2006 Audi A3 Review

Specifications

Little Red Rocket

Here I go again, babbling my semi-incoherent effusive praise of Audi wagons. I know, theyre not perfect, but theyre so good in so many ways that I just have a hard time putting on my critical hat and giving em a good nit picking or going over.

The minute I get into any car, I almost immediately take on the mindset of being at home (yes, anyone wanting to analyze my nomadic psyche can go and talk to my dad), with the odd conundrum of the difficulties we all have at home, be it loneliness in a big empty house (big wagons) or a family member that just wont give up the remote (obnoxious stability controls that cant be turned off) or waking up in the morning and realizing that youre still living at home and youve almost turned 30. Actually I moved out years ago, but Im feeling a little melodramatic and I thought that sounded good… convincing? Perhaps too much so. No, really, I dont live with my mom.

What does all this have to do with the Audi A3 2.0T? Uhh…

Anyway. Where was I? Oh yeah, the A3 rocks. It is not without its faults, and in my streamlined lifestyle, what it gives up compared to its larger A4 Avant sibling actually improves it in my books. Namely, size and weight. In case the alphanumerical name didnt give it away, its smaller than the A4, and it weighs less, no doubt to its Golf-roots and the loss of quattro AWD, helping it to shed a few (hundred) pounds. Yet, the A3 is still big enough to easily manage my hockey gear, and though it went untested, Im quite sure it could handle at least two more sets of equipment and their owners. Ideally, it seemed about right for two adults, a pair of kids and their gear, with a pet adding just the right touch of nuisance and overcrowding.

Indeed, some people might feel overcrowded if they bring the entirety of the generous dimensions into the cabin of this most diminutive of North American Audis. You see, Im not very big in any direction (510″, 180 lbs), but I felt like I was pushing the capacity limits of the optional sport seats and I had this horrible and unnatural thought crossing my mind throughout the week: “Do these seats make my thighs look fat?” not really a healthy attitude for any person and particularly uncommon amongst 20-something males, no doubt.

Wow, for someone who started off promising unbounded praise and adoration I sure have found a couple of flaws in my unflinching admiration for this vehicle. On the other hand, thats about it from the complaints department. Okay, there was also the tire thing, but that was a product of seasonal crossover (they gave it to me with summer performance tires) and you cant really fault Audi for early snowfall, can you. On that note, make sure you find yourself some all-season performance tires or a second set of winter boots for your A3 if you happen to live in the northern part of the country, since its available in front-drive only. Enough said.

To tie things back into my opening theme, the A3 was like moving into a small, one bedroom apartment… with a really big closet. But the kitchen! Oh, do I ever love cooking in that kitchen. It is like having a Sub-Zero fridge and big gas-element burners, plus built in double convection ovens, all black appliances with loads of stainless steel trim and a German-forged steel Henckel 10″  master series chefs knife. Everything was right where I wanted it, and I never even wanted to leave to go to the bathroom.

Before I get lost in my kitchen analogy, I suppose I should go over the comparable items in the car that made my stay so fitting. The 2.0T FSI: You dont appreciate the fuel saving until you drive something with a V8 that chugs premium unleaded like a linebacker downing Heidelberg at Oktoberfest. Right about now anything in the neighborhood of 23 to 25 mpg sounds great. And the power? Restrict that linebacker to Powerade, pasta lunches and spring training, then set him loose like Waterboy (Adam Sandlers Waterboy for those of you wondering what Im talking about), and there you have the T in 2.0T; 200 horsepower, 207 lb-ft of torque, 3,263 lbs, light and nimble enough to slip between and past so many overburdened and overweight vehicles, and with enough power to lay waste to such slow-moving traffic.

Can it Get any Faster than This?

