Category: Hot Hatchbacks 
Price Range: £15,540 to £25,055
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.
The front passengers are treated to impressive sports seats and it's easy to get comfortable. Air-con is standard. The S3's ride is firm and sporting, but it couldn't be described as hard, despite the huge wheels and tyres. The biggest demerit is engine noise, which was a problem on early examples though Audi should have fixed this now. Bigger drivers might find the S3 and its black cabin a bit claustrophobic. Despite being based on the Golf, the S3 feels much smaller and more hemmed-in inside. Access to the rear seats is tricky, partly because the S3 only has three doors. There's not a massive amount of space for rear-seat passengers, either. Boot space has also been compromised a little (compared to a standard A3) because of the four wheel drive transmission. Audi's own premium radio cassette with CD autochanger is standard, and it's an impressive installation.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Audi A3
wrote on 18 05 2007
wrote on 07 10 2006
wrote on 09 06 2006