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By Jonathan Crouch

This improved version of the MK4 Audi A3 Sportback demonstrates that class is permanent. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 89

The premium compact car. If that concept means anything to you, then it's the car we look at here, Audi's A3 Sportback, that might well come to mind. True to the brand's Vorsprung durch Technik philosophy, this model has always aimed to set fresh standards in its fourth generation form and the updated version of that model continues that quest with greater connectivity and a sharper look inside and out. The result is a car that should show you just how far things have recently progressed in this segment.

Backgroundword count: 164

These days of course, this Audi faces strong competition, but back in 1996 when we first saw the A3 model line, the idea of being able to move a car up-market in class and appeal without increasing its size was new and rather different. Cynics dismissed it as a way of dressing up ordinary family hatches and charging a lot more for them. Customers though, loved the idea and by the time the second generation A3 arrived in 2003, BMW and Mercedes rivals had also arrived to swell the market. Initially, those two brands struggled to produce products good enough to overtake Audi and the result was that nearly a quarter of a million MK2 A3s were pounding global roads by the time the third generation model arrived in the Autumn of 2012. It sold for nearly eight years until this more cutting-edge MK4 model arrived in 2020, which four years on was improved to create the car we're going to look at here.

Driving Experienceword count: 292

There are no engineering to handling changes to this updated A3. As before, everything about this car is designed to deliver on the concept of a Volkswagen Golf with just a touch more polish - and the driving experience it offers is no exception. If you're an A3 regular - or a graduate from a Golf - you'll find that this Audi has even more of the mature drive dynamics you'll be looking for, helped by a fully digital at-the-wheel experience and the optional embellishment of self-driving tech. The original version of this MK4 model got a little more involving to drive thanks to slightly sharper steering, a wider track and the introduction of a 'modular dynamic handling control system' that, based on steering movements, predictively co-ordinates interplay between all the car's dynamic systems - like a conductor with an orchestra - so the car can always be one step ahead of the drive inputs you want to make. The engine options here are familiar for mainstream customers - the 35 TFSI petrol and 35 TDI diesel, both with 150PS, with the transmission emphasis as usual on Audi's familiar 7-speed S tronic dual-clutch auto. Both get supple multi-link rear suspension and with the 35 TFSI petrol model, the engine comes with an integrated 48-volt 'BAS' belt alternator starter-generator that powers a 12-volt main electrical set-up in which a 48-volt compact lithium-ion battery in the boot stores energy harvested via a 'KERS' kinetic energy recovery system. If you've more to spend on a more sophisticated kind of A3 Sportback, you can also talk to your dealer about the 2.0-litre petrol turbo S3 variant, which gets a power hike to 333PS and the addition of the torque-splitter system previously reserved for the RS 3.

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