Audi A3 Sportsback review (10/04/2013)

IT is not so long ago that an Audi A3 Sportback decorated the driveway of this correspondent. Not that it was mine, you understand, but it was definitely a member of the family. A black version with funky black and yellow check upholstery, a neat little car and I really liked it.

I still profess a liking for that A3 and all subsequent ones which have passed this way — apart maybe from the first generation S3 version which was mind-blowingly powerful but an absolute no-no for Irish roads, such was the design of the ultra-stiff suspension which made driving it something of a fools’ errand.

It may be that Audi single-handedly devised the premium small car segment when it came up with the A3 and that the company has mined this niche seam with incredibly successful results down the years — so much so that each one of its premium rivals has followed suit with contenders of their own, albeit with mixed results.