LOOK out BMW! Audi says it’s after potential 1 Series buyers with a hatch that more than matches it for performance, style, quality and (especially) rear passenger space. The new A3 Sportback five-door hatch also hits the ground running with petrol or diesel, front or all-wheel drive and a wide spread of models. And with new management, a keen team, improved dealers and smarter advertising, the company may even achieve its goal of eventually becoming the number two luxury brand in Australia. So there’s a lot riding on the (elongated) back of Audi's new five-door A3.

Audi A3 five-door
Released: October 1999
Ended: July 2004
Family Tree: A3Audi's original A3 arrived Down Under in May 1997, but it took more than two years for the five-door version to go on sale here, in October 1999 - the same time the three-door was discontinued. Available in 1.6, 1.8 and 1.8 turbo guises, the five-door range was facelifted in November 2000 with a revised grille and tail-lights, before being phased out when the all-new A3 arrived (in three-door form) in July 2004.
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