When it came to finding the right car for testing and development of the MQB platform, we opted for the Audi A3 8V. It combines Volkswagen's 2.0T Gen 3 EA888 engine with their AWD system, for quite a bit less than you would find for an MK7 Golf R or S3.
While our A3 has an RS3 front and rear bumper, it is 100% stock under the hood. According to VW, the 2.0T Gen 3 EA888 comes with 220hp and 258tq at the crank. This is the same engine found in the MK7 GTI.
Our best baseline dyno numbers for the A3 were 192awhp and 242awtq. The A3 appears to be a bit underrated from the factory, especially regarding the torque, as the correction factor could be as high as 20%, making the crank numbers 230hp and 290tq. For the FWD models, you can expect slightly higher hp and tq numbers as those suffer from less drivetrain loss than the AWD versions.
Baseline Dyno Results: 192awhp 242awtq
As you can see from the chart, all of the torque is available from way down low at 2,500RPM and gradually declining until 4,600RPM where it starts to then decline sharply. While HP seems to climb until that same 4,600RPM point where it then flattens out completely. Depending on how efficient the stock IS20 is, we may see a much higher power at redline when turning up the boost.
PERFORMANCE TESTING
While the A3's AWD system is going to help it get off the line, especially when it is tuned and putting out more power, it is going to hinder the top end speed as the 2.0T has to drive the components of the AWD system.
The best 0-60 time we were able to get was 5.5 seconds using the A3's launch control. There is little to no wheelspin in warm and dry conditions. The best 1/4 mile time was 14.5sec at 97mph. Certainly not numbers we get excited about, but hoping for some significant improvements with a tune and bolt ons!
0-60: 5.5 sec 1/4 mile: 14.5 @ 97mph
NEXT STEPS
To help our A3 make some more power, we will be installing tune to turn up the boost, as well as hardware upgrades. We'll then be retesting the dyno and performance numbers to see what it can do!
For a list of all of our upgrades for the MQB platform CLICK HERE!
