Compare the2022 Audi A3VS 2022 Volkswagen Arteon

The A3’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Arteon doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the A3 and Arteon have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A3 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Arteon’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

Both the A3 and the Arteon have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

The A3’s corrosion warranty is 5 years and unlimited miles longer than the Arteon’s (12/unlimited vs. 7/100,000).

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Audi vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Audi 10 places higher in reliability than Volkswagen.

Regenerative brakes improve the A3’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Arteon doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The A3 stops shorter than the Arteon:

The A3 has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Arteon’s suspension doesn’t offer front gas-charged shocks.

For better maneuverability, the A3’s turning circle is 2.6 feet tighter than the Arteon’s (36.4 feet vs. 39 feet).

The Audi A3 may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 300 to 450 pounds less than the Volkswagen Arteon.

The A3 is 1 foot, 2.6 inches shorter than the Arteon, making the A3 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The design of the Audi A3 amounts to more than styling. The A3 has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .27 Cd (optional .26 Cd with Quattro). That is lower than the Arteon (.3) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the A3 get better fuel mileage.

The A3’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Arteon’s (3500 vs. 2000 pounds).

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Audi service is better than Volkswagen. J.D. Power ranks Audi 8th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 32% lower rating, Volkswagen is ranked 28th.

The A3 Prestige has a standard heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Arteon doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The A3 Prestige has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Arteon doesn’t offer headlight washers.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Audi A3 and the Volkswagen Arteon, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Audi A3/S3/RS 3 outsold the Volkswagen Arteon by almost three to one during 2020.