Yes, it most certainly can. Nobody makes wagons like Audi, and no one comes close to the sophistication of a four-door hatch-wagon with 200-horsepower. You would have to be almost deranged to want another 50-horsepower, but if you want it, Audi will give it to you in the same A3 packaging. The German brand has just released the A3 3.2 S-Line, with 250-horsepower and 237 lb-ft of torque routed through one of the worlds best auto-manual transmissions this side of Monza: the DSG. All told, the 3.2 S-line can shave about a second off the 2.0Ts impressive sub-7 second time to 60 mph. But I dont want to give away all the goods on the S-line, theres more to come on that model tomorrow.

The Avantino

We here at our central and west coast editorial offices love nothing better than getting into pointless, irrelevant debates that amount to “Is it a hatchback or a wagon?”  [Ed. Its a hatchback.] You see, by not calling it an A3 Avant (rather a sportback), Audi has thrown all of us automotive categorizers into bedlam; however, Audi should be careful because if the confusion persists, we may just toss it into crossover (CUV) purgatory until the matter is clarified beyond the shadow of a doubt. For now they seem to be happy preening over their entry into compact class, as they should be since this is easily one of the top three performers in the C-segment. Sadly, the price of entry is almost $25,000, so many shoppers will automatically skip it on their way to an A4.

I still think of it as a wagon, and I wish Audi had gone with the un-Germanic appellation Avantino. In concept, Audi has been willing to dig out Italian suffixes, the Avantissimo (a 2001 concept you will hear more about being a brilliant counterpoint to the diminutive wagonesque A3). Audi pulls many of the same Avant cues that make their larger wagons absolute standouts from a design perspective: the rising beltline, windows getting narrower as you move to the back of the car, the hexagonal outline of the liftgate when seen from directly behind, uniquely shaped Avant taillamps (Im at a loss as to how to describe the shape without going on for too long, but theyre the same basic shape as the Avants) and the aggressively sloped rear windscreen that is the signature touch that justifies this Sportbacks name.

Some of the details that set the Sportback apart from its larger Avant siblings are its severely cut rectangular headlamps that come to a sharp point leaving just enough space to provide backdrop for Audis gaping new grille, subdued to compact proportions by necessity so as not to overwhelm the littlest version of the brand. For me it works perfectly, lending the pint-sized racer a suitably aggressive face, profile and greenhouse cutout. Wait, did I forget to mention the A3s wicked proportions? Lots of metal and slim glass windows make Johnny want to go fast. Oh yes, its a racer, and you should know it from the instant you set eyes on it.

While the interior has its own character, it still retains all the quality and fine workmanship that Audi has built its reputation on. Our friendly Audi PR contact stressed Audis commitment to one of their core beliefs: Authenticity. Anything that looks like its metal is an alloy (a mixture of several different types of metal, in case theres any confusion) with no confusion about faux wood surfacing, since A3s dont really go that way. All the controls, from the thumbwheel volume and track/station selector on the steering wheel down to the clicky knobs for the climate control are standard Audi fare: precise actuation and supple feeling. Dont let me get started again on the gauge cluster or youll be here until Christmas… wait, Christmas is just around the corner, maybe I can stretch this topic out. Naaaahhh…

It was also a bit of a relief not to have to worry about a Navigation system, which would have displaced the CD changer into the glove compartment… which would have meant I would have had to lean all the way over to load my CDs any time I had a change of heart about my music selection, not to mention removing my girlfriends CDs at the soonest opportunity available. Okay, I admit it, Im lazy enough to go unnoticed in a houseful of cats. Does that expression even make sense? Whatever. Not having navigation also meant that I could spend more time driving and less time in a parking lot trying to figure out where to load my CDs. Yes, despite being smart enough to land what I consider one of the coolest gigs on the planet, I can still be fantastically obtuse at times, but thats a story about another car, really.

Youve Made it This Far, Now We Talk About the Drive

As you may have noticed, I grew to think of my A3 tester as my Little Red Rocket, with no connotations whatsoever to Scud missiles or communism. This is no peoples car. Though many simply wont be shopping for anything so expensive, too many people will be biased against its small size, although in my books that is no detriment. It is still capable of managing multiple hockey bags, as previously mentioned, or various medium-sized Ikea pieces (Ikea flat-pack boxes being the new universal car-interior measurement standard, if you hadnt heard), but nothing so large as an armoire or a refrigerator, of course.

