A lot of folks are saying the owner isn't an enthusiast. I dunno, anyone who makes Bilstein PSS 9 coilovers and Michelin Pilot Super Sports as their first Mod knows what they're doing, regardless of what car he chose to buy in the first place. My 2 cents....
People need to stop hating on this guys car, it's good to have a range of reviews on different cars. True 'car guys' find reviews interesting on all types of cars whether it be a diesel Audi or 1000hp supra
Hi guys, Maddox here. Thanks again Matt for reviewing my car, I definitely enjoyed the experience and watching the video. The hate comments are pretty funny to me to be honest. I love my car and it works very well for me. I take a lot of road trips and it's honestly perfect for that. It's just a nice place to be, freeway passing is a breeze without ever leaving 6th, it carries friends and stuff in a small package and it'll return 40+ mpg cruising at 80-85 all day. My friends all agree that there's no car they'd rather take from LA to San Francisco. Also, I have a lot of fun in the canyons with it. It's just the right size and I can really place it perfectly on these tight roads. It's lightish, it handles, and the torque pulls hard out of tight corners. I know I could have gotten a Mustang or whatever for 30k but I was operating within parental constraints and I feel that my car reflects me and my driving style. As for the comments about my chin, LOL! The lighting and angle really do accentuate it there. I've had a chin dimple since birth, and I find it funny that it bothers middle-aged men on the internet because it doesn't bother me and CERTAINLY doesn't seem to bother girls in real life. Have a nice day, y'all!
So what exactly were the constraints on your parent's purchase? I think a lot of people have a good point in saying there's so much that you could have bought for 33 grand. It didn't have to be dangerous and ridiculously fast, but trying to turn a tdi into an enthusiast's car doesn't seem worth it...
You don't have to justify owning this car for the people leaving negative comments on here, it could be some 11 year old with nothing to do lol. You got the car for you not them. All that matters is that you're happy with it and it seems that you are so job well done!
***** I'd say with those constraints you did a pretty good job. I was thinking you should have gotten a miata at first but than you said no 2-doors. That would have killed me haha
Maddox seems like a really nice guy. I was surprised to hear he's only 17. I imagined he was in his early 20's or so. For his first car, he did a really good job.
someusername121 who cares...the whole video I figured the kid was 23-25 and to find out he was 17 I was surprised. The kids mature enough, seems respectful and knows his stuff. If my parents bought me a 30k car when I was that age I'd take it...me, you, and every other person alive. This guy seems well deserving from what I gathered from the video so I've got no problem with it at all
Justin D I care because I don't respect some kid who gets $30k dropped on them by daddy for being alive. He's 17, he hasn't accomplished anything to make him worthy of that hence he's a spoiled brat.
someusername121 So because he's a good person, you don't respect him? What an ignorant mindset. And you don't know what he's accomplished in his life, so stop being an idiot and judging people based off the car they drive.
Duke Silver Eh, that ecobox is just an Audi.He could've bought an used Audi RS3 Quattro for that amount of money but chose to buy a brand new one with 140hp. Calls himself a "enthusiast".
That's his first car? Jesus fuck, my first car was more iron oxide than steel and marked its territory with a mixture of ATF, motor oil, antifreeze, and hydraulic fluid everywhere I parked it. Sometimes a little DOT4 would be added to that mix, depending on how fast the car was rusting.
that's a true first car mine was a ford fiesta 1999 1'8TD with an amazing amount of power 75hp!!!! but still alives , solid motor but crapy interiors and awful paintjob ( the car was silver and now looks like bird poo color)
FrankTheCat first car was a 1989 volvo 245 DL, payed 500$ for and it lasted 2 whole years, love this car, RWD and canadian winter is the perfect mix ahah
My first "car" was a 2wd Datsun truck with a 5 speed trans and a 4 cylinder. It had the duel spark plugs and still managed 25 mpg despite it being 3 years older than me. That thing had so much character with poop brown paint and rust accents. The speedo went to 80 but the needle went a ways past that and then stopped. I would run it hard on a downhill part of the highway then let off and count how long it took for the needle to move again from 88 mph. Yes Back to the Future quotes all day.
Probably my favorite one take so far being that I'm in high school and like VWs and Audis. This is pretty much how I plan to modify the A4 I just bought too haha, well done Maddox!
Diesels are good in their own way (torque,fuel economy,long lasting engines) ...of course you can be an enthusiast and drive a diesel... I drove once an E220 cdi and it drifts like crazy!! I would much like to own one
17 year old with a brand new A3 :) I don't necessarily mind that parents bought him a car (well at least I think he didn't buy it himself) but for a first car everyone should experience a little rust bucket. It's where the passion for cars start :)
He could’ve bought it himself a lot of kids work while they’re in school and just like my parents my first car was a 2002 Audi A4, I made the payments on it but dad paid the insurance, and I worked a few nights a week busing tables, back then of course the Audi for boys like $28,000 but still..
I think it's fun to see cars that isn't really extreme, this is something anyone could make without much experience. But the kid was interrupted a lot :o
You can make these diesels fast with a proper tune , mods and stronger clutch. Î got the manual seat cupra tdi with the same engine but bigger turbo.. Black smoke all the way.
