Friend of mine is on her second A3, a 2.0 Tdi Quattro. About 4 years old, 85k miles and she fancies a change. Her annual mileage will be reducing to 15k pa, husband runs a 3 series, she’s an ‘enthusiastic’ press on driver who also rides a powerful bike.
She prefers premium build quality, although that’s no guarantee of reliability ! Anything I could suggest as alternatives.
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In my slightly biased opinion the MINI Clubman, which is A3/Golf sized, has a much more premium feeling interior than then MB A Class/1 Series/new A3. But you do have to like the actual design. The quality of it is up there with the previous generation (8V) A3, which was streets ahead of its competitors interior wise. The MINI, in Cooper S form, is also pretty nippy, handles well and is fun to drive. The new 1 series is FWD now, not rear, so it’s main USP has gone. It’s still a good drive, and the 128ti I probably worth a look? I assume she’s steering clear of diesel? Really, if she wants nippy she should try an EV; maybe an i3? At 15k miles a year range shouldn’t be an issue...
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I second the Mini Clubman.
SWMBO is on her second and also likes to press on. The general interior treatment is high quality and the performance of all models is strong. You have to like the design and also pick the right combination of packages.
We changed from a 2016 Cooper D manual to a 2018 Cooper 1.5T auto as she broke her ankle earlier this year. There are subtle changes and improvements in the trim and overall 'surprise and delight' features but auto lights were no longer present which I though odd. Our second from bottom 2015 Renault Captur has these as well as other features as standard which you need to spec on the Mini. Bit really it's a BMW X2 in drag so it's no surprise that surprise and delight features cost....
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Thanks for the Mini suggestion...it had never crossed my mind. An EV is out of the question...too many long drives to northern Scotland to climb big hills on a weekend.
I’ll put my money on a Benz A35 which should complement her fast road bike nicely.
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If the MB A35 is a likely contender then she’ll need the John Cooper Works version of the Clubman- 306 bhp and 4 wheel drive. Pretty sure I reviewed in on here once; I borrowed one from my MINI dealer a couple of years ago. But the BMW M135 has, I think, a very similar drivetrain.
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A3 vs A Class - PeterS
