Car Hire Lottery

[NotoriousREV]

Booked: Golf or similar

Got: Audi A3 30 TFSI. Nice looking car. Surprisingly the boot isn’t as big as our 4 series convertible. It’s slow. Below 2500 rpm it’s got zero power and the turbo lag at any speed is dreadful. Turns out it’s a 1.0 litre turbo 3 pot with 116bhp and 0-60 in 9.9. Ruins an otherwise nice car. It does sound quite nice when you thrash it, though.

[Simon]

To be fair, as a 'Golf or similar' that's about as on the money as you can get, short of specifying the actual car.

[Broccers]

Sounds good

[Beany]

Booked: Golf or similar

Got: Audi A3 30 TFSI. Nice looking car. Surprisingly the boot isn’t as big as our 4 series convertible. It’s slow. Below 2500 rpm it’s got zero power and the turbo lag at any speed is dreadful. Turns out it’s a 1.0 litre turbo 3 pot with 116bhp and 0-60 in 9.9. Ruins an otherwise nice car. It does sound quite nice when you thrash it, though.

So basically you need to drive it everywhere with the throttle pinned to the floor?

[NotoriousREV]

Booked: Golf or similar

Got: Audi A3 30 TFSI. Nice looking car. Surprisingly the boot isn’t as big as our 4 series convertible. It’s slow. Below 2500 rpm it’s got zero power and the turbo lag at any speed is dreadful. Turns out it’s a 1.0 litre turbo 3 pot with 116bhp and 0-60 in 9.9. Ruins an otherwise nice car. It does sound quite nice when you thrash it, though.

So basically you need to drive it everywhere with the throttle pinned to the floor?

Yes. But it doesn’t actually accelerate.

[NotoriousREV]

They tried to upsell me to a BMW X2, firstly by asking if we had a lot of luggage (we didn’t) and then by telling me that the BMW came with sat nav but the A3 didn’t. The A3 did have sat nav after all. Lying bitch. The upgrade cost was more than I’d paid for the A3.

[ZedLeg]

Booked: Golf or similar

Got: Audi A3 30 TFSI. Nice looking car. Surprisingly the boot isn’t as big as our 4 series convertible. It’s slow. Below 2500 rpm it’s got zero power and the turbo lag at any speed is dreadful. Turns out it’s a 1.0 litre turbo 3 pot with 116bhp and 0-60 in 9.9. Ruins an otherwise nice car. It does sound quite nice when you thrash it, though.

In principle I like that sound of that engine. It would be great in a wee supermini or even a hybrid. Doesn't make any sense in a car as big as an A3 though.

Car makers are getting too focused on headline numbers and not thinking about how the engine actually makes it's power.

[Mito Man]

They tried to upsell me to a BMW X2, firstly by asking if we had a lot of luggage (we didn’t) and then by telling me that the BMW came with sat nav but the A3 didn’t. The A3 did have sat nav after all. Lying bitch. The upgrade cost was more than I’d paid for the A3.

You should have played stupid and asked to see what the BMW X2 is, then promptly projectile vomited over it upon laying eyes on it.

[Mito Man]

I don’t think 0-60 in 9.9 is that bad but maybe if you’re buying a new A3 which costs £20k? Then that’s a bit shit in 2019!

[NotoriousREV]

When I say zero power below 2.5k rpm, I’m not exaggerating. Pulling out of junctions, rolling at 10mph in 2nd gear, push your foot to the floor and NOTHING HAPPENS!

[Beany]

So use first.

imagine it's a K12 Micra (it's probably got about the same power to weight).

[NotoriousREV]

So use first.

imagine it's a K12 Micra (it's probably got about the same power to weight).

Yes, obviously use first. But you shouldn’t have to in a modern car. A naturally aspirated 1.6 with the same power would be so much nicer to drive.

[Nathan]

In principle I like that sound of that engine. It would be great in a wee supermini or even a hybrid. Doesn't make any sense in a car as big as an A3 though.

You say that, but these ECO engines all have horrible throttle mapping and flywheels.

[Matty]

Same engine as in the Up GTi. Even in that you can get caught out off boost.

Slightly less weight to hoof around though I bet an A3 is a good 300kg more than the Up....

[Beany]

Same engine as in the Up GTi. Even in that you can get caught out off boost.

Slightly less weight to hoof around though I bet an A3 is a good 300kg more than the Up....

Quick google suggests you're not far off the mark with that - around 950 vs between 1200-1570kg (although the higher numbers would obviously be quattro, not hire car spec, models)

I can remember having a passenger in the Puma (125hp, 1050ish kg) noticeably blunting performance and being four up - a challenge in the first place - making it feel like it was down a cylinder

[NotoriousREV]

Same engine as in the Up GTi. Even in that you can get caught out off boost.

Slightly less weight to hoof around though I bet an A3 is a good 300kg more than the Up....

It’s actually a really nice engine when it’s on boost. Does it still have awful lag in the Up or is it better mapped? There’s like a half second of delay between applying throttle and the power coming in. The 1.4 Multijet Turbo in our old Alfa did a much better job of feeling less like a turbo and more like a bigger engined NA.

[integrale_evo]

I'd imagine in the up they can get away with a sportier throttle map because it won't have to be sold so much on its eco credentials.

I can't quite work out the throttle mapping on the Alfa, in dynamic it's almost too sharp, if you're not super gentle from standstill it'll roar away like you're a learner with no clutch control.

Given that it's got no actual throttle to move I wonder if it detects any pedal movement and effectively goes full throttle for a split second to build the boost before pulling it back to where it should be based on actual pedal position. I know it's only a tiny turbo but it'll boost away from idle.

It can still be caught out in the normal modes if you roll into a junction at a crawl in second and need to make a reasonable getaway you have to give it a proper prod of the pedal.

[nuttinnew]

Needs DSG. The throttle mapping on the A2 is poop too, makes hill starts a pita. Wrynose and Hardknott Passes made for a new but infuriating challenge; tc off and abuse isn't how I like to do things (mostly). Still, a fair result for the booking.

[Matty]

Same engine as in the Up GTi. Even in that you can get caught out off boost.

Slightly less weight to hoof around though I bet an A3 is a good 300kg more than the Up....

It’s actually a really nice engine when it’s on boost. Does it still have awful lag in the Up or is it better mapped? There’s like a half second of delay between applying throttle and the power coming in. The 1.4 Multijet Turbo in our old Alfa did a much better job of feeling less like a turbo and more like a bigger engined NA.

The throttle response is apparently progressive - and gets sharper the more that's applied. Some people have been mapping it out. I don't find it too much of a problem, it's a relatively soft car anyway so it just seems to work.

[NotoriousREV]

Same engine as in the Up GTi. Even in that you can get caught out off boost.

Slightly less weight to hoof around though I bet an A3 is a good 300kg more than the Up....

It’s actually a really nice engine when it’s on boost. Does it still have awful lag in the Up or is it better mapped? There’s like a half second of delay between applying throttle and the power coming in. The 1.4 Multijet Turbo in our old Alfa did a much better job of feeling less like a turbo and more like a bigger engined NA.

The throttle response is apparently progressive - and gets sharper the more that's applied. Some people have been mapping it out. I don't find it too much of a problem, it's a relatively soft car anyway so it just seems to work.

Definitely not the case in the A3. Floor it, count a beat and it’ll kick in, even at 4000+ rpm.