I Drive The Mythical Audi A2 3L - The REAL 100 MPG car! 

Was anyone else hoping this thing had a 3.0 litre V6?

Germans don't say hold my beer, cause they keep holding and drinking it while working

1. Mistake: Pressing the eco-button takes you *out* of eco mode. Eco mode is the standard mode. Source: I've owned 5.

I really like these, way ahead of their time. Most people can't get past the quirky looks but it's a genius bit of engineering and packaging. Quite frankly it's actually a VAG car with some character, unusual in itself!

Love the A2. I’ve had 2. Don’t forget the rear seats are removable. Like a little aluminium van!

At work, we get an A2 3L in with nearly 600,000 miles on it and it still drive very well. We also get a MK3 Golf in with the 1.4 petrol engine that has got over 300,000 miles on it. I say a testiment to VW Audi Group!

More like this please James! If your truly a car enthusiast you find this sort of thing just as interesting as sports/supercars. I know I do. Great review of a slightly forgotten, now budget car with some traits that differentiate it to the norm. Magnesium wheels and slimmer arches on the 3l! Never knew that. Your right about low used prices but I believe the all aluminium construction makes accident repair work awkward/pricey which might possibly be the reason why.

You forgot one feature on the 3L: in eco mode, when you take the your foot from the accelarator and as long as you don't break, the car "glides" meaning the clutch disengaged. This is to stop any engine braking and save fuel. Source : I have one!

Thank God someone thinks of economy too at times, as we are not all in a position to buy expensive cars great stuff mate thanks

Well done Sir, I've had my Audi A2 1,2 TDI for 5 years and still love it, never felt as relaxed in any other car. It's interesting to note that VAG discontinued production of the Audi A2 and the VW Lupo 2005, same year they implemented a new software that caused quite a fuzz a bit later.....

You remind me of Top Gear in the 90's.

The Audi A2 is the best small car ever made, far, far ahead of it's time and therefore underrated when it came out.

Well let's be real, according to VW all their cars are capable of 100mpg and low emissions

I had a teacher who owned a A2 3L. He always drove around with the backseat removed to save weight, and had tanks at home on his property filled with diesel bought when it was particularly cheap. Proper way to own and run an A2 3L. I don't know which car would benefit your channel. I only know which cars i would like to see, and the Type 43 Audi 100 5E/200 Turbo are on the top of that list. I haven't seen one on the road in ages, and i've never driven one myself, but i LOVED these cars back in the day. Their elegant looks, comfy cabin and most importantly; the great five cylinder engines. Great cars :)

Now on eBay looking for an a2, I need to stop internet...thanks guys

I drive a 1.4 petrol A2 and it was really a futuristic car. People are starting to love it now after 20 years and it doesn't look so old at all in my opinion.

accidentally ended up buying one this week, after I watched the video a month ago xD

Films Audis in a VW group car group. Films with a Mazda jacket on. Mad lad :p

The A2 and Lupo where also one of the first cars to use electromechanical steering instead of hydraulics... The felt in the arches is needed to dampen the noise, because the A2 3L had no "dampening mats" on any of the panels (neither fenders nor doors or roof). In Eco mode the Lupo at least, would also disengage the gearbox and turn the engine off during coasting and save another 0,1% of fuel. There was a predecessor to many of these advantages, the Golf Ecomatic from the mid 90s, it also could coast and stop the engines during a stand still, and it also had no clutch pedal, but still hat a manual gear lever. The clutch was disengaged as soon as the driver would begin to shift and reengage when a gear was selected.

Just bought a ‘02 1.4 tdi for my girlfriend, she does lots of miles for her job and wants to cut her fuel bill. She loves it. It’s a bit tatty and has 160,000 miles but drives fine. The quality of the paint and interior really shows this was a premium product from Audi. Easy to maintain too. Great video!

I bought an A2 last year and it's a great little car. Handles really well too and the little 1.4 TDI is willing with a lot of torque. It's a small car built with the same philosophies and principals as the legendary small cars of yore: 2CV / Issignosis Mini / original Fiat 500 etc, which is why it works so well as a package with a lot of nice little details. People who slate these cars clearly don't really understand what makes good car design, or design in general and regurgitate the opinions of their demigod Clarkson. Sadly for them, the A2 is fast approaching modern classic status...

I think Mr Regular would've love this

Still great to see them on the streets. They are like a good wine, revealing their value as time goes by. They will be wonderful oldtimers.

Thanks for a very nice video! My daily driver A2 1.2 tdi has now 300.000 km on the clock and it still makes 2.8-3,2 litres/100km effortless. I don't have powersteering though, so the steering is a bit "firm" when parking. But out on the road it just eats long distances so effortless! And after 18 years the body still doesn't show any single spot of rust (obviously...) or oxide or anything. The gearbox needs a yearly adjustment, and it might also need a rebuild every 200.000 km or so, but thats easy to forgive this lovely car!

