80% perfect

Finally, my wife let me drive her new car, a 2008 A3. She's driven Audis since 1990; this is her third one (1990 80, 2000 A4, 2008 A3). My daily driver is a 2002 Mercedes C230K Coupe (stick) and the family toy car is a 1985 Porsche 911.

Der Heritage:

In case you didn't know it, the Audi A3 and Audi TT, and the VW Rabbit-Golf-GTI-Jetta all basically share the same manufacturing platform, as well as some engine and transmission combinations. As such, you can expect some degree of similarities from family cousins.

Der Body:

The A3 is probably thought of by many people as nothing more than the Audi-badged version of the VW GTI, but it really is a bit more than that: even a basic comparison will reveal that A3 has been stretched a bit, so its rear seat room is more adult-friendly, plus the A3 has windows in the C-Columns, which improves its rear corner visibility. There might also be a bit more room in the trunk. So before assuming that the A3 is "too small", do take a look at one firsthand. Similarly, the fit & finish of both are Teutonic, but nevertheless different enough to be distinct:

Der Color Pallette:

It may be considered superficial by some, but there's not that much difference in exterior colors offered in the USA market between VW and Audi: black, white, red, silver, grey (by whatever name). Where the A3 differs is that it is available in blue (Ocean Blue). We originally had a 2009 on order, but the 2009 blue (Aruba Blue) is on "delayed introduction" with no known ETA from the factory, so instead of waiting forever, we decided on a leftover 2008, encouraged by a steep ($5K) discount off of MSRP.

Der Motor:

The A3 is available with a couple of combinations. This one is equipped with the 2.0 liter gasoline turbo and the "DSG" automatic transmission and Front Wheel Drive. In general, throttle response is fine and ample power for highway merging, etc.

Der Fuel Economy:

The 2.0T is recommended to run on Premium octane, but will accept Regular. The car is still undergoing break-in, so we're waiting for its fuel economy to stabilize before trying different octane grades: so far, it is averaging 26-27 mpg on Premium.

Der Drivetrain:

The DSG transmission is considered an automatic transmission, but its really a relatively new type of manual transmission that has no clutch pedal (or need for): just more electronic controls to let it do all the work for you. The benefit of this system is that there is no power-robbing torque converter like a normal automatic transmission has, so performance and fuel efficiency are improved.

Generally, the DSG works like a charm. There have been a couple of "odd" things found so far worth mentioning so that you can judge for yourself:

Start from full stop: pulling away is a challenge of finding the right amount of throttle modulation: it seems to either be "too little" or "too much". We're still looking for that middle ground of being able to pull away "smartly" without any risk of chirping a tire.

Slow rolling heavy traffic. Because the DSG is a direct-drive that lacks the slipping torque converter in a traditional automatic, the feel was that the car wasn't particularly happy with crawling slowly along at 10-15mph...almost like indecisive fast hunting between gears. But in fairness, it took some time to notice this and it occured after 30 minutes of bumper-to-bumper on a humid 100F day, so its hard to say right now if this could be a regular event, or just a very hot weather anomaly.

Command downshifts: the DSG's electronics will "auto-blip" the throttle for you...a very nice touch, but if you were downshifting to slow the car down, the compression braking is not as immediate as in past Tiptronic transmissions. Solution: downshift twice in rapid succession.

Der Suspension/Wheels:

We had test-driven an "S" line (tighter suspension) and decided it was too harsh for a good highway cruiser...at least for our roads here in New Jersey. Nevertheless even the Standard A3 suspension and default 17" wheels are still a lot firmer than our prior A4 sedan was, even with plus one 16" wheels. This resulted in a less overall "settled" feel; I clearly preferred her A4, or my Mercedes C230K Coupe (2002) in this regards...both had lower overall NVH in the 65-80mph velocities, although the A3 does seem to settle in and improve when higher than that.

Der Accessories:

The best value in the A3 is in a 'minimalist' configuration. The various options can quickly nickle-and-dime you into the $35K range, at which point you're probably better off buying an A4 or a 3-Series. There are also some "must have X to get Y" dependencies that will bump up the bottom line too.

The good news for 2009 is that some options are now included as standard equipment without any real increase in base price, so the 2009 should be a better value. However, when looking for a 2008 right now, this also means that a knowledgeable buyer should be able to negotiate a better deal, particularly on models with lots of options.

The bad news here is that if you prefer cloth interiors over leather (its less 'sticky' in summer), you had better find a 2008, as leather is now standard on the 2009.

Der Summary:

The A3 exterior is slightly smaller than the 1994-2005 (B5,B6) Audi A4, but its interior is quite comparable overall, and its trunk is nearly as good. The chassis dynamics are overall tighter, and with more engine output, more responsive. Overall economy is up slightly, but not significantly so. General fit and finish is good and tight; style is classically no-nonsense German. Its mannerisms, however, seem to be more focused on the shorter urban sprinter environment than it is a long distance highway cruiser, although it still does a respectable job.