The big news, however, can be seen at the Sportback's tail end, which has been
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| Although the Sportback version of the A3 appears much bigger than the 3-door model, the increase in interior space is minimal. (Photo: Audi Canada) |
extended and angled to create a semi-wagon appearance similar to Audi's earlier 5000/100-200 Avants. This is not a strict wagon per se, falling more in line with a Mazda3 Sport design rather than the Volkswagen Jetta Wagon, for instance. The overall length of the A3 Sportback has increased by 68 mm (2.7 inches), much of which gets added directly at the car's back end for increased cargo room. Wheelbase length is still the same as on the 3-door model. Having seen the success of wagon-hatchback crossovers, such as the Mazda Protegé5, Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix, Audi's choice to extend the A3 lineup makes logical sense.
Although the A3 Sportback may look to be a big improvement in practicality and cargo carrying space from the three-door model,
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| . Similar to other sport/luxury lifestyle wagons such as the Lexus IS 300 SportCross, cargo room is compromised for sporty styling. (Photo: Audi Canada) |
the differences are marginal. Although easier access to the rear seat is granted by the rear doors, the gain in cargo carrying capacity is minimal. Trunk space is 370 liters (13.1 cu ft) when the rear seats are upright, which is 20 liters (0.7 cu ft) more than the 3-door hatchback. Once the rear seatbacks are folded, this volume increases to 1,120 liters (39.6 cu ft). In any sense, this isn't a particularly significant increase with the sporty raked rear glass being the reason. Similar to other sport/luxury lifestyle wagons such as the Lexus IS 300 SportCross, cargo room is compromised for a sporty style. Audi seems to have found a compromise that its engineers appear to be happy with. If more cargo space is required, the next logical step for a customer would be to move up to the A4 Avant.
