I love it, lots of fun.

I've owned a few sporty cars, BMW M5, Mercedes 190 six speed, triumph tr6. The A3 shows the engineering maturity that comes with a 2006 car. The car is a hoot to drive on the highway. It scoots right along and the turbo does it's job. I'm a little unsure about the handling on curves, I'm not that used to front wheel drive yet and I don't want to push it off the track. I have a Premium level car with full glass roof in Metallic blue. My 23 year old son is always on the look out for the keys to it when I'm not driving.

The DSG transmission is an interesting beast. Unlike one of the other reviewers, I feel the normal driving setting for the transmission is very, very conservative. While it shifts smoothly, it shifts far too early for my liking. Slipping the unit into sport mode gives you a far more aggressive profile. Naturally, you can always up or down shift with the paddles on the steering wheel.

I've had the car for 8000 miles and I have had no problems. I had an Xm module installed which cost far too much and it took two trips to get it installed.

The ergonomics are really strange. The center arm rest is either too high, or when set low, you can't fully set the emergency break. The cup holders are essentially inaccessible without looking down. The car has two 12 volt adapters in the center console. It would be good to have one in a more forward position. A radar detector is must in this vehicle :)

Braking and acceleration are great. The sound system (not the upgrade) isn't bad, but a single cd player in this day and age seems a little dated. I do not have the navigation system or the upgraded radio.

You can probably get a better deal on an A4 but I liked the looks and handling of the A3 and money wasn't an issue. I think the fit and finish are better than the Subaru WRX and I actually think the service costs, based upon my son's experience with his Subaru may actually be less, but that remains to be seen. The car has 50Kmi, zero maintenance cost warranty. All oil changes and routine maintenance are covered for the first 50K. The dealer ship only runs Castrol Syntec in these cars.

The car has automatic wipers which is a really nice feature. You have to be careful using the driving lights as they require taking the head lamp system out of "auto". I did run the battery down once because of this "feature". Naturally, I ignored the warning rings...so it was my fault. While I'm on the subject of warnings, this car is really anal about routine operations such as putting on the seat belt, or warning that there is a weight on the front seat which has engaged the airbag, but the seat belt is not engaged. The went a little overboard with these warning rings, dings, and pings....

Overall, I really like this car. It's fun to drive, gets about 28 mpg (albeit on premium fuel) and it is very solid.