Yes, a 1-litre three-cylinder turbo, which develops 113bhp and 147lb ft, and whose forged internals mean it’s a proper little bantamweight – just 88kg all in, in fact. For an internal combustion engine, that’s hardly anything at all.
It’s a virtuous circle: light internals means less need for a heavy balancer shaft to smooth out the odd cylinder count’s inherent wobbliness, so the engine stays lighter, and so on.
But no good for tailgating with such measly power?
The A3 1.0 TFSI is not a fast car. Cars tuned to deliver a combined 62.8mpg and 104g/km of CO2 rarely are. But, these three-cylinder turbo engines have a habit of punching well above their (small) weight by being so peppy and keen, and that same trait we like in various 1.0-litre Fords, Vauxhalls and VWs rings true here. Or should that be ‘thrums’.
Officially, it’ll do 0-62mph in 9.7 seconds and 128mph flat out, but the in-gear shove is completely acceptable for dashing along the motorway. The three-pot revs keenly up to 4,500rpm but then starts to sweat and strain. You need to work a bit for your torque here.
Still, it’s a match for the old 1.2-litre engine’s performance (itself a turbo downsized from 1.6s of old) and actually sounds characterful, not dull. That’s a bonus. You’d rather have a fun than flat sounding engine, wouldn’t you?
Should I go for an auto or manual?
Audi’s optional seven-speed S-tronic gearbox is a fine transmission for making the most of the bijou outputs. But the manual is a peach when hooked up to this bubbly engine. It’s a crisp and premium-feeling shift that adds engagement and allows you to make the most of that peppy engine and decent chassis.
