Abdul Rashid's Blog

7 March 2009, Saturday – I begin to fall in love with the new Audi A3 Sportback. Therefore, I went to The Mall Gadong to have a look and feel of the car. I was waiting for more than 2 hours to have closer look and feel the Audi A3 Sportback.

The launching ceremony of Audi A3 Sportback was held at The Mall Gadong tonight. In Brunei, Audi car is distributed by TCY Motors.

Some important features:

• Engine: 1984cc Inline four-cylinder spark-ignition with gasoline direct injection, for valves per cylinder, double overhead camshafts (DOHC) i.e 2.0 litre TSFI engine.
• Max power output: 200bhp at 5100-6000rpm.
• Drive type: Front-wheel drive with EDL.
• Gearbox type: 6-speed S tronic dual-clutch transmission with electrohydraulic control.
• Front suspension: McPherson struts with lower wishbones, tubular anti-roll bar, track-stablizing steering roll radius, aluminium subframe.
• Rear suspension: Four-link rear suspension with separate spring/shock absorber arrangement, tubular anti-roll bar, subframe.
• Wheels/tires: 3.5Jx18 cast aluminium wheels with 225/40R18 tyres.
• Acceleration (0-100 km/h): 6.9 seconds.
• Fuel consumption (combined cycle): 7.2l/100km.
  
  
  

My appointment. The venue of the launching ceremony.
Peeking inside the curtain. The curtain (front).
Audi A3 Sportback S line is unvieled. The rear view. The entertainment. A view from left behind. The Master of the Ceremony. Time to have a closer look. The tyre and the rim. Front view: nice lamp design. S-line bagde. The dashboard. Aircond outlet and audio. The engine. The brochures on the dashboard. The back. The steering wheel. Nice lamp, again...Photographer from Brunei Motors is taking photos of the inside parts of the car. Front right view. Audi magazine, A3, and A4 brochure.

Audi A3 Sportback (S-line) costs about BND52K (correct me if I am wrong), that is, about BND800++ per month (for 7 years instalment repayment).

p/s: If I have BND60k, I may buy this car. Do they have Deep Black, Candy White, or Tornado Red Audi A3 Sportback?...But the problem is I also fall in love with VW Golf Gti and Lexus IS300 with Sport Package. This is the hard part i.e to choose which one…So far, I find that A3 is a nice car to look at (sporty look and “nice” look), especially the front part…but less at the back. I can sit comfortably on the seat. May be I should test drive the car to find out how it like to drive A3 Sportback…It should be a lot better than my current Suzuki Swift. However, I really love my Suzuki Swift.

(Photos: Abdul Rashid bin Haji Tahir. Taken on 7th March 2009)