So happy this is not an april fools video! An often overlooked car, thank you for enthusiastic video!

Really good video, I particularly liked your delivery. There's a vibe I caught onto and I REALLY like. The car was cool too.

I do love the Audi A2. Also the first generation Mercedes A-Class (Yeah yeah, I know.). I think the A2 was really cool at the time, and it looked futuristic compared to everything else. The A-Class was a very weird car from Mercedes, and I think it deserves credit (alongside the A2) for developing the 'posh hatchback' concept a few years before it actually got any traction. The early 2000s was a good era. Especially if you were eight and you did nothing but read car magazines and collect car brochures like me.

Loving these small car reviews. Great video as always:)

They should bring back the A2 as an EV (4K redline on this diesel lump :O )

The A2 is a car that got my attention when it first arrived, another great video thanks J

This is one of my favorite JayEmm videos. Your choice of car is very interesting, and your obvious happy enthusiasm for it is infectious. I also REALLY like these cars. I began driving in the late 70s, when the automotive world (both manufacturers and customers) was receiving a crash course in efficiency and low emissions. Especially from the mid-70s through the mid-80s, there were many neat little cars around. In particular, these Audis remind me of the original Honda Civic CVCC cars. For their day, they were amazing little jewels that did everything remarkably well - except resist rust. So they are basically all gone, which is a great shame. But I had the good fortune to have a friend who bought one around 1980. I was familiar with the exceptional build quality of Honda motorcycles, and the Civic lived up to that standard. The interior was a revelation in pleasing comfort, quality, and thoughtful details. At 6'1", I was comfortable in the back seat! Amazing for such a small car. It was a wonderfully entertaining little machine to drive, incredibly light and nimble, with a fun and fizzy character. Honda's CVCC combustion technology (basically a trick head) meant that it passed US emissions without a catalytic converter. The car was really a magnificent design and engineering achievement, which proved very small cars could be totally acceptable things to own and drive. Now, all you Brits are saying: "Um, excuse me, remember the Mini?" Well, no, actually, because I'm an American. At the time, I was driving a 1971 Dodge Polara, a typically humongous V8-powered American car that got about 10 miles per US gallon. I was aware of small cars, but adamantly disinterested in them. That is, until I experienced that little Honda, first-hand. I'm a performance enthusiast and I don't own anything like the A2 these days. But if we're being honest, most of us should be driving something like it, most of the time.

Bought one as my first car and now had it 16 years... Known to all my mates as Monty and has never let me down. With the red nappa leather interior it still feels a lovely place to be to this day. I can't really ever imagine parting with the thing!

I had one 3L for many years. Loved it. Interesting similaritys with my first car, a SAAB 96 from 1962. Same idea, with low drag, light weight, no motorbrake, actually the SAAB also had a three cylinder engine, but a two stoke one, and a 3 gear manual gearbox. In that way a very different experience, but still the same idea, with a motor with just enoug horsepower to do the job.

I love this. It looks like a TT who had one too many doughnuts

Brilliant! I have just bought my second A2 3L. Had the first one from 2008 to 2021 and took it effortlessly to 400’000km. Just bought a ‘new’ one last week. This is not a ‘fun’ car but a very relaxing, intelligent, economical cruiser. Way ahead of its time. Gets 90mpg on freeway. If everyone would drive cars like that, the planet would be in a better shape.

Excellent choice! I've always been fascinated by the little A2.

Absolutely brilliant!!! Loved it when you tuck the bonnet off Jay 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😉

The A2 and TT to Audi is what the Avantime and Vel Satis were to Renault in the early 00's

We've just bought our 2nd A2. We had one about ten years ago, but it was a really rough, early 1.4 petrol. We've now got a well cared for 1.4tdi, and it's super. It's also a test run to see if we want to get a 3L next year when we move to Sweden. The answer is definitely yes at this point. The steady, moderate speed driving with minimal braking and acceleration will suit it perfectly. It's such a shame that the production run was limited to 5 years. They were so far ahead of their time.

I had one of these for new, it was such an amazing car. It just felt such quality. I really mis it. Great to see a review of this and the 3L on RU-vid.

I have a VW Lupo 3L and i love it!!!

Oh my gosh, the mythical "drei Liter Auto"! Fantastic, what a great choice, I saw an XL1 when I was going round Beaulieu today, funnily enough.

I bought a suspicious A2 TDI with no v5 or MOT from Gumtree. It was superb motoring for the year I had it. Really miss it. Just a shame it was a little too unloved even after I got it running ok. Wish I'd spent a bit more, got a better example and I would probably still have it. Great video, thanks for posting the A2 a bit of attention

Been following you for a little bit now Jay, i have to say im pleased you now have the following/persuasion skill to get this type of access. I hope the other marques follow suit and let you into their interesting collections!