Once you get this baby packed, it will haul you like Speed Racer on deliveries, so make sure the eggs are in hand (the passengers hand, that is) or well padded, because you wont be able to resist tracking curves at high speeds, braking late and burning out of corners, or dropping Mr. Lead Toes on the gas pedal and playing get-up and get-down with every shift of the 6-speed manual. Yes, it was the manual and, yes, it was sweet. The clutch is soft but precise, and the short stick is also form-fitted for my hand and each gear easy to find, with only a touch of grabiness to keep me from getting too lazy or sloppy.

One notable absence was quattro all-wheel drive, but with wide tires up front any loss of grip was more from a desire on my part to see if it was even possible to induce Audis very patient electronic stability control (ESP). All told, it only kicked in during my snow adventures, exuberant standing starts and maybe once on a massively overpowered entry into a curve - I couldnt help myself, I just had to try it.

Through corners the A3 stayed flat in pretty much any scenario, its low, wide stance reinforced at the front with MacPherson struts, lower wishbones, anti-roll bar and a track stabilizer while the rear had a four-link suspension with separate spring/shock absorber arrangement and another anti-roll bar. I can tell you that between its engine, its size, its weight and these components, there is magical fun to be had on clover leaf ramps, twisty roads, highways, stoplights, sharp turns and pretty much anywhere else there are paved roads. Granted, when you hit a bridge expansion joint, streetcar track or potholes, you feel it loud and clear, but I really wouldnt have softened it up one bit, because that tradeoff would mean more roll and less feel in corners. Ill take my corners with control, thank you.

Steering is another thing Audi has just about right. First of all, Im not going to go on about how it needed more steering feel because at the point at which you really need this feedback, youve probably grossly overshot the speed limit and are conducting a closed track cone or speed test. How many people are going to take their A3 to the track on weekends? Suffice to say, the variable steering meant fitting its compact booty in my parking spot was a cinch and on the highway or getting onto one, the wheel required only subtle adjustments to get the car pointed in the right direction, and the car slotted into those small A3-sized gaps just waiting for me to merge or pass. Could it be even tighter at cruising speeds? Possibly. Could it use slightly more weight? Sure. Would I pay an extra $3,500 for the improvements? Not really. Id say its in the realm of 95 percent perfect, if such a concept is logically valid.

The one last item Id like to highlight is safety: Audi just recently won a silver medal in the midsize category from the IIHS for the A3. While I wont go into detail about all of its airbags or how its ESP prevents you from going into a spin, I can tell you that it is one of the safest vehicles on the road in its class. This selection takes into account results from frontal, lateral and rear impact crash tests, as well as head protection and restraint effectiveness, giving you an idea of the total protection this vehicle can provide.

I still have an urge to go on talking about some of the driving adventures I had, chatting with other over-caffeinated drivers at stoplights, or how much my sister liked the Brilliant Red paint job (though her name for it was slightly less direct, and vastly more suggestive, a shade often used to describe lipstick), but as it is I must be testing your endurance if you even chose to read this far, or were clever enough to skip to the end (although in this case, Im not really sure what that would gain you).  Other favourite details were its 16-spoke bicolour wheels, the Open Sky system for great natural lighting, cargo netting in the back, and did I mention 200-horsepower?

My final thoughts are on more of an emotional note: it was terribly hard to return this car, almost tearful. Yes I know saying such is about as time-worn as singing “The writing is on the wall” to fellow music lovers, but the A3s fabulous balance of aggressive sportiness and ideal functionality (at least to meet my needs 363 days a year) made it a keeper in my books.

One last thing I would like to add is that well be back tomorrow with a full report on the Red Rockets even more powerful sibling, the A3 3.2 V6 S-Line, so check in again for back-to-back A3 Sportback road tests.