Chinese start-up Qoros has traveled to the Guangzhou Motor Show to introduce its third model, a pint-sized crossover called 3 City.
As expected, the 3 City is essentially a more rugged variant of the Audi A3 hatchback-sized 3 Hatch that was presented earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show. In its transformation from a city car to a soft-roader, the 3 has gained plastic trim on the rocker panels and around the wheel arches, a new bumper with large air dams, an air diffuser integrated into the rear bumper and a more prominent trunk-mounted spoiler.
The interior is carried over unchanged from the 3 Hatch. The City offers an elegant and simple dashboard, nine storage bins and a large serving of high-tech equipment in order to woo a relatively young target audience. An eight-inch touch screen that runs Qoros’ MMH infotainment system comes standard on all models regardless of trim level.
The 3 City is powered by a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 126 horsepower and 114 lb-ft. of torque. These figures go up to 156 and 154, respectively, when the mill is ordered with an optional turbocharger. The 3 reaches 62 mph from a stop in 11.6 seconds with a naturally-aspirated engine or 9.7 seconds with a turbo four.
The additional ground clearance has not been complemented by all-wheel drive, meaning the four-banger spins the front wheels via either a standard six-speed manual transmission or an optional six-speed dual-clutch unit developed by Getrag.
The Qoros 3 City will go on sale across its home country of China shortly and Qoros is ambitiously planning on entering the European market by 2016. Pricing information will be announced in the coming weeks.
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