Good man! I remember great review in a German magazine of two VW Group engineering marvels: Veyron vs A2 1.2 TDI 3l😂.

Can’t stop laughing about your response to removing the bonnet 😂

It’s design is absolutely beautiful. Everything! It’s just an eye catcher .

The other thing like the bonnet that not a lot of people know about is the false floor in the boot - you can actually get most of a weeks groceries in there , replace the top lid and still have room for two decent sized wheelie cases. Also the rear seats can be completely removed by popping a couple of latches at the back and then you have what's a basically a van. Also the battery is in the back for better weight distribution and there are two secret stowing panels (think millenium falcon) in the false floor under the front mats that contain fuses, ecu etc but could also be used to stow all manner of 'contraband' :)

Actually found this interesting. Didn't know audi had a motive with the A2 to make it a very fuel efficient car

I don't know if it's only on the Lupo or also on the A2, but I'm pretty sure the clutch automatically disengages when you let the gas go, in order to get as much coasting and "free wheel" (not sure if the term is correct) as possible and basically zero engine braking

Fantastic video. Thanks for making this!

Brilliant stuff. edit: you better test the brilliant little Insight next, then I suppose you'll need the XL1 after that!

I have always liked these and appreciated them for their engineering

The blue car was equipped with a trip computer but it was turned off, you need to press the button on the bottom of the wiper stalk

You are one of the very youtubers who's videos I dont skip through or dont even watch anymore.

I own a yellow A2 Color storm 1.4 and love it to bits

Finally, you've found the best car ever built. Who needs Porsches anyway ;-)

People berate the A2 but with regards to the exterior, I think it's aged really, really well. It's like the 1st Gen TT which still looks better than all its successors. Audi during this period was on fire. There are some cars that just transcend time and/or age really well. On the exotic front, I saw a 2001 TVR Tuscan Speed Six (1st gen) very recently in the flesh again and that's another car that still looks amazing and contemporary.

I truly appreciate your character, it's not overly exaggerated nor sound heavily scripted. Subscribed c;

My dad bought one of these written off years back for my mum he spent thousands on it trying to get it repaired mechanically but didnt worked out , ended up losing a lot of money and selling for dirt cheap, nice vid always had a interest in these cheers

Rs2 Avant. Next time

Ask Audi if they will ever make another with this days technology. Great review!!

Have owned my 1.4TDI S-line since 2003 now driven 230tkm. Some experience of that below Drives super nice and seats are fantastic. S-line is actually better to drive than respective era Fiat 500 Abarths or Mini Cooper S. I had serious intent to swap my A2 to either but could simply not argue it to myself. Only some later small cars are getting better on fuel economy and how they handle. The engine responds super nicely to a performance chip (75hp -> ~110hp/240Nm), have been running mine chipped for 150tkm. Has no real impact on fuel economy, but makes the car pretty fast. Some of the very few issues on these are: factory front brake flex lines need replacement, sunroof mechanism plastic wheels break (fix means new roof) and automatic AC control panel develops a mind of its own (as in all Audis of the time). Same say that gear box will break syncros, mine is still fine. Interestingly prices have lately started going up.

Great video, love the 'normal' stuff!!

That man looks like an Audi A2 if it was a person

I loved my A2, it was built like a Swiss watch. The only down-side, driving in high winds with the wiper on, the car became a pendulum. Oh, and the tyre sizes were considered "rare" and expensive.

I've had my A2 Colour Storm 1.4TDi for 6 years now. Great wee cruiser capable of 70mpg. The back seat on the 5 seater can be remove by pulling 3 levers if you are strong enough, no spanners required!!!

The 3L in todays fuel climate seems the most legendary audi ever made.

Man you're amazingly funny, every sentence you say is a laugh, in a good way of course

Incredible cars. Look like they could have been designed yesterday. They were way ahead of their time but just too expensive.

Great, informative video Jay. Thanks.

We’ve got a 54 Storm Blue 1.6 petrol. We love it to bits. Never leaving us. It’s worth more to us than anybody else that’s why it gets pampered and money thrown at it when needed.....it’s fairly quick believe it or not...

