The brand’s most accessible model, the new Audi A3 sedan, is now available. It starts at $35,895 and includes $1,095 destination fees. This luxury entry offers a low price, stylish design, and a small footprint. We already showed you how it drives. We take a closer look inside the 2022 Audi A3 Quattro.
Digital displays are what you should be focusing on first. The gauge cluster is located in the area directly in front of you. The 12.3-inch, full-color “Virtual Cockpit Plus”, which is included in the $2250 Technology package, includes navigation, road sign recognition, and a Bang & Olufsen sound system. The Prestige Package adds Virtual Cockpit and matrix LED headlights to the top-ofthe-line package.
The screen is 10.1 inches in size and is angled slightly towards the driver. It is easy to use and reach, thanks to the fact that Audi no longer has a separate interface on its center console. If you want to bring the familiar smartphone user experience to your A3’s infotainment screen, Android Auto and Wireless Apple CarPlay are available.
Audi is known for its minimalistic approach to architecture and design. This design aesthetic is subtle and minimal at best, but it’s something that modernists will appreciate. A good example is the small monolithic shifter, surrounded in piano black plastic and flanked with the ignition button, um, circle and audio control, um. Although piano black might feel almost as sloppy as carbon fiber, it works well here.
This weird circle thing (below) is one of the audio controls. Tap up to toggle it on/off. Tap down to muffle. To select tracks or stations, swipe left or right. You can also swirl your finger around to adjust the volume. This was previously done by an Audi’s traditional knob. It’s a great package for the controls. However, unlike the older knob, we don’t like to use it. Instead, we mainly used the redundant audio controls located on the steering wheel.
A pair of paddle shifters are also found on the steering wheel. They make this sedan more agile and peppy.
The A3 features hard buttons and a small digital display for climate control. This is in contrast to rotary dials and, God forbid touch sensitive sliders. You can see a slight flaw in the fit if you pay attention. We didn’t notice the slight imperfections in the fit while driving the car. It was only apparent when we took photos of it. Although we thought we would point it out we will still give this one a pass.
There’s also a small cupholder and a center console bin that can be used to store beverages. Depending on how many drinks you bring with you or the size of your water bottles it may also be used to store drinks. Below the center stack, there is a cubby for a wireless charger as well as a pair USB-C ports. We are happy to use these ports as more devices have them. However, it would be helpful to have a standard USB port for any of the many charging cables that we have.
The front door pockets are also very sparsely stocked.
We can see the interesting and sculptural designs Audi loves to use in their cars by looking closer at the door panel. Audi is stepping out of its comfortable minimalist aesthetic to create a more dynamic look. There are many angles. This is the most important part of the interior of the A3. The driver’s seat isn’t too cumbersome if the door is shut. But if the door is open, it’s almost like a statue in front a modern art museum inviting you in for further exploration. Look at the handle on the interior door. It almost looks like a Tony Smith item.
However, the interior is made of a lot hard plastic and doesn’t feel very comfortable to the touch. This is a common problem with Audis in recent years, such as the Q5, Q3 or A4, which had lower-quality materials that the vehicles they replaced. The A3 is identical. We don’t like to spend too much time adoring things like dashboards and door trim. The $3,300 Premium Plus Package includes leatherette-covered armrests for the A3. This package also includes a wireless phone charger, driver’s seat memory, alarm system and other safety and convenience tech.
The Premium Plus package adds adaptive cruise control. However, it retains the old-fashioned stalk that controls it from the steering column. We would like to see this function added to the steering wheel controls for ease of use.
Audi is a luxury brand so the leather upholstery feels right at ease. The Santos Brown contrasts nicely with the black plastic and metal. It’s nice to see the suede trims and light stitching. The seats are very comfortable and can be adjusted using the controls located on the outside side. You can adjust the lumbar support.
Although there is some black plastic in the car, the rest can be broken down easily by the small car thanks to the use of other materials like the stitching along the dash or the “Platinum grey” inlays. A $550 Interior Style Package includes LED ambient lighting and “Agate gray fine-grained birch” wood.
Rear seats are very spacious, a result of the 2022 redesign of the A3. While we wouldn’t recommend sitting directly in front of a rear-facing infant seat, a child in a high-back booster with front-facing seats has ample legroom. Even adults with long legs can tolerate the A3’s back seat.
The lower LATCH anchors for car seats are very easy to locate and use. The anchors are hidden behind plastic covers that can be flipped up to the side, making it much easier than digging between the cushion and seatback. We appreciate the convenience of not having to search for a place to store them (and eventually lose them).
Rear passengers have no control over climate controls. They have limited control over the flow and direction of the vents at the back of the center console. However, they do receive a pair USB-C ports to charge their devices.