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I made this rather rough Photoshop mockup from a CGI side profile of the upcoming Audi A3 sedan. Honestly, I did this on a whim but it still took me more than an hour. I think it would’ve helped if I used the Clone and Heal tools but I kinda forgot since I never really learned them.

Beyond the wagon conversion, I recolored it Candy Green because.. why the hell not! I “turned on” the lights and smoked the tail lenses. Finally, I “powder-coated” the wheels (though I don’t believe anyone would really do that to carbon fiber wheels).

Specs-wise, according to the concept at Geneva 2011, it would have a turbocharged inline-5 good for 408hp and 368 lb-ft of torque. A dual-clutch 7-speed plus Quattro to all four 20″ wheels bring it up to 62mph in a nice 4.1 seconds. Of course, that’s just dreaming. Audi wouldn’t sensibly put all that into its lowest-level model.

In terms of vehicle styling, I have to give a huge round of applause to Audi designers because this is simply the best-looking car I’ve seen in years (talking about the sedan version they made, of course). It may be the lowest model Audi offers, but it is now my favorite in terms of looks. And hey, I’ve always like small cars anyway.

Really, everything on this car is carried to perfection. For starters, it wears the new Audi fascia with the 6-point grille (which I looove) and the more-angular headlights. One thing that has always made Audi my favorite German car is that they don’t try to put too many details anywhere. On BMWs and Mercs, it’s all too common to have lines and sensors and openings everywhere on the front fascia. Audi keeps it clean (generally) and the lines are not only clean and muscular but they flow. One interesting thing here on the A3 concept is the diagonally-pointed intakes (brake cooling?) that take the place of foglamps. For me, that kills two pains with one arrow. The first pain killed is the random lower-fascia openings on many cars that don’t do anything and are often even sealed. The second pain is the (IMO) unnecessary luxury that is foglights; they serve little purpose than to make a car look expensive.

Starting from the front fenders is my favorite feature, the straight character line that runs all the way from the headlights to the taillights! This isn’t uncommon on Audis but what I love here is the that the front wheel contour doesn’t actually break the line but simply flows under it to create depth and muscularity across the body. Then, beneath that, is the even bolder sill line (is that an acceptable term?) that runs over the rear wheel and into the fenders, and right across the rear to the other side! Other cars also do this but the wide lip here shapes the bumper to absolute perfection. There’s a third character line that runs along the bottom that is probably necessary to eliminate the empty space down there but sticks out a bit awkwardly in my view.

Finally, round back, Audi keeps things classy with very simple horizontal lines. The trunk is topped with an arched spoiler lip-like edge that reminds me of the A7. The two taillights are connected by a simple crease, and beneath that are four lines that shape out the bumper and tailpipe assembly. The black moulding between the pipes is probably meant to convey a diffuser, which is fine and much better than what BMW and Mercedes do with the cladding that wraps into the underbody. I can also sense a bit of a connection to the lower front fascia of VW’s corporate look.

As for my Avant mockup of the A3, I extended the greenhouse as far out as I could, which I realize isn’t what Audi wagons typically look like. However, the sedan version already has a short trunklid and the A3 overall isn’t a large car so my idea was that an Avant would need to offer maximum space. The other thing was that I’ve always wanted to see a wagon whose greenhouse extended beyond the body (but not the bumper!). I’m a big fan of integrated aerodynamics on many trunks nowadays (this car, Bangle butt, etc.) which leave the taillight area almost concave-like within the trunk lip and the bumper. Wagons usually eliminate that but if the greenhouse could be built all the way out to where the sedan spoiler ends, that, I envision, would create a very unique rear-end look. Come to think of it, it’s actually not far from what the current A4 Avant looks like, except the “cliff” would be under the rear windshield rather than under the taillights. I also realize the three lines that come together above the rear taillight don’t look that nice. Ideally, the side glass would probably end a little earlier so that the line flows vertically into the taillight. But overall, and from afar, I think an A3 Avant like this wouldn’t look too shabby!

This entry was posted Saturday, April 2nd, 2011 at 6:06 pm and is filed under Cars, Review, Self. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.