Spied: 2013 Audi A3

After the Audi A3 concept debuted with an asylum escapee of an engine at last February’s Geneva auto show—it packed a 408-hp turbocharged five-cylinder—it’s hard not to be disappointed by these spy pictures of the three-door prototype, which is closer to production form. It’s not so much that the burqa-clad test car is likely powered by a frugal four-cylinder engine, but more that some of the show car’s clever styling details had to be ditched. This explains the absence of the show car’s space-age door handles, as well as the addition of the familiar Audi body-side crease. The final shape of this iteration is what you’d expect for a two-box hatchback based on the Volkswagen Golf.

Beyond these discernable details, we know that the next-gen A3 will be lighter than the current model—which debuted in the U.S. back in 2005—and bigger, too. We’d love to see the company work more aluminum into the A3, but that likely would pile too much cost into one of Audi’s more-affordable models. The three-door body style seen here is almost definitely going to be denied a visa for entrance to the U.S. Instead, we’ll get a five-door hatch, plus the sedan directly previewed by the A3 concept.

In the States, the next A3’s powertrain lineup will be exclusively turbocharged, likely drawing on the same 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel and gasoline engines it uses now, which offer 140 and 200 hp, respectively. Europeans will have a bigger engine buffet, including some weak-sauce four-bangers. The higher-powered models, including U.S.-spec cars, will offer Quattro all-wheel drive as an option. Last but certainly not least, we are optimistic we’ll also get an S3, which would potentially use the 265-hp turbo four from the TTS, as well as an RS3, which would see a reprise of Leonidas’s turbo-five. Primary competition will come in the form of the next versions of the BMW 1-series and Mercedes-Benz A-class.

The current A3 is a fine machine—in spite of some painful pricing in dealers on these shores—but it’s now wrinkled and overripe, so we’re enthused to see that the work on its replacement is moving forward briskly.

Thanks to: Car and Driver