Audi is adding its stop-start system to an automatic transmission for the first time.
Already launched in manual A3, A4 and A5 models with both petrol and diesel engines, the automatic stop-start system will be available with the lower medium A3’s S-tronic transmission in conjunction with the 1.4 TSFI petrol and 1.6 TDI diesel engines.
The development, claimed to be worth around 5g/km, takes the diesel engine to 109g/km, below the capital allowance threshold, and to an average 67.3mpg. The engine cuts out when the car is at a standstill with the brake pedal depressed, firing again in 0.2 seconds as the pedal is released.