Road Trip: Cruising in the New Audi A3

It’s sleek and luxurious – the new Audi A3 is a compact car with all the necessary bells and whistles. And when Audi contacted me to ask me to take it for a test drive on my next road trip — I couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel.

The plush leather seats come standard in the A3 and the twelve-way power driver’s seat includes four-way power lumbar adjustment. I didn’t quite understand why that same power adjustment wasn’t included on the passenger’s seat — which is usually where I sit when my husband and I are road-tripping. However, there are dual-zone climate controls — so I didn’t have to sit and freeze just because my husband’s ideal temperature is like being in the Arctic.

One of my favorite features was the large panoramic sunroof. As a travel writer, I take my GoPro camera on every trip — so the ability to open the roof with the touch of a button, is a great way for me to get wide shots from the top.

An industry first, there’s a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot connection for Internet access on the go. And as someone who’s always traveling, I think this feature is a showstopper. A super-thin retractable screen pops in and out of the dashboard and allows me to switch radio stations or set up step-by-step directions.

The exterior of the car is stylish with its aerodynamic design and slender LED taillights. I was impressed with the handling — the A3 performed well on the clustered city streets in Miami and on the wide open highway through the Everglades. The engine felt powerful, and from what I’ve heard, the A3 uses a smaller engine to get the same power, without compromising a fuel efficiency — and that sounds good to me. Although at first, the vehicle may seem a bit on the expensive side  — and understandably so — if you’re interested, you could find dealer invoice price and use that to figure out what the best price for it would be (if you decide to buy, that is).

My only complaints: 1). No power controls on the passenger seat for lumbar adjustment (and my guess is that you can request that feature), and 2). I would have preferred a red A3 instead of charcoal, but that’s getting kinda picky, isn’t it? ;)

Disclosure: Audi hooked me up with a free test drive of the new A3. However, all opinions and enthusiasm are entirely my own.