A3 TDI vs. Jetta TDI

I will be visiting the Houston Auto Show soon to check out all of the diesel offerings; however, before I attend, I am wondering if anyone cross-shopped the A3 with the Jetta TDI. Can anyone offer any comments on why the A3 is better than the Jetta, or visa-versa depending upon preferences? Thanks for your opinions.

No, but the real questions are (once you get the TMI and test drives) which better meets the parameters important to you?

One that is built into the cake, Audi's profits per vehicle are much greater than VW's. Another is the more options, the great depreciation, more to fix when things go wrong and the higher cost per mile driven (all things being equal)

fastcar4re said:

I will be visiting the Houston Auto Show soon to check out all of the diesel offerings; however, before I attend, I am wondering if anyone cross-shopped the A3 with the Jetta TDI. Can anyone offer any comments on why the A3 is better than the Jetta, or visa-versa depending upon preferences? Thanks for your opinions.

Click to expand...

Not the Jetta, but the Golf. I went A3, but I have a Golf R on order, a Golf R in the driveway and a GTI before that, so a big factor in the end was I just didnt want yet another one. From a driving standpoint, I think the Golf is better calibrated. Suspension and steering are better. If you want a sporty handling go VW, if you want softer, go Audi. They are both the MQB chassis so there not a lot of structural difference, but the Audi has a slight advantage there as the trunk stiffens things up a bit. Not scientific but the Audi at highway speeds is a bit quieter. IIRC the Jetta has yet to go MQB, but to be honest, my '12 MK VI R is pretty much just as tight as the A3 so it not a big deal. Anecdotally the VWs seems to get slightly better mileage. One nice thing about the Jetta is that unlike the other two it has IRS. And if you want a stick, you can get one.

The Audi, though, is a unquestionably a nicer car. Is it worth the money? I think so, but I wouldn't argue hard with others who feel differently. There are a lot of small things that its does very well that its taken a few month to actually recognize, many of which I suspect are absent in either of the VWs. Without a doubt, while its no S Class, the A3 cockpit is a very much nicer place to be than the VW. One other intangible is the dealership/manufacturer experience. I had the misfortune a couple of weeks ago to run into a gel problem. Dealing with Audi Roadside was great. If anything they were too eager to help. After a tow to my dealership, they confirmed it was a gelling problem, put some power service in, all free of charge when of course it wasnt a problem with their product, but the fuel. I can do without all the free ice cream cones/lattes stuff, not my style, but I was very impressed that their definition of good service extends well beyond that sort of thing to the stuff that actually is important. So, different level of service and customer care, which has real value, at least to me.

Bottom line is they share a lot of traits and parts. If its about the bones, you'll likely prefer the Jetta. From a transportation standpoint, they're not radically different automobiles. But if you want a little more personality and a whiff of luxury in a small, solid car you might find yourself willing to spend the extra bucks on the A3. Despite a few niggles, overall I find it a very pleasant, relaxing and even enjoyable car to drive, which being a racer type that highly values a lot of characteristics this car doesnt possess, is pretty high praise.

I had a 2014 Jetta Premium with Navigation for seven months and 22,000 miles before trading it in on a 2015 Audi Premium Plus with lots of bells and whistles three months and 15,000 miles ago, so the comparison is not exactly what you asked for but should be pretty close.

If I had to describe each car in a word, I’d say the Jetta is “nimble” while the Audi is “solid.” I really liked the Jetta and would probably still have it if the driver’s seat were more comfortable. The car was an ideal size for me, visibility all around was good and it was fun to drive. But the seat, even with the lumbar support cranked all the way up, wasn’t enough for my back. In addition, the support was too high to be effective. I solved that problem, sort of, with an old rolled up kitchen towel under my lower back (nice thing about kitchen towels is that they are infinitely adjustable and virtually free) but that still left a lack of thigh support that became achingly apparent on long drives. Since long drives are the name of the game for me, I leapt at the 2015 A3 when the TDI version finally arrived.

