is to drive you’d have to be well behaved to get even close.

For reference, whenever I was on a normal, day-to-day drive on test the A3's trip computer was returning figures in the mid to high sixes.

Tested in 2020, the A3’s been awarded a maximum five-star rating from ANCAP which applies to the facelifted version.

Six airbags and a suite of active safety tech helped contribute to this, though, whether it would pass with five stars under ANCAP’s current assessment protocols isn’t certain.

That’s likely only down to its relatively non-invasive safety warnings and mild assistance with things like lane-keep and speed warnings.

2025 Audi A3

If you’re someone who’s likely to turn off most of the electronic assistance, the A3’s systems are at a pretty good level as standard.

It’s missing some modern kit like surround-view parking cameras but it does have front and rear proximity sensors and things like rear cross-traffic alert.