Audi A3 1.8 TFSI S line S tronic 3dr Pre-Model Car Review - February 2012

The 1798cc, 16 valve petrol engine does pack a reasonable punch for a car of this size and price range, delivering power of 160ps at 5000-6200rpm, and 184lb-ft of torque at 1500-4200rpm through a 7-speed S tronic automic gearbox to the front wheels. That means that the car can accelerate from 0-62mph in a respectable 7.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 138mph. The only problem being that the sluggish handling makes it difficult to make the most of this performance until you get out of town and onto open roads.

The suspension is excellent, giving you a very smooth drive.

The front end of the Audi A3 1.8 TFSI S Line has classic Audi looks, which give the car a solid and attractive appearance and can even make it look like a bigger, more powerful car than it actually is.

With alloy wheels, stability control and power steering as standard you get a reasonable if not particularly impressive set of equipment with this car, but you will have to pay an extra £220 if you want to add cruise control, which many will think is well worth getting.

Also included as standard are central locking, climate control, electric windows and door mirrors, driver, passenger and front side airbags, alarm and immobiliser, and the choice of cloth or leather seat upholstery.

If you want rear parking sensors you will have to add an extra £350, and althoughyou get CD player and mp3, bluetooth connectivity is not standard and neither is a SatNav.

Audi's are well known as a solid and reliable brand of car to drive, which is one of the reasons that they keep their value so well. And you get a 3 year 6000 mile warranty to back that up.

You get ample storage space with this model which has 350-litres of boot space with the seats up, or an impressive 1080-litres with the seats down. And it is a comfortable drive for long journeys.

The Audi A3 1.8 TFSI S Line S tronic is a pretty safe car with an NCAP occupant safety rating of 4, or 3 for children.It falls into the 26F insurance group, and has CO2 emission of 149g/km.

Costing £23,795 to buy new the Audi A3 1.8 TFSI S Line S tronic will be seen as good value for money by many people.

The fuel efficiency is solid if nothing special at 43.5mpg, but it is really the high resale values - with some cars retaining as much as 50% value - that makes this car stand out as being excellent value for money in the long term.