Audi A3 Sedan 35 TFSI 2025 Review

The 2025 Audi A3 Sedan 35 TFSI costs $57,800 (plus on-road costs) and together with the A3 Sportback 35 TFSI are the only A3s now available Down Under sans S or RS nomenclature. With the box ticked for the optional Navarra Blue exterior paint at $1530, all up the test vehicle is $59,150 (plus on-road costs).

As it stands, this is a mid-cycle refresh of the current generation A3 that launched in 2020.

The warranty covers five years/unlimited kilometres, while servicing is due every 12 months or 15,000km. While there’s no pay-as-you-go capped-price servicing, there is a $2520 Audi pre-paid service offer, for five annual services (including roadside assist). For an additional $3250 the Audi Advantage plan offers an additional two-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, and two extra scheduled services with roadside assist.

The BMW 218 Gran Coupe and the Mercedes-Benz A200 Sedan are the A3 Sedan’s only natural competitors in the luxury, small sedan subset. There are six other small sedans available from Hyundai, Kia, MG, Mazda, Subaru and Toyota, but all except the sporty Subaru WRX sedan are at least $20k less than the Audi.

None of these truly line up as a premium luxury brand alternative – although the five-door liftback Honda Civic somewhat bridges the divide.

The Australian spec A3 Sedan is fitted with S-Line features as standard, meaning that you’ll get a perforated leather steering wheel, heated sports front seats (electrically adjustable for the driver), black headliner, aluminium trim, stainless steel pedals and contrast stitching.

Other standard features include tri-zone climate control, a 12.3-inch virtual cockpit plus, MMI navigation plus, Audi connect plus, digital radio, matrix LED headlights, 18-inch alloys, wireless phone charging and a 10-speaker, 180-watt sound system.

Safety inclusions for the A3 Sedan consist of Adaptive cruise assist, including adaptive cruise control, stop/go traffic jam assist and emergency assist. Then there’s autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection, active late assist, side assist with rear cross traffic alert, exit warning, parking sensors and rear view camera. There are six airbags; a pair each of front, front side and curtain airbags.

The A3 was ANCAP crash tested in 2020 with a five-star result. It was given an 89 per cent rating for Adult Occupant Protection, 81 per cent for Child Occupant Protection, 68 per cent for Vulnerable Road Used Protection and 73 per cent for Safety Assist.

The engine continues from the pre-update model, so it is a transversely mounted 1.5-litre turbo-petrol mild hybrid with 110kW/250Nm outputs, driven through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT) to the front wheels.

The 2025 Audi A3 Sedan 35 TFSI feels like a premium model with its attention to detail inside and out. The design and features link the A3 to larger, more expensive Audi models.

The front seats are supportive, the controls are easy to use and the various storage spots are well thought out.

The infotainment system is simple enough, with physical buttons for the climate and volume control so you’re not stuck playing distracting games with the centre screen. Even the new drive-by-wire gearshift works well, meaning you won’t be fumbling for a gear right when you need to change quickly.

At the back, there’s large door pockets, a centre armrest with cupholders, map pockets in the front seatbacks and two USB charging ports, plus rear vents with a thumb wheel to adjust temperature.

Despite the fastback styling, the boot aperture is a reasonable size for wedging in larger items and the 60/40-split folding rear seats help when you want to haul longer gear. While a full-size spare wheel would be nice, the space-saver unit under the boot floor is a consolation prize – especially when cars come with merely a tyre repair kit.

The powertrain does its thing well once rolling, with smooth, quick gearchanges. There’s enough performance to keep in the thick of traffic and overtaking without the car ever feeling painfully slow.

Handling is responsive, the ride quality quite good (even though some sharp-edge bumps can still catch it out) and the cabin is a hushed, relaxing place to be on a highway cruise.

You wouldn’t buy a 2025 Audi A3 Sedan 35 TFSI if you plan to regularly tote three teenagers around in the back.

While there’s enough headroom and legroom for outboard adult occupants, the centre seat is a tight fit, especially for foot room given the large centre hump.

Even though we say it often with some dual-clutch transmissions, it’s worth repeating that the DCT returns some slow-speed shuffling under load (when turning tightly and/or uphill) and that it can be awkward. It’s hard to apply the right amount of power to deliver the movement you want, as the clutches do their thing without much finesse.

You’ll either get used to this or not, so it’s worth trying before buying.

Fuel consumption, despite the ‘mild’ hybridisation of the powertrain (cylinder shut-off and belt-driven starter/alternator), isn’t great for the urban shuffle, with more than 9.0L/100km showing on the trip computer for slow city work. However, in outer-urban driving we did best the 5.3L/100km average, getting down to 4.7L/100km.

The MMI screen had a Senior’s moment towards the end of our week with the A3, not being able to pair my phone anymore, saying “The selected system is currently unavailable”. I ran out of time to try trouble-shooting this; it may have just required a reboot.

The 2025 Audi A3 Sedan 35 TFSI is a comfortable, compact premium sedan for the city that isn’t put out when driven beyond the limits of town.

It rides and handles in a balanced way, has enough power for most drivers, and the fuel economy (on easy runs at least) is quite good.

The only thing we’re not huge fans of is the DCT transmission when parking. In the realm of German luxury brands the A3 Sedan is an affordable entrée, and not a bad one at that.

2025 Audi A3 Sedan 35 TFSI at a glance:
Price: $57,800 (plus on-road costs) $59,150 (as tested, plus ORCs)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 110kW/250Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 5.3L/100km (ADR combined)
CO2: 120g/100km (ADR combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2020)

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