Handling
The highlight of the A3 Quattro was the handling. With all four tires grabbing the road, the car drives with incredible traction and stability. The car almost feels like a cat the way it moves with agility and absolute control. While there are two suspension modes offered, regular and sport, both were pretty stiff and provided ample road feel. The technology behind the magnetic ride sounds pretty cool, but I can’t say it provided significantly better handling than other top performers in its class. There are others who provide equally excellent handling performance with more traditional hydraulic shocks. Don’t get me wrong — the A3 takes corners very well, with minimal lean, and delivers precise driving control, which makes piloting the car a real joy.

Styling
I can’t say I’m a fan of the sport hatchback look, but Audi does it with as much panache as possible. The aggressive elegance starts with the large, faux black grill that hearkens back to the 20’s or 30’s, but with an updated cant that makes it thoroughly modern. The angled headlights with those devilishly cool LED daylight running lights gives the car a take-no-prisoners attitude. After that, Audi does the best you can to make a small station wagon look good, minimizing the back end to something almost stylish. All-in-all, it is one of the best looking sport wagons out there.

Value
The A3 Quattro is a stylish and sporty mini-wagon that is fun to drive while offering room to haul your sports gear. At forty large, it is clearly in the luxury category, and offers the goodies and technical advancements to justify the lofty price. I don’t know of any other car that offers this mix of driving performance, luxury appointments and cargo space in a relatively small package. The Mazda3 offers power, but not the handling or posh feel of the Audi. A Subaru 2.5XT Limited offers the four-wheel drive and more cargo space, but in a larger, heavier wagon that isn’t as stylish. The MINI Cooper offers the small size, but not the luxury features and has less power. A friend of mine owns an A3 and loves it. He admits that he probably shouldn’t have spent that much on the car, but he certainly believes he got his money’s worth. After driving this A3 Quattro, I can see his point.

Conclusion
Overall, the A3 Quattro is a worthy sport wagon that is unique in the market. Fun to drive, with a good amount of power, this luxury car is packed with features and technology. Audi has lots of room to improve on their infotainment controls, but that doesn’t take away from a very functional stereo and navigation system. I enjoyed my time with the car and seeing it parked in my driveway — but the real fun was behind the wheel.

Audi A3 Photo Gallery	Audi A3 2.0T Specs
The official Audi of America website - www.audiusa.com

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