Audi A3 ?

My wife has one. Nice car drives well nice interior. The twin clutch transmission is much better than the cambio corsa in my Maser.

 

Hello Parker.

Funny you bring up this thread.. My daughter in London just took delivery of a new S3 (trading in her Civic typeR) I obviously hadn't been given the chance to drive her's yet, but I have driven an '08 A3 3.2 (cabriolet, which my wife bought herself eariler this year)
I am not sure how they differ from American ones but as a city driver its fantastic and fun.. The 3.2 i am sure is much nicer to drive than the limited auto/tiptronic/fancy-tronic R32 (hers is 6mt.)
They feel perfectly balanced (not just for a hatch, but for a road car in general.) They are much better than the BMW alternative (the bmw feeling underpowered and heavier.)

Audi make great automobiles, you wont regret it, especially if you go for the S-line 3.2 ... But seeing as you wanted something fuel efficient, the 2 litre is about the same as the Golf GTi.

 

At 6'3" I felt the A3 was way too cramped inside. I also thought the GTI was more fun to drive, but liked the A3 better overall. I test drove both of these extensively and decided I couldn't live with the cramped interior for any highway commutes and so I picked up a used CLK320. I made a good choice. Gets 30mpg on the highway too and PLENTY of interior space/leg room/ head room.

 

I have an '08 TT 2.0T with the DSG gearbox, also basically built on the GTI platform. I've had it a year -- fantastic car, no issues. The only drawback is fwd -- not obvious till you try a hard launch or break the wheels loose on a turn.

The DSG is better than an automatic, less fun than a true manual, but for daily driver/traffic duties it's working out very nicely.

 

There might be more interior room using metrics. But comfort and room in the drivers seat is of no comparison between the two. I have plenty and excessive head and legroom in the CLK, but it isn't even close in the GTI. So, yes there might be overall more interior space, but the comfort for me as the driver is what is important at my size.

And yes I'm aware that the GTI gets better fuel economy but I still think 30mpg on the highway is quite good. Of course, I also bet the maintanence bills on the GTI are far better as well - but again I love being able to stretch out in the drivers seat when traveling far distances.

In the GTI and the A3...to expand on the comfort...the drivers seats don't go back as far and I couldn't spread my legs as far apart in them compared to the CLK without hitting both the left door and center console.

 

A3, i had one there s many years ago. it was the first version with 4 doors TDI really nice car i used dailly and the unique problem was the Turbo pump, sometimes it blocked alone...factory problem i heard.
Fine details in the finition. it was my "night train", i choiced it in black metalised, wonderfull colour.

Today i got A4 for all days and i can say.....fantastic, No problem.