Don’t call it a base-level car.

While, that sounds harsh… I’m not here to tell you to do anything, of course. What I mean to say is that, after spending a bit of time with the newest compact sedan from Audi, I feel like calling it an entry-level machine is selling it a bit short. This is the 2015 Audi A3, and it might be hiding a bit more bang for your buck than you think.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbZfJYNKbdw[/youtube]

Put on your average-joe car shopper hat for a moment, and put down your GIVE ME WAGONS OR GIVE ME DEATH newsboy caps (I keep mine in my suitcase so I have it at all times). What Audi has done here is created a vehicle that is appealing to a large swath of the car buying public, thrown in a few items that should be optional extras compared to the rest of the segment, and priced it smartly. Sure, the version that I would buy is just a few ticks over $40,000, but you can actually get a nicely equipped car for under that figure, and the base car is appealing just as it sits.

It would be more appealing with a manual gearbo- wait… I was wearing my other enthusiast hat, sorry. Yes, we would love the row your own variety, but the S-Tronic handles the task at hand rather wonderfully. This is a car designed to make the majority happy, and it will do just that.

Now… put your hats back on and let’s talk about getting more Avants over here.

[Disclaimer: Audi flew me to Northern California and put me up in a beautiful hotel. I also got a look at a private auto collection that blew me away so strongly, I almost had to hide some tears (I shit you not). It’s owned by an area developer named John Mozart, and it was astonishing… so astonishing that we were all ordered to put stickers over the cameras on our phones. No pictures allowed. Picture a pristine raced example of a Lister next to a Ferrari 250 Lusso in one room, a bunch of pre-war Americana in another room, and the the dining area being surrounded by vehicles like this.]