Audi A3 Sportback

Four years later, Audi moves to address criticisms of its swanky family hatchback Since its introduction in 1999, the Audi A3 has been the conservative and consistent, if somewhat predictable, option in the premium family hatchback class. Now halfway through its fourth generation, it's been treated to a mild nip and tuck in a bid to bolster its ability to compete with the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and BMW 1 Series.Just like its Seat Leon, Skoda Octavia and Volkswagen Golf relations, the new A3 continues to use an evolution of the Volkswagen Group’s ubiquitous MQB platform, with enhancements to accommodate a wider spread of powertrain options that includes mild hybrid and, eventually, plug-in hybrid variants.    It remains available as a (curiously popular) compact saloon or, as driven here, in traditional Sportback guise, and while neither has been radically reinvented, a wide-reaching package of visual, technological and mechanical revisions make this a tangibly different proposition to the outgoing car - which, remember, was only updated as recently as 2021.Changes to the standard car are particularly subtle – at least until a heavily upgraded plug-in hybrid is added to the ranks iin late 2024 – but the hot Audi S3 has been more tangibly overhauled.