***** that 200 hp is alot when you consider its likely pushing over 300lb of torque . the 2.0t makes 220hp and 260lb of torque , to be honest with 200/300 your probably going to be just as fast 0-60 and have better off the line punch . im in no way shape or form a fan of diesels , especially in cars. but it modded could be a quick car . however the 2.0t could be tuned as well and be stupid fast .
You should do a one take on a medium to heavy modified TDI. That would be awesome and I'm sure you would enjoy it. There are some pushing the 300hp and 450 lb-ft range.
I wasn't aware you could get the hatchback/wagon version in the USA, and it appears you no longer can. Did they scratch it off the list once the sedan came out?
AutobahnDRIVER The first-generation A3 was only available as a 5-door hatchback in the US, and now it is only available as a Sedan and Convertible in the US.
My dad had a vw bora with a gt tdi 150bhp engine...hybrid turbo..fmic...remap (obviously)...straight pipe. That made around 220 at the crank with 320 foot pound of torque. And ye surprisingly enough it didnt chuck out a load of black smoke :)
Rad to see an ACLA member on The Smoking Tire. Maddox is a really nice kid, incredibly responsible driver for a 17 year old. There are guys who go on our club cruises much older than he is (or I am) that drive like total asshats. Point is age is just a number, stupid is stupid old or young!
Yeah that'll be pretty rad. I don't know if I'm up for letting Matt get behind the wheel of my Avant, I hate being in the passenger seat of any car, let alone my own.
That's a really nice interior. I prefer light colored interiors over black because it gets freakishly hot in the summer here and also because if a piece gets damaged somehow then a used tan trim piece is several times cheaper than a black piece.
A3's in Europe dont have true quattro if im correct (my friend has one and yeah a diesel but with an MT) I think what they do have is a haldex system simillar to Audi TT :)
I like the blanked-out grille. You should do a once-around the outside before ya start driving. The problem with Audi turbos is they're made for lane changes on the autobahn, but they're borderline dangerous off the line. There's just no way to spool up the boost without a manual, which of course ya can't get. I wonder if the transverse setup works better than the A4 FWD which is super nose-heavy due to the lengthwise setup.
I Completely understand what your talking about, I drove a base model a5 and it had no go for the first second or 2 off the line. I believe the issue is down to the fact that the smaller engined audis now use CVT gearboxes rather than a conventional auto/dual clutch gearbox which usually feel far punchier off the line
matt tsatsos I didn't know cars became unsafe once the first owner trades it in/sells it. Interesting. Even if I were loaded my kid would not get a brand new luxury car. He'd be driving a 5 or less year old Honda or Toyota.
I remember my first car; a 1998 Opel Corsa with 55hp (at least it was a manual) AND I had to buy it with my own money, also had to pay for my license which is about 1500€ in germany.
I wish I could hand over the keys to my E36 318iS to Matt... Has a limited slip, Just put H&R springs on it, already had orange Konis, rides so nice. It's slow as all hell, but I'd just LOVE to know how hard Matt could make it corner, because I'm just not a good enough driver to do it as fast as Matt can. Problem is: I'm from across the pond, so that probably won't ever happen.
WOW!! Thats modified?? In the UK I've got an Audi A3 Sport Quattro 2.0L TDI (170HP) with a much more fun 6 speed manual gearbox and thats stock!!! Put some 18" Lightweight aluminium alloys on and a remap, and I'm running close to 210HP, it must suck to be an Audi guy over there haha!!
It's a nightmare, we see you europeans and your a4 quattro tdi with your start stop and your tdi motor size options. here if your going to get a tdi it's a 2.0 or larger. the bmw 328d, a3 tdi and chevy cruze are the only economical diesels you can get here. the a3 just this year came with quattro as an option but good luck finding that car, it's super rare. and none of these cars have a manual transmission. The only other diesels are the big fat luxury cars far too expensive and big to be considered practical... yep it fuckingg sucks. I want an a4 tdi quattro 6 speed with start stop. but it will never ever happen. Some guys are swapping in tdi powertrain into their a4's are great cost and energy... It really sucks. the bmw 2.0 tdi is the most efficient in USA. but it is 45 thousand dollars. Maybe 35k used. These cool diesel cars would sell like birth control in a white community if they would import them here... They're really just assholes for not bringing the cool cars here... Any diesel car here has a premium price on top of the fact they're rare.
that would be easier than waiting or making my own. but then I'd have to drive across Europe for my road trips and I can't even get onto canada! how many countries in eu a strict about background checks lol. an alcohol offence alone is a 10 year ban from canada.
+ArcolaBridge you get points on license for alcohol offences, speeding etc but that's about it, if you get a ban it's nowhere near 10 years and you just have to your driving test and theory test again
I had a Golf IV which I bought second hand and took from 90.000miles to 160.000miles. Only mechanical issue I ever had was a window mechanism failure. Other than that, only oil changes, filters and tires.
