Audi is offering a high-performance diesel variant in the A3 range producing 184bhp and CO2 emissions from 108g/km.

The engine - the same as found in the Volkswagen Golf GTD - has a six-speed manual gearbox and can complete the 0-62mph sprint in 7.3 seconds and continue to a 145mph top speed, while returning up to 68.9mpg in the combined cycle test, and emitting 108g/km of CO2. The engine is also Euro6 compliant.

It will be available in Sport and S-Line equipment grades with prices starting at £24,375 on the road.

Audi now offers the option of advanced Light Emitting Diode (LED) headlights on the A3, which , Audi says, achieve daylight-like levels of illumination.

The alternatives to the more familiar xenon gas discharge headlamps, which will continue to be offered, are available for every A3 and S3 variant.

In SE and Sport models, they can be specified as part of a new LED lights package costing £2,000, which also includes LED rear lights, light and rain sensors and LED ambient interior lighting. In S line and S3 models they are available as a stand-alone option costing £795.

Nine high-performance LED chips in two free-form reflectors generate the low-beam light in the new headlights for the A3, while the high beam uses ten high-performance LEDs to emit light through an aluminium aperture.

Static turning and all-weather lights are housed in a separate module, while the daytime running and parking lights and the indicators are formed by a light guide that wraps around the upper and inner headlights.

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