The Wurzburg Residence was designed in 1720, commissioned in 1744 and added to Unesco's World Heritage List in 1981. This masterpiece in south German baroque is a delight in the clear morning sun as we pit stop from the autobahn drive in Audi's new A3 Sportback. It's not the Sportback we're used to in Hong Kong, but the new two-litre TDI version that is still unavailable here, perhaps thanks to our government's aversion to diesels. Even so, we're testing the car to keep up to date with the latest diesel technology that most of the world seems quite happy with. We will also find out whether the TDI Sportback will help you make the most of a cheaper euro for jaunts across Europe. And who can blame you for revving your engine when Audi says the 170-horsepower A3 Sportback 2.0 TDI can almost cover 1,000km on a 55-litre tank.
We're about two hours from Munich airport, but we're not in a hurry. If we had to race down to Rome to catch a flight at the same time it would be much more fun. But we put the Sportback through its paces, as you might on holiday, on a mix of motorway and country roads in Baden-Wurttemberg and Bavaria. We pass through tiny towns with small walled cities dating back to the Middle Ages, including Rothenburg, Dinkelsbuhl and Nordlingen, where the Audi thrives on beautifully surfaced roads amid breathtaking scenery.
The Sportback's slightly extended boot is packed with luggage and camera equipment, yet it rarely notices. The six-speed S tronic dual-clutch automatic gearbox is clearly designed to return good fuel economy and seems to hit sixth from a standstill in no time.
Audi's latest turbo direct injection engine offers an impressive 350Nm of torque from 1,750 to 2,500rpm. The maximum output of 170hp peaks at 4,200rpm, a figure not too far behind the 180hp achieved by the highly successful 1.8T model. With its long gears, it is very relaxing in village-to-village and in-town driving.
It is old news in Europe diesel engines are a consistent choice in various market segments, except for one or two cities I can think of where sense never plays a role in the decision to flaunt one's wealth. And the diesel block unit in the Audi 2.0 TDI shows how out of the loop Hong Kong drivers can be about diesels. Its predecessor was the world's most frequently built diesel engine, according to Audi. But it was not available in Hong Kong, thanks to some bogus regulation. Given the prowess of the previous unit, the 2.0's performance is perhaps unsurprising. The unit is powerful, fuel-efficient and clean.
Audi's Ingolstadt engineers have made just one major change inside the newly developed inline four-cylinder engine, using a common-rail system in place of the previous unit's injectors. The new engine has an extremely fine fuel atomisation and efficient combustion system made possible by a new 1800 bar injection system. That means better fuel economy and a quieter drive.