I see things differently. His parents paid the car, or at least a fraction of it. That's what he said in the comments. I would have been more than happy with a car like this as my first car. Maybe it has something to do with my country but absolutely no insurance company would insure a first car with more than 130bhp , let alone a brand new one.
so, matt assuming you didnt want to do the car for an episode of tuned instead, if someone brought you their car, would you do one of these? mine is nowhere near ready but, when it is, i would love to know what you would think of it
to be clear, i meant from somewhere relatively far away. forgot to put that in. since you had said at the beginning you wont be getting on a plane for these episodes
Will Young If you are bored enough to come a long way for just a one take, and if the car is something we want to film, we'd consider it. Shoot a wheelwell profile over to our Facebook page
sigh, first car an Audi, mine was a Cavalier lol Talking about how well the car has held up after 30 000 miles? really? lol i would HOPE a car, any car never mind an Audi, regardless of price, would hold up well after only 30 000. Its still pretty much brand new.
Unfortunate that this generation of A3 was never offered with both a manual and AWD. You could have one or the other. The car I learned stick on was a 2011 A3 2.0T FWD manual. Super easy car to drive and lots of torque with a Stage 1 tune, but after 25k miles I started getting misfiring cylinders. Shortly thereafter I sold the car with just a couple months of warranty left. Guy who bought it texted me months later complaining about clutch and starter issues. Figures.
Just get to the end of the show and it was quiet nice move from the host to pick this guy and his so called modded piece of beauti for a ride. Kind of entry level modern please daddy just tires and shocks plsplspls thing. I mean it was nice to see an average mid class student first steps. BUT from that amount of credit or cash- or what ever paying methods u US citizens are prefer- u could go for a nice r32 from 2003-2004 + hgp turbo set + fittings i guess and that my friend will put a smile on that face even u start wonder to go and dance whit the devil in the pale moonlight :D :D . Correct me if i wrong .
TheSmokingTire Dude, that amount of gas would cost $110-$115 in the UK right now, and prices are low for us at the moment... you guys got it good over there.
cumnes6 The UK is a whole other level of financial investment when it comes to your car. Most expensive place I've ever driven. The fact that what you choose to drive is so important there is probably a big part of the reason top gear became so successful. On the other hand, I was in Oman filming for /DRIVE, and gas was the equivalent of $0.70 per gallon. I filled up my loaned Aston Martin V12S for like, $16.
What I don't understand is that. They didn't give the US a manual or quattro diesel A3 but here in the UK they did. But BMW gave a manual E60 M5 to the US which let's face it is the home of the slush box. But here in the UK it's SMG only.... yeah that seems fair 😂
TheSmokingTire I love the buses, As soon as I got my first B4 passat tdi a year ago, got addicted to them, I now have 3(same year same model) and the Vw Buses are growing on me.
Nice first mod, stage 2, DSG tune and cp3 conversion should be next. My 2010 a3 tdi is fast, it has custom stage 2, DSG flash, eco tune and cp3 + hardware upgrade.. its fast. I wouldn't let this guy drive it tho lol
It really didn't feel fast? Surprises me - my friend had a 2.0tdi Leon FR (same engine as this, similar tune with power output, closer to 200 bhp) and it pulled hard with all the twist it made, genuinely surprised me with how quick it went. I get diesels often feel quicker than they actually are mind, especially the smaller ones
To people curious about him driving this to while in school it's not rare out here I went to high school for two years about 10-15 miles from tear canyons and there were kids driving brand new audis bmws Infiniti g35's one kid has this nice classic Alfa Romeo forgot the name another drive a modded Evo and another had a modded out BMW 335i so this little 150hp a3 is not surprising
trevor philips There are kids in his school with GTR's, R8's and F-Types. A slow, diesel A3 is nothing for that area. He's a nice kid, seems responsible in the way he's modified his car, and his parents gave him a nice-ish, yet slow and safe car. There's really nothing wrong with that.
Matt Farah I feel like an old muscle car would be more fun (and cheaper), but that's just me. I enjoy the quirkiness and general shenanigans that come from dealing a with a high-school grade 60's car.
Arthur Robinson Pretty tough to find a set of parents in a major city these days that would be cool with a 16 year old rolling around in a car with zero safety features.
TheSmokingTire Tough too to find parents willing to drop 30k on a high-school car. Around here, at least. I can see how California might be different. Also whaddya mean 0 safety features? It's got a padded dash! And front disc brakes. haha
just checked Wiki; The A3 TDI comes with a 6 speed manual as standard or the auto as option; not sure why you say it's not available as manual, maybe it's some weird north american thing.
TheSmokingTire ah, ok. I still find it weird that it isn't an option in north america at least, especially since a manual version exists, it's not like they need to develop something new for that market.
Behemothokun no, but they have to pay tons of money to homologate it. If they don't think a market exists for such a car in the US to justify the expense of homologating it, then they won't bother.
