In case you hadn’t noticed, new Audis are sporting what the company calls a “single-frame” grille that is claimed to be a heritage design cue from the good old Auto Union AG (i.e., pre-Audi) days of the 1930s. Of any modern Audi, the 2006 A3 wears this grille best, and it gives the otherwise innocuous car an angry face full of attitude. Combine this mug with the A3’s stubby butt, clean flanks, and spirited driving character, and an endearingly scrappy personality is born.

This is a look that will wear well over time, punctuated at the rear with dual exhaust outlets to announce the car’s performance intent and decorated with standard 17-inch alloy wheels. On the standard model, those wheels are gray-painted five-spokers wearing all-season rubber. Our Sport Package-equipped test car came with beautiful brushed aluminum multi-spoke alloys shod in low-profile performance tires. The trouble with these wheels is they are difficult to clean, so low-maintenance types might wish to stick with the standard five-spoke alloys.