Zippeedeedoodah. It is a wonderful day when you spend it behind the wheel of a 2006 Audi A3, scooting around like a fox on a golf course and generally behaving in a very un-Teutonic way.

Ach. The car will make you do that. Stylish and fun, the Audi A3 is the car everyone wants to take home but no one is willing to buy, because, after adding the options that make this car fly, you take a $26,000 price tag and turn it into almost $35 grand. Not that those options are overvalued. Consider the Sport Package, which runs around $1,800 and includes stiffer suspension tuning, a 15mm lower ride height, aluminum interior trim, a leather-wrapped multi-function steering wheel, fog lamps, roof spoiler, leather seating and sport seats.

Without the Sport Package, the A3 is just a pretty hatchback dressed up for dinner, especially when you consider that the new VW Golf, the A3’s low-priced twin, is just around the corner and ready to go on sale. As with most Audis, the A3 was made for drivers, not commuters, so it is a bit odd to see one posing as an “economical” hatchback. Come on. I know what you really are. You’re an Audi – let’s go for a drive! When you’re there, behind the wheel with the shift paddles under your fingertips and the A3’s sport suspension whipping around corners like an angry snake, you will become slightly intoxicated, and think to yourself that yes, you could do this car. You could pay the extra, live with the cramped back seat, the useless cupholders, and small hatch area.

You blip into the fourth gear of the A3’s six-speed (standard is a manual, optional is Audi’s Direct Shift Gearbox), and think again, yes, it would be fine to live with the hard, cold interior plastics. After all, you get a sweet and smooth inline four-cylinder engine with direct fuel injection that makes 200 horsepower and 207 lb.-ft of torque and sings like a bird. For that, you can put up with the emergency brake between you and your latte, and can even get over the poorly marked audio and environmental controls. Those clever German engineers love to be different, and snotty car enthusiasts the world over have, over the years, foolishly bought into it. For Joe Commuter, however, it’s nice when things are easy to use.

But enough complaining. Perhaps we’re spoiled by the efficiency of Japanese instrument design, and perhaps this is part of the Audi’s charm. But ineffective design, no matter how cute, is still a frustrating waste of time. As for the 2006 Audi A3, driving one is hardly a waste. This is a fun car that brightens your daily drive, and does it at a clip of 25/31 mpg. For the $26,000 base price, you get a nice cloth interior and a fun A3 – but not nearly as much fun as the one with the Sport Package, which will run you around $28,000. At that price, with those restrictions on trim offerings, it’s easy to see that the A3 will sell well – to Audi-loving hat ch freaks with too much money. The rest of us will wait for the Golf, while continuing to dream the sweet dream of an Audi on the open road.

Photos by Ron Perry