TheSmokingTire The A3 2.0T had a manual and quattro option but the TDI was DSG-only in North America. Sucks too. I have a 2012 Sportwagen TDI with the DSG which was offered with a 6MT option. I'm hoping the AWD Allroad variant will offer a manual option when they start selling ith ere.
audi / seat / skoda all chare vw engines espacieally the tdi`s but theres a catch the vxe (110bhp) engine block have a bad build they tend to brake wen the car has 100.000km... but if the engine his from the gttdi ( 130bhp) they are pretty good and can take alot of mods on the engine and run for a life time
My first car was a 2009 civic EXS auto because my parents didn't want me to drive a very powerful car, and a Civic where I live is considered a luxury car lol. A new one today (auto, paddle shifters, leather, etc) would be about 40k us dollars, just because ''luxury car tax''
A lot of folks are saying the owner isn't an enthusiast. I dunno, anyone who makes Bilstein PSS 9 coilovers and Michelin Pilot Super Sports as their first Mod knows what they're doing, regardless of what car he chose to buy in the first place. My 2 cents....
Lucky guy. Don't hate on him because he chose what HE wants to drive instead of what YOU say he should
People need to stop hating on this guys car, it's good to have a range of reviews on different cars. True 'car guys' find reviews interesting on all types of cars whether it be a diesel Audi or 1000hp supra
Hi guys, Maddox here. Thanks again Matt for reviewing my car, I definitely enjoyed the experience and watching the video. The hate comments are pretty funny to me to be honest. I love my car and it works very well for me. I take a lot of road trips and it's honestly perfect for that. It's just a nice place to be, freeway passing is a breeze without ever leaving 6th, it carries friends and stuff in a small package and it'll return 40+ mpg cruising at 80-85 all day. My friends all agree that there's no car they'd rather take from LA to San Francisco. Also, I have a lot of fun in the canyons with it. It's just the right size and I can really place it perfectly on these tight roads. It's lightish, it handles, and the torque pulls hard out of tight corners. I know I could have gotten a Mustang or whatever for 30k but I was operating within parental constraints and I feel that my car reflects me and my driving style. As for the comments about my chin, LOL! The lighting and angle really do accentuate it there. I've had a chin dimple since birth, and I find it funny that it bothers middle-aged men on the internet because it doesn't bother me and CERTAINLY doesn't seem to bother girls in real life. Have a nice day, y'all!
Just ignore the haters :) you seem to be a good kid, and the audi is totally fine. You have plenty of time ahead to own a sportscar.
So what exactly were the constraints on your parent's purchase? I think a lot of people have a good point in saying there's so much that you could have bought for 33 grand. It didn't have to be dangerous and ridiculously fast, but trying to turn a tdi into an enthusiast's car doesn't seem worth it...
Nothing over 200hp, something small and nimble, no 2-doors, and I pay for the fuel.
You don't have to justify owning this car for the people leaving negative comments on here, it could be some 11 year old with nothing to do lol. You got the car for you not them. All that matters is that you're happy with it and it seems that you are so job well done!
***** I'd say with those constraints you did a pretty good job. I was thinking you should have gotten a miata at first but than you said no 2-doors. That would have killed me haha
Over in the UK, we got this with a six speed manual :D
Stop cutting off people mid-sentence, please.
I know right
Maddox seems like a really nice guy. I was surprised to hear he's only 17. I imagined he was in his early 20's or so. For his first car, he did a really good job.
***** If he's 17 there's no way in hell he actually paid for that on his own.
someusername121 Obviously not. But he had to chip in a good amount of money. I know I did when I bought my first car.
someusername121 who cares...the whole video I figured the kid was 23-25 and to find out he was 17 I was surprised. The kids mature enough, seems respectful and knows his stuff. If my parents bought me a 30k car when I was that age I'd take it...me, you, and every other person alive. This guy seems well deserving from what I gathered from the video so I've got no problem with it at all
Justin D
I care because I don't respect some kid who gets $30k dropped on them by daddy for being alive. He's 17, he hasn't accomplished anything to make him worthy of that hence he's a spoiled brat.
someusername121 So because he's a good person, you don't respect him? What an ignorant mindset. And you don't know what he's accomplished in his life, so stop being an idiot and judging people based off the car they drive.
Brand new Audi for first car, seems reasonable....
Duke Silver Eh, that ecobox is just an Audi.He could've bought an used Audi RS3 Quattro for that amount of money but chose to buy a brand new one with 140hp. Calls himself a "enthusiast".
LTA The RS3 wasn't sold in the US.
Even if they did sell the rs3 in the us imagine the insurance cost on it here in the uk it would cost over 10k a year to insure an rs3 at like 18
LTA You can still be an enthusiast if you drive a diesel. What a fucking moronic comment.
LTA DIESEL ENGINE
-NUFF SAID
As a European, I never thought I'd see an Audi diesel on TSMT
best part of the video, the Subaru as he takes off
Troy Cheron The review of that Subaru went up last week! ua-cam.com/video/sdZQi1X9nYY/v-deo.html
That's his first car? Jesus fuck, my first car was more iron oxide than steel and marked its territory with a mixture of ATF, motor oil, antifreeze, and hydraulic fluid everywhere I parked it. Sometimes a little DOT4 would be added to that mix, depending on how fast the car was rusting.