I’ve posted extensively about my A3 TDI in other threads on this forum, but suffice it so say that I like it very much. The 12-way adjustable driver’s seat cured the back support problem nicely and without recourse to kitchen towels. Last Sunday I drove to New York and back, nine hours of driving in one day with no discomfort, something which would have been impossible in the Jetta. Eighty MPH is a relaxed cruising speed and I really appreciate many of the luxury features, like the much more advanced navigation system. The biggest downside compared to the Jetta is visibility to the sides and rear quarters. I highly recommend getting the Driver Assistance Package which includes blind spot monitors as well as a backup camera and parking sensors front and rear. Even though the overall feel of the Audi is more solid than nimble it’s actual performance is probably about the same as the Jetta’s and it’s all too easy to be in flashing blue light territory before you realize it.

As for maintenance costs, the Audi may actually be cheaper to run. True, VW gives you the 10 and 20K miles services for free, but then you’re paying every 10,000 miles and there’s a whopping big hit of around $500 for the DSG service at 40,000. Audi gives only one free service, at 5,000 miles, but I bought the Audi Care package for $810 that prepays services through 45,000 miles, including the DSG service at 35,000.

So, those are of the comparisons that are most important to me. Is the Audi worth the extra cost? After owning and driving both cars, I’d say “yes” - for me.

I wish there was a way to "like" the last two reviews. Very well written and balanced, IMO.

Thank you to everyone so far - these reviews and opinions are really helping. As for the A3 having some side to side blind spot issues, I recommend curing that problem with aspherical mirrors, which I put on my 2005 Passat TDI. They are European sourced, and after a couple of weeks of getting used to them, you will most likely really appreciate the extra visibility. I was already worried that I would have to go without them if I traded my Passat. If your heated mirror heating element goes bad, consider this as a replacement. Based on my quick internet search, they appear to be available for the A3. Just make sure the year/shape matches up. My regards.

And, I did make it to the Houston Auto Show last week, and when I spoke to the Audi folks, they told me the A4 TDI would most likely be in the USA in the Fall of 2016. He told me Audi wants a TDI as an option in every vehicle. For what its worth.

fastcar4re said:

Thank you to everyone so far - these reviews and opinions are really helping. As for the A3 having some side to side blind spot issues, I recommend curing that problem with aspherical mirrors, which I put on my 2005 Passat TDI. They are European sourced, and after a couple of weeks of getting used to them, you will most likely really appreciate the extra visibility. I was already worried that I would have to go without them if I traded my Passat. If your heated mirror heating element goes bad, consider this as a replacement. Based on my quick internet search, they appear to be available for the A3. Just make sure the year/shape matches up. My regards.

Click to expand...

At first I was a little concerned about visibility, but after a few miles and careful adjustment of the passenger side mirror, its fine IMO. I wouldn't talk anyone out of the driver assist, the rear view cam + obstacle radar is the piece of the package I find I cant live without. But having taken a bit of extra time for setup (the mirror's aero shape makes it trickier than usual) I could live with out the driver assist aspect. YMMV.

There is, however, one visibility issue that's not addressed by any of these solutions. The combination of a very wide B pillar and the large headrests means at yield type intersections, i.e. entering at 30 to 45 degrees, these items block a large portion of what you're need to see when trying to look out the passenger side of the car. You can mitigate it somewhat by moving up the passenger seat when going solo, but of course that's a hassle in a number of dimensions. Not sure if the Jetta is better in this regard or not.

On the subject of the A4, I find the A3, at 1800 miles so not really broken in yet, to be near the limit of what I consider an acceptable power/torque to weight ratio at least with the current 6 speed tranny. I personally can't see the current motor powering an A4 satisfactorily and certainly not if available with AWD. IIRC, in Europe the A4 can be had with the V6 TDI, which could be the case here as well depending how they decide to position the car. Perhaps the next gen will be significantly lighter, but given its current weight, I think the A4 likely makes more sense as a compact A6 than an enlarged A3. Perhaps by the time it gets here the 180HP 4 cylinder version will be clean enough to come stateside. Its also worth noting that there are interesting rumors that it could be available as a diesel hybrid as well. One final thing to consider if you're willing to wait that long and depending on your brand loyalty level, is that by 2016 there will be some interesting alternatives in that class. Autoweek just today gave the new Jag XE a pretty stellar review and the C-Class should have the 2.1 by then.

