Road & Track has given the new A3 a lousy review. I'm surprised! The last line in this full review is: ... the closer we looked at the A3, the more we wanted to look elsewhere.

2015 Audi A3 2.0T Quattro - Road Tests - Road & Track

My dealer now has 3 in stock. I sat in one and it seems very comfortable. I'll drive the 1.8 and 2.0 next week.

The report said the seats were too high, the steering wheel adjustment was poor, the transmission was not quick, and features for the price were bad.

 

I have been watching the 2015 Audi A3 for several months. It was the top on my list to replace a BMW 328i. I went to my local Audi dealer yesterday and they had a A3 2.0 demo car. I got to test drive it and sit in it for a good while.

First the good:
The driving dynamics were excellent! I didn't notice any transmission issues. I ran it in Sport mode most of the time and it held on to gears well. The acceleration was quick (just a very small amount of lag), the handling was excellent, and the ride was very smooth. In terms of driving dynamics, it reminded me of a baby S4. Very fun to drive!

I didn't notice any issues with the seats or steering wheel, but I also didn't drive it for a long period of time.

My main complaint is the lack of features for a car in this price range. The base version of this car has no automatic climate control (a feature found in $15k cars). The dashboard looked pretty bare and slightly cheap. The pop-up LCD screen was nice, but I would personally prefer to have lots of real buttons to manage the radio.

Also, I was a little disappointed by the way the car looks in person. It is a really good looking car in pictures, especially decked out with the best wheels and trim options. But in real life, I felt that it looked a little short and stumpy. The basic tires seemed too small for the car and it seemed like it sat up too high.

The salesperson claimed that they wouldn't be willing to come down off MSRP for a new car like this. I was hoping to get at least $1k off MSRP, but that doesn't seem likely for a while.

Most of the issues I have with the car can be fixed by tacking on option packages; however, that quickly drives up the price. I was originally interested in this car because I thought I could get a fun-to-drive car for an entry level price tag. To have an A3 I would be happy with, it seems that I am going to have to spend quite a bit more. At this point I am wondering if I would just be better off buying a premium A4 quattro with no options.

 

For what it's worth, I went to TRUECar on a loaded 2015 A3 Prestige Model and got a Guaranteed Savings Certificate of at least $1800 - not sure what they would give you off for a base model, but it's worth a shot!

 

What R&T or any other magazine says about the car is sort of irrelevant. What makes a good car is kind of a subjective thing. What you may love, another may hate. What I'm saying is, in the end a person has to buy what he wants.
There's a lot of cars and trucks the magazines hated and had a million complaints about, didn't recommend them, etc. yet they went on to sell hundreds of thousands of them and most buyers were completely happy with their purchase. That includes when they were new and (for example) 10 years later. Don't forget, Motor Trend named the Renault Alliance "Car of the Year" back in the early '80s..................I'm just sayin'

 

This article is ridiculous. Car and Driver just published a comparo with the A3, 228i and the CLA250; all of these cars have a stripped down model to boast a great price with less features than a top of the line Hyundai Elantra. To bash the A3 for that is silly. Plus, the A3 comes with standard leather, HIDs and sunroof--MB and BMW can't say that. I agree that lack of auto climate control is puzzling, but to fixate on that one item is clear bias by R&T. The C&D comparo puts the A3 squarely on top, and not by a small margin.

Same with the MMI--the lack of buttons is an industry wide issue companies are all facing, and writers are griping about across the board. Bashing Audi for it, without noting that they are one in the crowd is pointless.

 

Add all the options you want to get it where you like, OR, wait a few months until the S3 becomes available, and get an even better car for the same price you just optioned up. (I think it's estimated to start at about $41,000, but the S models are known to have all the creature comforts one would expect from a luxury vehicle.)

OOOORRRR, do like I'm doing and hold your breath, cross your fingers, pray to the German auto gods that the RS3 lands stateside... 360 horses from the same turbocharged 5-banger that's in the TT-RS. Not to mention APR has already produced a kit to boost that to over 600!