By Tom Crosby
AAA Carolinas

Introduced last year, the Audi A3 is a smaller hatchback version of Audi’s A4 compact sports wagon. The A3 garnered several awards in 2006, including “Best Sport Compact” from Car and Driver magazine for the A3 with the 2.0-liter Turbo engine and “Top Safety Pick” by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for the A3 2.0 T and the A3 3.2 quattro S-Line, our test vehicle. The main difference, aside from styling and comfort features, between the two vehicles is engine size and cost.

The A3 3.2 is about $6,000 more in base price and our 3.2 added navigation, Bluetooth phone connection, Bi xenon swiveling headlights, 18” 14-spoke cast alloy wheels with high performance tires, a pair of skylights, premium leather and Sirius radio for about $7,100 more. Total price tag: $41,150. That gets you a performance vehicle that reaches 60 mph in less than six seconds, grips the road firmly in tight turns at uncomfortable speeds with its all wheel drive (quattro) and softens road imperfections allowing just enough feedback to let you know something really good just happened.

Audi’s unique S tronic transmission takes a six-speed manual gearbox and adds automatic transmission qualities, the result of which is quick response to pressure on the gas pedal, similar to a manual downshift. And if a driver wants to feel it even more, manual paddles on the steering wheel can squeeze out an even quicker engine response.  With a nice exhaust growl, power requests may be too frequent, reducing gas mileage to only 21 mpg city/highway. The sport designed suspension uses McPherson front suspension and a four-link independent rear suspension aids the car’s excellent handling.

Inside, comfort features are plentiful, like one-touch up/down for all four windows, bolstered sport seats, two skylights that provide natural interior light (only the front one slides open), easy to reach/manipulate Bose radio system with 10 speakers, an in-dash 6-CD changer, gauges and instruments distinctive with red lighting and an adjustable arm rest with space inside for a phone. Air bags and restraint systems are typical. An alert on the navigation screen requires a positive button push in order to change radio stations or use navigation every time the car starts.

The ride is quiet, with plenty of room for front passengers, some tightness in the rear seat, although rear doors swing open wide, and rear seats fold down to augment small, grocery-bag compatible cargo area.