Anyhoo, thanks for the thanks, happy to be of some small service and I wish you the best of luck, whichever way you decide to go.

Tailwagger said:

There is, however, one visibility issue that's not addressed by any of these solutions. The combination of a very wide B pillar and the large headrests means at yield type intersections, i.e. entering at 30 to 45 degrees, these items block a large portion of what you're need to see when trying to look out the passenger side of the car. You can mitigate it somewhat by moving up the passenger seat when going solo, but of course that's a hassle in a number of dimensions. Not sure if the Jetta is better in this regard or not.
...

I find the A3 ... to be near the limit of what I consider an acceptable power/torque to weight ratio ...

Click to expand...

Yep, agree with you completely on that B pillar. Kind of tense sometimes trying to look through it when what I really want to see is what's coming up on me from the right. I think it also contributes to the general claustrophobia I feel sometimes when I am trying to see what's around me. Indeed, the Jetta, and even the A4 I drove as a loaner, are much better in this respect. My gold standard for visibility is the two BMWs I had in the early 70s, a 1600 and a 2002tii. With thin pillars and an almost perfect box shape, I could see every corner. But then again, I might appreciate the A3's B pillars more if I ever have the misfortune of rolling the car.

As for power-to-weight and acceleration, I measure that, too, against my BMWs as well as my 70s/80s VW diesels. (Two Rabbits and a Jetta.) The A3's 0-60 time is 1.0 to 2.0 seconds faster than the 2002tii, and it's a diesel for Pete's sake! On the other end of the spectrum are the V-dubs. They didn't really accelerate, they just kind of gathered speed, eventually. So I an more than happy with the A3's performance, and still in complete awe of how far the technology has come since those days. Gee, I don't even have to run this car in 3rd gear at 45+ mph to get enough heat to stave off frostbite in 10 degree weather like I did with the '77 Rabbit. Now that's progress!

ChinaBob said:

Yep, agree with you completely on that B pillar. Kind of tense sometimes trying to look through it when what I really want to see is what's coming up on me from the right. I think it also contributes to the general claustrophobia I feel sometimes when I am trying to see what's around me. Indeed, the Jetta, and even the A4 I drove as a loaner, are much better in this respect. My gold standard for visibility is the two BMWs I had in the early 70s, a 1600 and a 2002tii. With thin pillars and an almost perfect box shape, I could see every corner. But then again, I might appreciate the A3's B pillars more if I ever have the misfortune of rolling the car.

Click to expand...

I find it a little ironic. The thick pillar and marginal window size certainly makes the car stronger, but equally it makes it more likely you need it to be because its far easier to get broadsided by someone you failed to see coming. Self fulfilling prophesy? Dunno. It is manageable, but its exactly the short of thing that discourages me from letting my teenage son drive the car unattended.

ChinaBob said:

As for power-to-weight and acceleration, I measure that, too, against my BMWs as well as my 70s/80s VW diesels. (Two Rabbits and a Jetta.) The A3's 0-60 time is 1.0 to 2.0 seconds faster than the 2002tii, and it's a diesel for Pete's sake! On the other end of the spectrum are the V-dubs. They didn't really accelerate, they just kind of gathered speed, eventually. So I an more than happy with the A3's performance, and still in complete awe of how far the technology has come since those days. Gee, I don't even have to run this car in 3rd gear at 45+ mph to get enough heat to stave off frostbite in 10 degree weather like I did with the '77 Rabbit. Now that's progress!

Click to expand...

