The UK media launch of the Audi A3 Sportback was a couple of months ago now, and if you read my review from that time you'll note that I nominated the base model as my favourite. How jolly, then, I thought, that exactly that car would be in my hands for a whole week.Um, yeah. More than three hundred miles later, I still quite like it, and if I were to buy an A3 Sportback of any sort it would probably be this one. Without the the rest of the range to give it some context, however, it seems to have lost some of its magic.I wrote that this car, even when fitted with optional 17" wheels rather than the standard 16s, "rides and handles beautifully". I haven't completely changed my opinion on this, though I'm beginning to wish I could try out another car on 16s because I think the ride would be better still.As for the handling, it is indeed lovely when you're driving fairly sedately, which of course is what most owners will do most of the time. During this test I had occasion to push a little harder than I had done on the launch event, and unless the road surface was particularly good the Sportback's suspension would often become confused - not to the extent of causing danger, but certainly to the extent of causing discomfort.I managed to cause more discomfort by almost never moving away smoothly from a standstill. I don't know what it is about the clutch and throttle actions, but I seem to have a lot of trouble making them match. Opprobrious comments about my driving technique will no doubt appear in the comments below this review, and with good reason.No complaints whatever about the 120bhp 1.4 TFSI turbo petrol engine. This really is something of a gem. It's not terribly powerful (though it will push the car from 0-62mph in under ten seconds if you force it) but it operates well at low revs, and it's pleasantly quiet at almost any revs.Fuel economy? On the combined EU test, 53.3mpg. In my hands, just on 50mpg. I like that.As previously mentioned, the Sportback is longer than the regular A3 on which it's based, and has two extra doors. The latter feature makes access to the rear easier, though this doesn't alter the fact that transporting four six-foot adults in an A3 is a tough gig.The extra length means more luggage space - 380 litres with the rear seats up rather than the 365 of the three-door. The Sportback therefore has exactly the same capacity in this configuration as the very closely related Volkswagen Golf, which is ahead by 1270 litres to 1220 in seats-down form and is also, as far as I'm concerned, the better car for more reasons than this. Engine 1395cc, 4 cylinders Power 120bhp Transmission 6-speed manual Fuel/CO2 53.3mpg / 123g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 9.5 seconds Top speed 126mph Price £19,825 Details correct at publication date
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