My first was a Citröen AX and lasted 1 week before bleeding all over the place, oh memories
that's a true first car
mine was a ford fiesta 1999 1'8TD with an amazing amount of power 75hp!!!!
but still alives , solid motor but crapy interiors and awful paintjob ( the car was silver and now looks like bird poo color)
FrankTheCat Same here. Had a russian flying coffin named as Lada Samara. Fun times. Had to learn russian anthem for it to start
FrankTheCat first car was a 1989 volvo 245 DL, payed 500$ for and it lasted 2 whole years, love this car, RWD and canadian winter is the perfect mix ahah
My first "car" was a 2wd Datsun truck with a 5 speed trans and a 4 cylinder. It had the duel spark plugs and still managed 25 mpg despite it being 3 years older than me. That thing had so much character with poop brown paint and rust accents.
The speedo went to 80 but the needle went a ways past that and then stopped. I would run it hard on a downhill part of the highway then let off and count how long it took for the needle to move again from 88 mph. Yes Back to the Future quotes all day.
Probably my favorite one take so far being that I'm in high school and like VWs and Audis. This is pretty much how I plan to modify the A4 I just bought too haha, well done Maddox!
I like how this guy was pretty outgoing and actually made some conversation. Matt have you ever thought of putting a mic on your car solicitees?
Thank you Maddox for supporting hatchbacks in America
Diesels are good in their own way (torque,fuel economy,long lasting engines) ...of course you can be an enthusiast and drive a diesel... I drove once an E220 cdi and it drifts like crazy!! I would much like to own one
I think this is one of the best if not the best car show on UA-cam. Great job Matt!
17 year old with a brand new A3 :) I don't necessarily mind that parents bought him a car (well at least I think he didn't buy it himself) but for a first car everyone should experience a little rust bucket. It's where the passion for cars start :)
I disagree. You don't have to have a piece of shit to appreciate something that isn't. That's ignorant thinking.
He could’ve bought it himself a lot of kids work while they’re in school and just like my parents my first car was a 2002 Audi A4, I made the payments on it but dad paid the insurance, and I worked a few nights a week busing tables, back then of course the Audi for boys like $28,000 but still..
Felt like I was watching the movie "Waiting", where the new kid is never able to complete a sentence the entire film.
This guy has a mean chin
***** I was being polite in my choice of words.
Buttchin
Adam McGee There goes "Chin Balls"!
He has a cartoon superhero chin
Hey Maddox, nice A3. What kind of grille and license plate blank plate do you have and/or where did you get it?
I think it's fun to see cars that isn't really extreme, this is something anyone could make without much experience.
But the kid was interrupted a lot :o
You can make these diesels fast with a proper tune , mods and stronger clutch. Î got the manual seat cupra tdi with the same engine but bigger turbo.. Black smoke all the way.
Bigger intercooler, turbo and mapping they can easily reach over 200hp.
***** that 200 hp is alot when you consider its likely pushing over 300lb of torque . the 2.0t makes 220hp and 260lb of torque , to be honest with 200/300 your probably going to be just as fast 0-60 and have better off the line punch . im in no way shape or form a fan of diesels , especially in cars. but it modded could be a quick car . however the 2.0t could be tuned as well and be stupid fast .
***** lol
***** Yep. Even 1.6tdi engines reach those values. But is a like trains in 19th century. So much smoke.
***** My octavia VRS TDI is 215bhp with 420ft of torgue. it,s boring as fuck. but it can make more expensive cars look silly.
How much do you have to drive this to not have dpf problems ?
Matt, have you filmed subros or shanes 450hp wrx??
You should do a one take on a medium to heavy modified TDI. That would be awesome and I'm sure you would enjoy it. There are some pushing the 300hp and 450 lb-ft range.
Does this guy Bill Stein make good coilovers?
Hey Matt I remember somebody on another video commented they will be getting a Tesla at the end of march, is that video coming?
What year is this car? Thanks. Is it a 2013?
Something interesting you might want to do a one take with is my pt cruiser 2.4 turbo like the srt4 I'm currently pushin 345 hp to the wheels
I put some Michelin PSS on my new MINI Cooper S coupe recently, love it :P Next is a tune (231 hp 236 ft lb),K&N cold air intake and an exhaust.
Fabian B. tires make a huge difference in Mini's. Those runflats they come with are like driving on rocks.
Fabian B. air intake + exhaust is so gay
18iser minicoopers are gay and overpriced in general so it fits.
love your videos and all the work you do. Wasn't the biggest fan of this episode.
I wasn't aware you could get the hatchback/wagon version in the USA, and it appears you no longer can. Did they scratch it off the list once the sedan came out?
AutobahnDRIVER The first-generation A3 was only available as a 5-door hatchback in the US, and now it is only available as a Sedan and Convertible in the US.
I’m looking around too I just wonder is reliability same as Volkswagen tdi suv or Passat or Jetta is Audi tdi as reliable ?
It’s literally the same engine and platform as the Jetta SportWagen
Nice car. the owner is very mature and well spoken for a high schooler.
Matt, when is the tuned jetta coming on its one take?
couple more weeks.