Despite being raised in a family that worshiped the European sports car, I had numerous brushes with vehicles of lesser capability as well. In the course of having owned literally a hundred+ road cars from Alfas to Zs, I've spent time with a number of vehicles, domestic and foreign, that were lucky to see 60 in 20 seconds. Off the top of my head, I'd say that a Rabbit Diesel pickup and Chevy Vega with a 2, yes, 2 speed automatic vie for top...er... bottom honors in that regard. Certainly compare to either of those cars the current TDI is a rocket ship. But as your reference to the 2002 point outs, that was a time when a European car was considered fast if it broke the 10 second barrier to 60. Today an average Minivan is a better sports car than 95% of the ones built 40 years ago. Not as fun perhaps, but faster, more grip and better brakes.

Having test driven the 3 diesel AWD (faster than the A3) and having come very, very close to buying an E-Class which weighs half a ton more with all wheel drive and a mere .1L more displacement (just as fast as the A3), I don't think you can say that the A3 motor is class leading with respect to output from a 2L diesel. That's not to say its bad, just that it is bringing up the rear power wise when viewed against its German brethren. Some of the over the road impressions are certainly also down to the 6 vs 7 vs 8 speed trannies, but both the BMW and Merc have far higher torque numbers which I found quite noticeable.

Now all this is fine for the A3, which is quite a bit less mass and money than either of the other two and livelier given its only driving two wheels. That's a couple of the reasons why I decided to go with it. And as we've already discussed, viewed against the Jetta/Passat/Golf there are plenty of good reasons to as well. But if we're talking about this motor in its current state of tune, all I was referring to, installed in a A4Q lugging around 3800-4000 pounds, I'm very skeptical it will cut it compared the others in its class. So my bet is we'll see something with a bit more grunt and likely more expensive than we might like.

I test drove the new 2015 A3 TDi on the weekend and was not impressed with performance. Car was list $38K+ without sport seats or Navi. Not a bad ride but felt heavy and the acceleration did not feel as "impressive" as in the 2014 JSW TDI. Nice fit and finish plus materials inside and the ride was good but is it worth more than $10K over the JSW - not in my book. I still need to test ride the 2015 Golf Wagon TDi before making my decision but for now I am leaning towards a new (as in 2014 model) JSW or a used A3 (past generation)....better value for the $ in my opinion....

Pollo said:

I test drove the new 2015 A3 TDi on the weekend and was not impressed with performance. Car was list $38K+ without sport seats or Navi. Not a bad ride but felt heavy and the acceleration did not feel as "impressive" as in the 2014 JSW TDI. Nice fit and finish plus materials inside and the ride was good but is it worth more than $10K over the JSW - not in my book. I still need to test ride the 2015 Golf Wagon TDi before making my decision but for now I am leaning towards a new (as in 2014 model) JSW or a used A3 (past generation)....better value for the $ in my opinion....

Click to expand...

The '14 JSW has less power, weighs more and has virtually identical gearing to the A3. The '15 Jetta, btw, actually is listed as slightly heavier than the A3 as well. Perfectly reasonable to go VW, but if you're noticing a 'significant' difference between the two its either in your head or you need to weigh your salemen prior to a test drive.

I currently have a 2006.5 Jetta TDI and have completely written off the current Jetta. Even with the upgrade to softer plastics for 2015, the interior leaves a lot to be desired so I'm currently eyeing the 2015/16 Golf TDI and Golf TDI SportWagen.

I was also surprised how different the Golf drives over the Jetta. They are suppose to have the same 2.0 TDI engine but it was a night and day difference. The salesman believes the Jetta to be more dumbed down for American buyers while the Golf is mostly left alone from the German variant.

I actually have BOTH the 2014 Jetta TDI and the 2015 Audi A3 TDI.

I like the Audi far better than the Jetta. I wanted more than just transportation.

The Jetta is an economical, low frills, basic, transportation car. It lacks all the features that I wanted. The Jetta has average 33.7 MPG, the Audi 36.3 MPG already with only 1,800 miles on it.

