2008 A3 is just fantastic

I've owned a lot of great cars: a few BMWs, a couple of Mercs and a few Lexus. But my favorites are my 2006 A4 Convertible and my new 2008 A3 2.0T Sportsline. The performance is amazing on winding mountain roads or on open highway. Solid feel. Great suspension. Magnificent S Line transmission. Solid steering. Sometimes I need to drop it into Sport mode when driving up steep hills, but generally the paddle shifters do the job quite well. The steering wheel mounted paddle shifters, by the way, drop the transmission into Sport mode. And the driver MUST continue to use the TipTronics shifting until either YOU put it back into regular Drive mode or until enough time lapses that it reverts to Drive mode on it's own (generally in 30 seconds). This requires a driver to pay attention in the same kind of headspace as one must assume when learning to drive a stick shift. But this is way more fun.

The Bluetooth Prep (Tech package) is amazing. It allows the driver to have quality sounding conversations over your own mobile phone. The Nav system works great and is easy to understand after about a year of using it... LOL. And Audi dealers don't know how to coach you on it. But it's quite effective when you understand the concept. It's not like any other brand. The 2008 has the choice of having either a CD changer or a built in IPod adapter/charger (glove compartment) with the Navigation package. I chose the IPod and it works pretty well except for the IPod part which doesn't allow the user to see the artists & titles. This isn't Audi's fault, however... it's the fault of the record companies in their zeal to control everything.

The Open Sky system gives passengers a very open feel. It makes the back seat seem much larger and more open. The seats are very comfortable. The rear seats have a center seat armrest that can be removed as a passthrough for skis or whatever. The trunk space is not as small as one might think. We drove the A3 to Vegas the day after I got the car and it was a great ride all the way there and back.

I can't yet speak to long term quality on this car, but there is a recent 50K mile review wherein the reviewer says it's solid. I'll get back to you when I have more miles. On the trip to Vegas we got 29mpg on the highway at speeds of about 80 on the highways. At home, with still less than 2K miles, I'm getting 22mpg on the streets, between 29-34mpg on the highways with an average of around 25mpg combined. But this car can do better. I'm still seeing what this can do. One of the things it can do is power through under low revs and when I do that the car gets much better gas mileage. Driver visibility is quite good. There are really no blind spots that I've encountered. The sport seats are roomy in the front and comfortable front and back... but the leg room in the back is kind of limited.

A pocket luxury car. Probably my favorite car of all that I've owned. I never would have thought that I'd be such a fan of Audi, but they've mastered the fit and finish better than any other... though I still like Toyotas and Lexus quality too.