My dad had a vw bora with a gt tdi 150bhp engine...hybrid turbo..fmic...remap (obviously)...straight pipe. That made around 220 at the crank with 320 foot pound of torque. And ye surprisingly enough it didnt chuck out a load of black smoke :)
Rad to see an ACLA member on The Smoking Tire.
Maddox is a really nice kid, incredibly responsible driver for a 17 year old. There are guys who go on our club cruises much older than he is (or I am) that drive like total asshats.
Point is age is just a number, stupid is stupid old or young!
Well said man, thanks. It was definitely a cool experience and I'm excited to see Justin's B5 avant once it's filmed
Yeah that'll be pretty rad. I don't know if I'm up for letting Matt get behind the wheel of my Avant, I hate being in the passenger seat of any car, let alone my own.
That's a really nice interior. I prefer light colored interiors over black because it gets freakishly hot in the summer here and also because if a piece gets damaged somehow then a used tan trim piece is several times cheaper than a black piece.
huh, pretty cool idea. you can definitely have fun in a slower car like that. all about the chassis when having fun.
new turbo and chip and sports filter and u will go crazy with this a3 dude
A3's in Europe dont have true quattro if im correct (my friend has one and yeah a diesel but with an MT)
I think what they do have is a haldex system simillar to Audi TT :)
I got an Audi A3 2.0l Tdi quattro, 6 speed manual, 140 hp stock, living in Norway. Don´t they sell that in America?
No man a3 tdi in the US
We have manual for all of those in the UK :) (diesel and AWD)
I like the blanked-out grille. You should do a once-around the outside before ya start driving. The problem with Audi turbos is they're made for lane changes on the autobahn, but they're borderline dangerous off the line. There's just no way to spool up the boost without a manual, which of course ya can't get. I wonder if the transverse setup works better than the A4 FWD which is super nose-heavy due to the lengthwise setup.
I Completely understand what your talking about, I drove a base model a5 and it had no go for the first second or 2 off the line. I believe the issue is down to the fact that the smaller engined audis now use CVT gearboxes rather than a conventional auto/dual clutch gearbox which usually feel far punchier off the line
Mine had the dual clutch which is flawless in all other ways but these turbos don't launch.
💀 necro time 💀
Really cool to see this conversation in the future
my first car was a 2002 Alfa 147, amazing car
My next car!!! I have a 05 Golf TDI now, and I love it!!!
at the start the shadow on his shirt looks like ET LMAO!
My first car was an Iron Duke Cutlass. It had brakes!
i like how he says "I" payed $33,000 for it...
honestly who cares. I would rather have my kids in a safe car like this, rather than someones used car
I know of many young successful people who have a lot of money while still in high school.
What was he going to say? My parents paid $33,000 for it? Lol
Tharee MaahthePuddi
Yeah, the truth.
matt tsatsos
I didn't know cars became unsafe once the first owner trades it in/sells it. Interesting.
Even if I were loaded my kid would not get a brand new luxury car. He'd be driving a 5 or less year old Honda or Toyota.
I was hoping their conversation would complete the question about MPG.
I remember my first car; a 1998 Opel Corsa with 55hp (at least it was a manual) AND I had to buy it with my own money, also had to pay for my license which is about 1500€ in germany.
The front of an Audi without the Audi badge looks so weird lol gotta find a way to put the badge on that RS grill dude
Wow you're lucky to get a brand new Audi as a first car!
Rollin coal in an Audi haha
Pretty nice first car.
I wish I could hand over the keys to my E36 318iS to Matt... Has a limited slip, Just put H&R springs on it, already had orange Konis, rides so nice. It's slow as all hell, but I'd just LOVE to know how hard Matt could make it corner, because I'm just not a good enough driver to do it as fast as Matt can. Problem is: I'm from across the pond, so that probably won't ever happen.
What you think of 2004 merc cl 500-55amg?
Tim Janda Good car, only comes in auto, retarded expensive maintenance.
WOW!! Thats modified?? In the UK I've got an Audi A3 Sport Quattro 2.0L TDI (170HP) with a much more fun 6 speed manual gearbox and thats stock!!! Put some 18" Lightweight aluminium alloys on and a remap, and I'm running close to 210HP, it must suck to be an Audi guy over there haha!!
It's a nightmare, we see you europeans and your a4 quattro tdi with your start stop and your tdi motor size options. here if your going to get a tdi it's a 2.0 or larger. the bmw 328d, a3 tdi and chevy cruze are the only economical diesels you can get here. the a3 just this year came with quattro as an option but good luck finding that car, it's super rare. and none of these cars have a manual transmission. The only other diesels are the big fat luxury cars far too expensive and big to be considered practical... yep it fuckingg sucks. I want an a4 tdi quattro 6 speed with start stop. but it will never ever happen. Some guys are swapping in tdi powertrain into their a4's are great cost and energy... It really sucks. the bmw 2.0 tdi is the most efficient in USA. but it is 45 thousand dollars. Maybe 35k used. These cool diesel cars would sell like birth control in a white community if they would import them here... They're really just assholes for not bringing the cool cars here... Any diesel car here has a premium price on top of the fact they're rare.
