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Hi Ryan I can help on only one of your three queries. I have the 1.4TFSI engine, which has performed perfectly, and I'm apprehensive about the 1.5 unit, having read numerous complaints from owners. I don't have the Audi Cockpit option. However, I've been very pleased with the S Tronic gearbox, and can wholeheartedly recommend it. Before I bought the car, I'd read in reviews that the gearbox could be jerky at low speeds, but that's not been my experience at all. Maybe it's down to how you drive it.... Hope you get answers to your other two questions; sorry I couldn't help with those.

My 1.4 TFSI STronic has been excellent, but the lease is up next April. I was planning to get another A3, which would presumably come with the 1.5 litre unit, but these posts are giving me cause for concern. The 1.4 litre unit (assuming it's the same as mine - same quoted bhp and torque figures) continues to be used in other VAG models, including Skoda and SEAT; even the A5 uses it as its base petrol unit, so was the 1.5 introduced to replace the 1.4 across the board, and have they backed off the switch because of problems with the newer unit in the A3? I'll continue to follow this thread with interest.

Thanks Piotr, but I'm not sure my system is as sophisticated as the one on your A6. All I got was a generic message telling me that there had been a loss of tyre pressure - no indication of which tyre was affected - and I'm sure the system you describe could provide a more specific message. Also, I found no evidence that any individual tyre contained less pressure than its partner on the same axle, which is why I was trying to establish what the pressures should have been, in case the system was expecting higher pressures generally for some reason. I'll just have to monitor it and see what happens.

Thanks Paul. I got an answer from Audi on the interpretation of the figures on the door plate. The bottom set, with four symbols on the left, are for fully loaded, with four passengers, as I suspected. The first set, 35 psi front and 32 psi rear, are their standard recommendation for normal driving. The second set, 30 psi front and 28 psi rear, are recommended for a comfortable ride. The site you linked to suggests about 32 psi front and 29 psi rear, which are within Audi's range, and I think I'll use those. Thanks again.

Further to the above, I'm now struggling to understand what my tyre pressures should be. The manual refers me to the plate on the driver's door, photo attached: My tyres are 225/45 R17, and there are three sets of pressures on the plate for that tyre size. I assume the left hand symbols represent number of passengers, so I would need 35 psi front and back if the back seats were regularly occupied. However, my back seats are 99% unused, so I need to apply one of the other two sets - but which one? The second group seems to suggest I should look in the manual, judging by the little "book" symbol, but the manual simply refers me back to the plate on the door. If the figures were broadly similar, I'd toss a coin and take my chances, but they're quite significantly different. I'd be grateful for any advice.

Driving home from the coast last Saturday night, a message came up to the effect that one or more tyres had lost pressure. Of course, the message came up when I was nowhere near anywhere with a filling station, but I diverted into a town and found a car park. Visual inspection didn't show any obvious problem, and I eventually found a small filling station with an air/water machine. According to the label on the driver's door, the recommended pressures are 32 psi front and 29 psi rear, and petrol station air lines are not designed to provide any useful information, so I simply set the machine to 32 for the fronts, and 29 for the rears. It was fairly dark, and there was traffic noise, but I didn't detect any inflation happening - in fact, I think the machine let a small amount of air out of the rears. (Yes, I know pressures should be checked cold, but I was simply trying to ensure the thing was in a drivable state.) Having done that, I set the MMI to say the pressures were now correct, and continued my journey. So is this something that happens with MMI - does it detect just a tiny difference in pressure, and raise an alert? I'd always thought the feature utilised the ABS sensors to detect a change in the effective diameter of the wheel, but I'd have expected the pressure drop to be quite significant to trigger that, and I don't think that applies here. I guess I'll just have to wait and see - if it happens again, it might mean I have a slow puncture. However, if that were the case, I thought the MMI could indicate which tyre was affected. All advice gratefully received!

I'd heard that too, but I've now had mine for 15 months, done 8360 miles, and it hasn't needed a single top-up. I appreciate that my experience may not be typical, but I offer it for what it's worth.

Well, I tried it, despite my misgivings. The roof didn't close, and a message "Please close trunk lid" came up on the display. Hope that helps!

I can't say for sure, (and I'm not going to try it with my current A3 if there's a risk of damage!) but I've had two previous convertibles with powered tops (an SLK and a Peugeot 307CC), and neither of them would let you operate the top if the boot wasn't properly closed. Strikes me as a pretty fundamental thing to check, and I'd be amazed if Audi say that the A3 is designed to function differently from other makes of convertible. Perhaps your car was repaired incorrectly at some point in the past, and a sensor was bypassed?

I can recommend the 1.4 petrol TFSI as well. Mine's an automatic, but I'm getting 49 mpg average, and performance is more than adequate. Just after I ordered mine, the engine size was increased to 1.5 litres, but the official performance and economy figures remained the same.

Thanks Sarah.

Point of interest, since I don't have a windbreak for my A3, and I find it a bit blustery - is there anywhere convenient to store it in the car when the roof is up? Thanks.

Thanks Steve. As long as Audi Leasing are happy with that! They still haven't replied - I had the same problem when I took the car to Switzerland, and needed documents from them. Cheers Steve

Thanks Adam - I hadn't thought to check the service book. I'll go and retrieve it when it stops raining!

Sorry if this has been covered before, but I'm a bit confused about service schedules. My A3 Cabrio is leased, and one of the conditions of the lease is that I have it serviced at "the recommended intervals", so it's important that I'm clear on what they are. Apparently, I could be fined up to £400 if I fail to comply. The handbook states that cars doing long journeys and high mileages can be serviced every two years, while cars doing short journeys and low mileages should receive attention every year. Mine is a second car, purely used for enjoyment, so it's almost exclusively used on rural roads and major routes/motorways. It has covered 7300 miles in its first 12 months, most of which involved a trip to Scotland, a couple of trips to North Wales, and more than 4000 miles travelling around Europe. Most of the rest of the time, it's been stashed away waiting for better weather. Audi Financial Services recently sent me a note telling me that they'd taxed the car for me, but reminded me of my obligation keep up the service schedule, without clarifying what it is. I emailed them seeking clarification, but they haven't replied. Should I just wait for the MMI to tell me when a service is due, or should I go for 12 monthly services regardless? Thanks in advance.

Hi everybody I've just discovered this forum, and I've had my Audi since April 2017. It's an A3 Sport Cabrio 1.4TFSi STronic, and I've really enjoyed driving it. The only extras it has are folding mirrors and heated seats. Sytner Group were offering a very cheap lease deal on the A3 Cabrio, which none of the dealers near me could even attempt to match, so I drove my old Peugeot 307 cc all the way to Llandudno, and they gave me £500 for it. The drive home in the Audi was far more pleasurable!