Category: Hot Hatchbacks 
Price Range: £15,265 to £26,525
Beautifully made, compact, exceptionally quick, superb all-weather abilities, useful six-speed gearbox, retains its value well.
A little cramped, slightly notchy gearshift, engine note, handling and ride below par, expensive, a likely target for professional thieves.
A very desirable, high quality car that combines near-supercar performance with hatchback versatility. Not an emotionally-engaging driving machine, though.
With such compact dimensions and a wide range of seat and steering wheel adjustments, piloting the S3 is hardly different to any other medium-sized hatchback. The gears are quite closely spaced, though and it's not so easy to see out of the car over your shoulders. It's difficult to see how the S3 wouldn't be a hoot to drive with so much power and a chassis that can handle it so competently. Yet it feels curiously unlively - like previous S-series Audis, the S3 isn't a delicate, nimble performance car. It's more about covering ground - especially across country at high speed - in comfort and safety. Immense all-round competence is the key.
With 225bhp in such a small car, the S3 is exceptionally quick. The electronically-controlled 4x4 transmission is essential for getting the power to the road quickly and smoothly, which it does with remarkable alacrity. Even in very poor conditions, the engine's power is transferred to the wheels with the most grip more quickly than the driver can easily perceive. Aficionados might complain that the engine lacks the 'excitement' typical of a turbocharged engine. The power delivery is smooth and even, but the engine doesn't suddenly burst into life.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Audi A3
wrote on 18 05 2007
wrote on 07 10 2006
wrote on 09 06 2006