+ArcolaBridge you'll just have to move to the uk 👍🏼
that would be easier than waiting or making my own. but then I'd have to drive across Europe for my road trips and I can't even get onto canada! how many countries in eu a strict about background checks lol. an alcohol offence alone is a 10 year ban from canada.
+ArcolaBridge you get points on license for alcohol offences, speeding etc but that's about it, if you get a ban it's nowhere near 10 years and you just have to your driving test and theory test again
I had a Golf IV which I bought second hand and took from 90.000miles to 160.000miles. Only mechanical issue I ever had was a window mechanism failure. Other than that, only oil changes, filters and tires.
TDI btw...
Wow, I haven't seen a chin that expressive since Popeye!
Could've gotten a Golft GTI or a freaking Golf R nearly for that money.
Onoff314 or a new chin
Liemciemdk89 harsh m9
well shit, $33k will get a new base STI or loaded WRX. With money left over for coil overs and tires. Maybe even rims.
I see things differently. His parents paid the car, or at least a fraction of it. That's what he said in the comments. I would have been more than happy with a car like this as my first car.
Maybe it has something to do with my country but absolutely no insurance company would insure a first car with more than 130bhp , let alone a brand new one.
Mojo In the US...if u have money, you can have any amount of horsepower you want lmao.
You should try and find someone that has a supercharged pontiac grand am. I heard they have nice power. I like seeing older modified cars.
so, matt assuming you didnt want to do the car for an episode of tuned instead, if someone brought you their car, would you do one of these? mine is nowhere near ready but, when it is, i would love to know what you would think of it
to be clear, i meant from somewhere relatively far away. forgot to put that in. since you had said at the beginning you wont be getting on a plane for these episodes
Will Young If you are bored enough to come a long way for just a one take, and if the car is something we want to film, we'd consider it. Shoot a wheelwell profile over to our Facebook page
as soon as my car is at that point, i'll be doing that. thanks for the answer
LOL Matt with the brutal honesty @ 3:33 . The kid is only 17, and probably thinks his car is a rocket.
sigh, first car an Audi, mine was a Cavalier lol Talking about how well the car has held up after 30 000 miles? really? lol i would HOPE a car, any car never mind an Audi, regardless of price, would hold up well after only 30 000. Its still pretty much brand new.
Unfortunate that this generation of A3 was never offered with both a manual and AWD. You could have one or the other. The car I learned stick on was a 2011 A3 2.0T FWD manual. Super easy car to drive and lots of torque with a Stage 1 tune, but after 25k miles I started getting misfiring cylinders. Shortly thereafter I sold the car with just a couple months of warranty left. Guy who bought it texted me months later complaining about clutch and starter issues. Figures.
i had a buddy that bought himself a brand new s2k in high school while working tons of hours at sizzler. It is challenging but doable.
how much are those VAG diesels holding their value now :-D
Nothing frustrating about upshifting at redline. The engine runs out of breath well before that. You've got to shift earlier and use the torque.
“Oh it shifts at red line automatically, that’s frustrating in a diesel as the redlines a little shorter” 😂😂😂 wow you have no clue.
in England we have a3 diesel in stick shift
i dont know about that guess of 190hp
170hp & 290tq (at the crank) listen to him again...
Just get to the end of the show and it was quiet nice move from the host to pick this guy and his so called modded piece of beauti for a ride. Kind of entry level modern please daddy just tires and shocks plsplspls thing. I mean it was nice to see an average mid class student first steps. BUT from that amount of credit or cash- or what ever paying methods u US citizens are prefer- u could go for a nice r32 from 2003-2004 + hgp turbo set + fittings i guess and that my friend will put a smile on that face even u start wonder to go and dance whit the devil in the pale moonlight :D :D . Correct me if i wrong .
My first car was a bicycle.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make a Golf 7 R or Audi s3 STAGE 1 review!!
Love me some diesel performance
How cheap is petrol in the US, for a full tank ? In France, a full talk (let's say 63 liters) of SP98 is 65 euros...
depends on car but an equivalent small car would be half that in USA!
Nikita Ind I just filled up my Corvette (68 liters) of our 91 octane (same as your 96 RON) and it was $54, or 49 Euros.
TheSmokingTire I live in Ireland, if I could get fuel at that price I'd fill up the backseat and the boot!
TheSmokingTire Dude, that amount of gas would cost $110-$115 in the UK right now, and prices are low for us at the moment... you guys got it good over there.
cumnes6 The UK is a whole other level of financial investment when it comes to your car. Most expensive place I've ever driven. The fact that what you choose to drive is so important there is probably a big part of the reason top gear became so successful. On the other hand, I was in Oman filming for /DRIVE, and gas was the equivalent of $0.70 per gallon. I filled up my loaned Aston Martin V12S for like, $16.
haha i love the pep talk about cute being good from girls
What I don't understand is that. They didn't give the US a manual or quattro diesel A3 but here in the UK they did. But BMW gave a manual E60 M5 to the US which let's face it is the home of the slush box. But here in the UK it's SMG only.... yeah that seems fair 😂
"I pay 33g for it." Bitch plz
I could only handle five minutes of watching this car.
