What lies underneath the hood of this normal looking A3 is actually a rather interesting powertrain and power supply system.
The figures associated with the 1.5 TFSI turbocharged four-cylinder may not seem significant on the face of it, but the engineering behind this engine is fascinating to say the least.
Here is a description of the powertrain in a nutshell – the 131 PS and 200 Nm of torque is transferred to the front wheels through a seven-speed S-tronic transmission. It can net 0-100 km/h in 9.7 seconds, and achieve a top speed of 211 km/h.
As for economy and the environment, the average NEDC fuel consumption and range are 3.5 kg of CNG per 100 km and 495 km respectively. This 1.5 litre engine also produces 96 g/km of CO2.
As mentioned earlier, looking at these rather insignificant numbers doesn’t tell the full story behind what is actually a really clever power package.
Just be forewarned there will be some engineering nerdery here, so if you aren’t into that just skip the next paragraph or two to get back to the story.
While the 1.5 litre lump may seem like a normal engine, it actually runs on a high compression Miller cycle, as opposed to the Otto cycle seen on most petrol-powered cars.
The benefit of this is that the Miller cycle is actually designed to work under partial load conditions, which is most of the time for combustion-engine cars.
Thus, this translates to greater operational efficiency than in a normal fuel-powered car. A 20% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to comparable petrol engines, thanks to the high hydrogen content in CNG, is the icing on this cake.
In addition, the engine can be also made to run on petrol in certain conditions to maintain smooth running such as when tank pressure is low. At times like these, the nine-litre fuel tank will feed the engine automatically.
Audi also claims the driver will not notice the switch to petrol consumption, with the only observable difference being the fuel needle moving within the digital instrument cluster.
Three gas tanks sit at the rear-third of this hatchback, providing a total capacity of 18 kg of CNG. Both filler necks for the CNG and petrol are found under the same sole filler flap.
The gas tanks may be larger than the equivalent petrol tank, but the boot space still remains usable with a cargo capacity of 280 litres with all the seats up, extending to 1,100 litres with all the seats folded down.
Speaking about practicality, the A3 g-tron comes with the usual Audi tech and features found on the normal A3. These include LED headlights, digital instrument cluster, 256.54 mm touch display and leather-covered multifunction steering wheel to name a few.
This CNG-powered Audi A3 g-tron will be on sale in Germany in the fall of this year. Now the reason why this particular Audi is on the German market is mainly due to economic reasons, as most of you would have shrewdly guessed by now.
Germany is offering a favourable tax rate on natural gas and bio methane until 2026. Factoring in the 850 CNG filling stations in Germany, this alternative fuel Audi may be a financially savvy buy for the German motorist.
The fact that Audi has developed a CNG-specific engine does bring up an interesting point for the Malaysian auto industry though.
It would be stating the obvious that our EV infrastructure will not be ready for another couple of years, even decades perhaps. So why don’t we see if CNG would be the way forward for our local auto industry?
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