My grandma had an A2, never appreciated just for cool they are

Can't help thinking this was the way we should have gone instead of churning out crossovers and then pushing the world towards EVs

This video popped into my Autoplay box and because I have a Skoda Roomster 1.4 TDI with the same 3 cylinder engine I decided to watch it. The Audi makes exactly the same thrummy noise when you accelerate. Actually quite a nice engine note. However the Skoda is all steel and quite a bit larger (Golf 5 floor pan and Fabia 2 front end) so it is a good deal heavier and doesn't get anywhere the same fuel economy. 60+ mpg is easy to achieve on ordinary 2 lane A roads but this drops to 53 or so on the motorway. The boot is very large for the size of the car - larger than the current Discovery! You can also take the back seats out and you then get an absolutely unreasonable amount of stuff inside for what is not a very big car. Shame most car manufacturers have stopped making sensible cars with enough space inside for 6 footers in the front and back, or bicycles, or large pieces of furniture. Instead they want to sell us ghastly lumbering fuel-guzzling SUVs instead. Someone came to see some stuff I put on Gumtree a few weeks ago and tried to put a bicycle inside a Vauxhall Mokka, a much larger vehicle than the Skoda, and I couldn't believe how small the boot was. Probably smaller than the A2.

Used to own one of these purchased it back in 2001. A 1.4se with an open sky roof. It was a great car wish we'd never sold it! A future classic I think.

I actually really enjoyed this Video. I honestly can understand people not liking the little A2 because they think it's ugly but since I own one I am absolutely in love with it!

I have a Vel Satis if you're interested in filming one? That's another unusual and rare over engineered and expensive early 00's car

Great video, love my A2's

You are definitely the best reviewer I've seen 😎

22:38 Oh contraire the Lupo 3L had aluminium panels which ended up on the Lupo GTI. There was also an Arosa 3L. You have driven my all time favourite Audi and I am very jealous great review you anorak :)

I was loaned one of these by an Audi dealer, while my TT was in for yet another repair. It summed up any car that's build with economy in mine. Pretty unremarkable. I couldn't wait to get my broken POS TT back.

My grandmother had one of these, it was dark green that managed to look brown in sunshine. She kept it for donkeys years. Really nice to see one again

Great idea for a film JayEmm & well made to boot. Keep going with the funky stuff. I knew A2's were special, but didn't know about the 3L version ... it appeals to the 'Lotusness' in me :-). When you were talking about German auto industry one up-manship, I'm surprised you didn't mention this one : VW Group heard that Renault were going to enter the '3L' sector, that VW felt they owned. So with this inside info, they went off to do better again. Meantime Renault did launch a '3L' Clio... but not as VW Group had predicted, they launched the 3 litre V6 mid engined Clio, the successor to the famous Turbo 1 & 2. Who had the last laugh .....

Hopefully I will buy an A2 by the end of the year. Love them or hate them.... so cheap now. A great time to buy one.

Cool video, love the youngtimers Under the lid in the trunk, is 20% more trunkspace. And under that space is the battery 😀 I have one, 160.000 miles an stil going strong

Have driven a few of these over the years, mostly as courtesy cars and have a real soft spot for them. The packaging was brilliant and the engines interesting, they also drove well enough when you consider what they were intended for. I really wish Audi would do a reboot of the A2 as an EV.

Thanks so much, you've determined that if short person sits in the front, a short person will fit in the back. Splendid

I bought my A2 with 10,000 miles on the clock 14.5 years ago. It has now done over 205,000 and sails through most services and MOTs with routine stuff. It also achieves a consistent average mpg of over 50mpg per tank. No rust, obviously, and I’m struggling to think of similarly well engineered aluminium replacement, which is why I still drive it everyday and with a boot bigger than a Ford Focus (don’t know about the new one though). Automotive genius. An architect’s car :-) Questions for Audi: Why was the A2 never bettered or replaced? Is the rumour that the body was engineered to be an EV true? Can I swap mine for a later low mileage 90 BHP one with ‘all the toys’ please? Not really expecting a reply to the last question :-)

Very economical toaster you got there

That 3cyl 1.4.tdi pd was a gem of an engine, we had one in a 6N2 polo (2001) brilliant car and engine. once it hit 2k rpm it took off and died at 3k , so you changed gear and off it went again.

Good bonnet action. True engineering and design. Great work mate.

And they also bolted the engineroom shut so you could not touch it. And now you will be on their list 😂

17:59 I totally disagree! One of the reasons I want an A2 1.4TDI is because it sounds the way it sounds!

3L... was really hoping this was an Audi a8 3.0 V6 TDI swap. Love these cult cars.

Ex's boss had one of these, I used to look after it for her. I loved driving it,it was so agile due to the light and fairly quick-ish too with the 1.4 petrol engine, you really should try a petrol version it's much better. Didn't know you could remove the rear seat!

Play at 0.25 speed, endless entertainment 😂

Imported first 1,2tdi into UK in 2002. Still gets 100mpg real world if driven gently, even with 1/4 million miles on it.

Nice to have a real variety 👍

Fantastic car, which has saved me shed loads of money over the last 17years (£30 road tax, 60-80mpg all day long). Being poly carb body; it still has no dints or rot