Hatchbacks are supposed to be about utility, about giving their owners everything they need in a single set of wheels, but the 2006 Audi A3 has trouble delivering on this front, too. Starting with the A3’s merits, the rear seat is a 60/40-split folding design with a center pass-through for carrying long objects. Folding the back seat creates a maximum cargo volume of 55.6 cubic feet, which is generous for a vehicle of this size, and the cargo cover is very easy to remove – unlike many vehicles of this ilk. Liftover height is low for easy loading, and there’s a grab handle to assist tailgate closing. Cargo nets on the side of the luggage space and on the cargo floor offer places to put parcels so that they won’t fling about during the spirited drive home. As for interior storage, two big bins are molded into the front door panels, there’s a large lined glove box, and a storage tray slides forward from underneath the front passenger’s seat.

Demerits include a load floor that is not flat when the rear seats are folded down, a front passenger’s seat that doesn’t fold flat to carry long objects inside the car, and a glove box stuffed full with oversized owner’s manuals and the CD changer. The bin under the center armrest is lined but too small, the small front ashtray doubles as a coin holder (thereby encouraging smokers to pitch their cancer sticks out the window), and there are no map straps, no card clips, and no place to put sunglasses. Finally, rear seat riders get neither storage space nor cupholders, and just try using the closely grouped front cupholders for two drinks at the same time.