German Car Scene

AUDI A3 CABRIOLET – “PERFECT CHOICE FOR WOMEN”

Posted 21st August, 2008 in Audi | Leave a comment

The Audi A3 Cabriolet topped a shortlist of 27 cars across eight categories selected from over 3000 models on sale in the UK today. The six-strong judging team included evecars.com editor Alex Jenner-Fust, Eve magazine deputy editor Rachael Ashley, Vicky Parrott from Autocar magazine, Eve publisher Jessica Gibson, Eve reader Sarah Thane plus Steve Fowler, editor of consumer champion, What Car?

Alex Jenner-Fust, editor of evecars.com said: ‘The Audi A3 won over all the judges with its impressive combination of talents. It looks great: it’s neither too feminine nor flashy, but classy and well styled. It’s easy enough to get a child seat in the back and the soft-top roof leaves more boot space than a folding hard top. Drivers will be rewarded with almost 40mpg, too. It’s a great all round no-compromise package and truly deserves our top accolade.’

Two well-loved British-built brands won over the judges, with the Land Rover Discovery taking the 4×4 award and the Jaguar XF collecting the Executive award.

The BMW 318d won the Green award for its combination of energy-saving technologies including ‘Auto Start-Stop’ that switches the engine off when the car comes to a halt. When the driver’s ready to roll, simply putting the car into gear starts the engine again.

‘The BMW 318d is a great car; it’s kind to the environment, and huge fun to drive as well as being practical,’ said Alex Jenner-Fust.

Fiat’s retro-inspired 500 won the City car category: judges found it surprisingly roomy and were impressed by the thousands of optional extras available to help owners personalise the car.

The MPV category was topped for the second year running by the Citroen C4 Grand Picasso, which still leads the pack for its combination of style and versatility.

Audi’s TT scooped the best Sports car award, while the Hyundai i30 was the Small family car category winner.

Every car was given a thorough inspection and judges looked at how easy it was to find a good driving position, get into and out of the back seats, fit a child seat and pack the boot.

The cars were then put through their paces on winding country lanes and fast sections of dual carriageway, as well as being manoeuvred around a couple of tight parking spaces.

What Car? provided information about resale values, service costs and reliability to help complete the picture.

[Source: Evecars]