The 60 most fun miles of my day.

I bought my A3 about 4 weeks after they were released in the US. I've now got almost 20,000 miles on it and have enjoyed every mile.

I have a 60 mile daily commute, which is a good combination of open and mountainous freeway driving. The A3 is amazing uphill. The new Audi 4-cyl 2.0 Turbo combined with the 6 speed DSG doesn't even stutter when traveling up the 2 mile 3% grade I drive daily. I've got to watch myself to keep myself from doing 90 mph up it. I cannot imagine what the new S-line version will be like with the larger V6 engine and quattro. For those of you that don't know what DSG is, it stands for Dual Shift Gearbox. DSG is basically a semi-automatic transmission that uses two clutches instead of one - which the end result is faster and smoother shifting. The DSG model included paddle shifting controls on the steering wheel, basicly you have 2 physical locations in the vehicle where you can change the gear. If you want the full skinny on DSG, you can find it here: http://www.audi.com/audi/com/en1/new_cars/technology/drive___suspension/dsg.html

I find my gas mileage varies between 25 - 28 mpg across my whole commute (which includes city/highway). That said, the 30 mpg rating appears to be accurate when driving on freeway speeds on relatively flat terrain, as I've been able to drive between San Jose, CA and San Luis Obispo, CA and average 33 mpg.

As I have the standard suspension, the car handles extremely well under normal freeway speeds, but can get a bit squirelly at high speeds over 100. I would hope that the sport suspension would make it even more responsive.

IMHO the standard 5 spoke wheels look better than either of the 2 styles available on the premium wheel packages, but the tires could be much better with a bit more stick to them.

I would compare this vehicle with a Mini Cooper S. I test drove one of these, and felt that feature wise they are very similar as far as performance goes. The biggest difference was that famous 'go-kart' handling the Cooper has, which really didn't excite me much, IMHO. The biggest benefit over the Cooper - size... The A3 is not much bigger than the Cooper, but enough to be a 4 door and have decent trunk space. This was a welcome feature, as having a family with a toddler and a new born, the A3 is big enough for the whole family to fit inside. The A3's interior styling features were much better and more refined than that the Cooper. The Cooper looks and feels very plastic with it's toggle switches, reminding me of a vintage VW Bug from the 60's. The A3 has what I would call 'Audiophile styling' - simple but well designed. My only two cons on the A3's interior are the lack of power seats on the passenger seat, and the ergonomics of the armrest and handbrake (which other reviewers have noted as well).

2 Adults can fit in the back seat comfortably, however there is a head room issue for tall people. Also, It seems that there may be more leg room in the rear seat than the A4. Definitely more than the Cooper, as when I sat in the drivers seat, there was only about 2" of leg room for the rear passenger. Another feature, which I think is a pro to families with young children, annoyance to others, is the fact that there is only a door 'lock' button in rear passenger location.

My A3 has the moonroof option, which is actually a 2 moonroofs. The front seat has an operable moonroof which has a tilt and up to 95% open. The rear seat has a fixed moonroof. Both make use of what I would call a perforated roller-shade to filter light. They do not fully block light, however, I don't find that to be a problem. I believe it actually helps visibility during the day by reducing the contrast between inside and outside. My daughter loves having her own view to the sky. This is the first time I've seen this option in something other than a Subaru.

My vehicle also has the sun package, which includes roller shades inside both of the rear passenger doors, and a flip up shade across the rear window. While I don't believe this was a very expensive feature, good if you don't like window tinting as I don't believe the A3 has an option with tinted windows, and if you're like me that hates to use film tint because you loose defrosting capabilities, then it may be a reasonable option. I don't really have a positive or neg feeling - however I would have liked Audi to have had a tinted glass option instead of the shades, since the shades don't really reduce the heat during our 100+ deg summers.

Somewhat of a gripe I have is that if the rear passenger windows are open, without the front ones being open, there appears to be some loud buffeting when driving over 35 mph, which may not be tolerable to some. Test drive and find out for yourself.

The is surprisingly, quite a bit of trunk space. I'm can fit 4 standard airline carryon compatible pieces of luggage in the trunk with a bit of space left over. Enough luggage for a quick weekend trip.

The poster who said you probably don't see many on the road is not because they are priced too high, even the one I bought almost went to a bidding war. Audi is not importing many of these vehicles for 2006. I know several people who are looking for them and are having a difficult time finding them.

The climate control works well. Vents are styled after the TT. It would have been nice if there were rear passenger vents other than the floor.

If safety is important to you... you should know the 2006 A3 is one of 9 vehicles that was selected as safest in its class by IIHS http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=554 and was rated one of the "10Best" by Car and Driver http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=33&article_id=10356.

Overall, I recommend the A3 to anyone considering a compact wagon, especially a Mini Cooper. Aside for the few gripes, the pros far outweigh the cons. It's quite sporty and an extreme pleasure to drive. A great car for the commuter with a family.