While the Audi is more expensive, I got the fully loaded Prestige level for $39K. The Jetta was $25K for the SEL with Navigation. Some will focus only on that. I was willing to pay extra for a car manufactured in Europe (either Germany or Hungary depending on the story). The Mexico built Jetta had quality issues including a defect in the paint of the hood, a rear drivers side door handle jam issue. As well the dash was cheap enough that the outline of the airbag hole was visible on the dash.

Again, I like leather seats, nicer appointment, the style, the lighting systems. The Audi has fully adjustable interior lights that include the footwells, rear seating areas and door/speaker highlights. The Audi has the adaptive drive system which can be adjusted to your liking or choice. The Jetta does not offer it.

Test drive them both. The Jetta was snappy, spry, and agile. The Audi is a performance drive and not "soft" by any means as someone here stated. Perhaps the adaptive drive was not set correctly?

Any rate, it comes down to $$$$'s. If you can afford it, get the German made Audi while they are available.

CincyAudi said:

I currently have a 2006.5 Jetta TDI and have completely written off the current Jetta. Even with the upgrade to softer plastics for 2015, the interior leaves a lot to be desired so I'm currently eyeing the 2015/16 Golf TDI and Golf TDI SportWagen.

I was also surprised how different the Golf drives over the Jetta. They are suppose to have the same 2.0 TDI engine but it was a night and day difference. The salesman believes the Jetta to be more dumbed down for American buyers while the Golf is mostly left alone from the German variant.

Click to expand...

Agree! The Jetta interior was economized too much. It borders on cheap. Better than most US built cars, but below my standard for VW.

Tailwagger said:

The '14 JSW has less power, weighs more and has virtually identical gearing to the A3. The '15 Jetta, btw, actually is listed as slightly heavier than the A3 as well. Perfectly reasonable to go VW, but if you're noticing a 'significant' difference between the two its either in your head or you need to weigh your salemen prior to a test drive.

Click to expand...

I have to wonder about this. The adaptive drive setting makes a difference. If it is set incorrectly it would behave differently.

The 2015 Audi A3 I have is more peppy and powerful than my 2014 Jetta.

You are right - I need to take the A3 TDi for a spin again to make sure it's not in my head.
I like the look/interior for sure but the car lacked "pick-up" feel the JSW has I I drove in sport mode....need to re-test...

OK...so here is the latest:
Drove the new A3 TDi last Saturday - first drove the "base" model which apparently does not have the "sport" trany mode option - you can manually change gears (via gear shift) but it does not have "S" mode like the JSW trany does. Once I knew that I test drove the A3 TDi with the "sport" package which does have the Audi drive select with the "sport" mode. Long story short the way I see it the only way to go is to get the car with the "sport" mode option ($800). Big difference how the car drives/handles...

Pollo said:

OK...so here is the latest:
Drove the new A3 TDi last Saturday - first drove the "base" model which apparently does not have the "sport" trany mode option - you can manually change gears (via gear shift) but it does not have "S" mode like the JSW trany does. Once I knew that I test drove the A3 TDi with the "sport" package which does have the Audi drive select with the "sport" mode. Long story short the way I see it the only way to go is to get the car with the "sport" mode option ($800). Big difference how the car drives/handles...

Click to expand...

Can't speak to the base model though I think it too has a tranny sport mode, but the Premium Plus without sport package certainly does. When in D, if you pull back on the lever it switches between sport and normal. That said, if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't buy the car without the sport package.

I know this is going to sound silly but when you put the trany in a "sport" mode will it function fully automatically (i.e. change the gears) or do you have to use the level to change the gears?

Yes, it changes gears automatically but it holds each gear longer. In the A38P it won't shift until 3k plus.

One consideration is whether you want or perhaps more saliently, DON'T WANT a sunroof. All the A3's come with it, but the base level golf does not. When I bought my 2012 A3, I had a choice and opted for a solid and rattle-free roof.