Audi’s A3 Sportback, the five-door A3 variant, had its official unveiling at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. The A3 Sportback is 4310mm long, making it 73mm longer than the three-door Audi A3. It recently started selling in the UK. It has a wheelbase that measures 2636mm, which makes it 35mm longer than the three-door’s. It’s also longer than the current A3 Sportback by 58mm. Rear passengers get legroom that’s bigger by “several more millimetres” due to the increased wheelbase. Audi said that three adults can be accommodated in the back of the A3 Sportback. It has a boot space of 380 litres, which is 15 litres bigger than the three door and 10mm bigger than the current car. The capacity can go up to as high as 1220 litres when the rear seats are folded down.
When the seats are down, both the three-door A3’s and the current A3 Sportback’s luggage capacity are at 1100 litres. Optional on the car is the LED down-lighting for the boot. Because of the switch made to Volkswagen Group’s new MQB platform, the A3 Sportback is 90kg lighter than its predecessor. The five-door model is powered by the 1.4 TFSI engine and is 30kg heavier than the equivalent three-door at 1205kg.
With regards to styling, the largest change from three-door A3 to five-door A3 Sportback is the installation of two rear doors. However, the rear makes use of a tailgate more similar to Audi’s Q models than its conventional hatchbacks. At launch, the engine line-up will be the same as that of the three-door’s. This means that the A3 Sportback will originally be offered with 1.4 TFSI and 1.8 TFSI petrol units, and a 2.0 TDI diesel. Its trim levels will also be similar to those on the three-door variant.
