[Brookside]

Originally Posted by onehots2k

A car with no direct competitors is something special.

And it's a BMW!:biggrin:
The 1-er, rwd coupe, as far as I know, stands alone in it's class in the premium tier.

The real crime is what Audi/NA has done to the A3 by limiting consumer choices with one bodystyle and mating it's hi-tech 4cyl engine with crappy
fwd. Yeah, you can get quattro (the Haldex version that is front-wheel biased)...starting at 34k+ with an iron-block V6 with no manual.

The A3, to me, is worthy competition to the 1-er, but hamstrung in the marketplace by short-sighted thinking. Nothing like sinking a
winner right from the start. But, typical of Audi. (eg. the TT's recent N/A debut is fwd only...quattro to follow in 4-6 mos.)

Go over to the A3 (8P) forums at Fourtitude.com. Post after post about how unhappy owners and potential owners are with the limited choices...this after 3 years of the model's N/A introduction. Too bad.