Lucky guy, im 17 and im looking for cheap civic's haha, glad someone can enjoy some fancy cars!
buy the matt farrah's million mile lexus.
zloychechen5150 I would, it's still a nice car after all the miles!
Here audi (UK) we can get the a3 Stick and Quattro ;)
I'm in the uk and I've got a manual 6 speed quattro tdi with 230bhp on a stage one😎
those a3's come 190 hp stock huh )':
@@ethanbenner252 no 170 bhp standard
Matt tried so hard to say something nice.
Should do some trucks!!
Why?
Hey Matt, whats next?
A Honda Fit??
Cameron Russell a Volkswagen Kombi, actually.
TheSmokingTire at least get a golf R with good suspension and flash; hopefully in the future turbo vr6 swap in a mk2!
TheSmokingTire I love the buses, As soon as I got my first B4 passat tdi a year ago, got addicted to them, I now have 3(same year same model) and the Vw Buses are growing on me.
Nice first mod, stage 2, DSG tune and cp3 conversion should be next. My 2010 a3 tdi is fast, it has custom stage 2, DSG flash, eco tune and cp3 + hardware upgrade.. its fast. I wouldn't let this guy drive it tho lol
CDG tee noice
Franky Leandri yeah. i wish i could afford $100 tshirts at 17. :D
who cares? cdg play is for asian fuccbois. its not the real cdg. ultimately lame.
It really didn't feel fast? Surprises me - my friend had a 2.0tdi Leon FR (same engine as this, similar tune with power output, closer to 200 bhp) and it pulled hard with all the twist it made, genuinely surprised me with how quick it went. I get diesels often feel quicker than they actually are mind, especially the smaller ones
This guys parents pay 34k for his high school, I don't think they're very worried about the price of a new Audi.
To people curious about him driving this to while in school it's not rare out here I went to high school for two years about 10-15 miles from tear canyons and there were kids driving brand new audis bmws Infiniti g35's one kid has this nice classic Alfa Romeo forgot the name another drive a modded Evo and another had a modded out BMW 335i so this little 150hp a3 is not surprising
trevor philips There are kids in his school with GTR's, R8's and F-Types. A slow, diesel A3 is nothing for that area. He's a nice kid, seems responsible in the way he's modified his car, and his parents gave him a nice-ish, yet slow and safe car. There's really nothing wrong with that.
Matt Farah I feel like an old muscle car would be more fun (and cheaper), but that's just me. I enjoy the quirkiness and general shenanigans that come from dealing a with a high-school grade 60's car.
Arthur Robinson Pretty tough to find a set of parents in a major city these days that would be cool with a 16 year old rolling around in a car with zero safety features.
TheSmokingTire Tough too to find parents willing to drop 30k on a high-school car. Around here, at least. I can see how California might be different.
Also whaddya mean 0 safety features? It's got a padded dash! And front disc brakes. haha
Arthur Robinson lol
Now that I have found out that you can find one for about 20k I want one.
haha 5 years later and I bought one yesterday w/ 70k miles for 10k...and the premium plus w/ 19" peelers.
@@yoadriaaannn 5 years later and I recently bought a VW e-golf for 10k. How my priorities have changed! Lol
Brave kid
I love how the owner's wheelwell has some really, really nice (expensive) sport cars that he's driven then he lists a '92 Miata. Enthusiast confirmed.
just checked Wiki; The A3 TDI comes with a 6 speed manual as standard or the auto as option; not sure why you say it's not available as manual, maybe it's some weird north american thing.
Behemothokun That's in Europe. In North America it's DSG only.
TheSmokingTire ah, ok. I still find it weird that it isn't an option in north america at least, especially since a manual version exists, it's not like they need to develop something new for that market.
Behemothokun no, but they have to pay tons of money to homologate it. If they don't think a market exists for such a car in the US to justify the expense of homologating it, then they won't bother.
TheSmokingTire The A3 2.0T had a manual and quattro option but the TDI was DSG-only in North America. Sucks too. I have a 2012 Sportwagen TDI with the DSG which was offered with a 6MT option. I'm hoping the AWD Allroad variant will offer a manual option when they start selling ith ere.
audi / seat / skoda all chare vw engines espacieally the tdi`s but theres a catch the vxe (110bhp) engine block have a bad build they tend to brake wen the car has 100.000km... but if the engine his from the gttdi ( 130bhp) they are pretty good and can take alot of mods on the engine and run for a life time
Makes me want to bring the RS5 to a one take. Just have to drive a couple thousand miles to get there
JBZimmer any excuse for a drive in an RS5 is a good one, but we've beaten you to it: ua-cam.com/video/j14iS2U9zL8/v-deo.html
I could have sworn he called him Matix lol was gunna flip ma shit
My first car was a 2009 civic EXS auto because my parents didn't want me to drive a very powerful car, and a Civic where I live is considered a luxury car lol. A new one today (auto, paddle shifters, leather, etc) would be about 40k us dollars, just because ''luxury car tax''