By Tim Plouff

Audi is in the midst of a product blitz that includes updated versions of its best selling A4 and A6 series cars plus an all-new all-road wagon and another as yet unnamed crossover wagon. Added to these offerings is this week’s premium small car, the new to America Audi A3.

With bold new faces and a redefined accent on performance and luxury, Audi is betting on increasing sales against the other German marquees and its Asian rivals here in the United States.

The A3 has been a popular entry-level luxury car in Europe and Mexico but has never ventured onto these shores before. Sharing its basic architecture with the Volkswagen Golf (a glimpse of what U.S. buyers will see when the new Golf debuts late this year), the new A3 promises class-leading power in a configuration that has baffled the industry’s marketers: a five-door hatchback/ wagon.

Especially in the luxury end of the market, hatchbacks have faired poorly. Non-premium cars sell okay with a rear liftgate. The plethora of minivans and SUVs on the road suggests that a liftgate is appropriate so the design premise must work favorably with drivers. It’s just apparent that upscale consumers expect premium cars to have four doors and a trunk.

Well, the A3 does have a trunk, a big trunk. Its hatchback design means you can easily access its cargo hold, expand the space by folding the rear seats, and drive a sporty four-door with numerous luxury appointments inside. Think of a mature Golf GTI with five-doors and perhaps the A3’s focus will become clearer.

Using a catchy print ad campaign that asks readers if they have any information as to the whereabouts of this missing bright red Audi, please contact a specific number. The ad implies that someone has absconded with the car. I did, and I brought it back to Maine.

Priced $3,000 below the new A4 sedan, the A3 intends to bring younger professionals into Audi showrooms.

The look is crisp. Fender flares are stretched outward from the body to envelope the wide 17-inch alloy wheels and tires while a rising cut-line traces the body from front to rear making the car seem low and wide. Front and rear lamps are molded into the body’s taut shape, flattering the lines rather than contrasting. Add the unmistakable new grille and the four interconnected rings of the Audi logo and you leave no doubt about this car’s heritage.

Power is supplied by an all-new DOHC 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that uses turbocharging to wring out the most performance. Featuring two balance shafts to suppress the usual four-cylinder vibrations, this motor is ultra smooth and very refined at idle or redline. Audi claims 200 horsepower and 207 pound/feet of peak torque; output numbers that best all of its usual competitors, which are few, and leaves only a short list of other compact cars, regardless of price, that offer this much stock performance.

Matched to a slick six-speed manual or six-speed sequential shift automatic, the Audi delivers enthusiastic acceleration with no discernable turbo lag present. The torquey motor lets you briskly out power other traffic, without downshifting if you wish, although exercising the manual gearbox proved to be a highlight of my time spent with the Audi.

Even though the A3 is 10 inches shorter than the A4, it has the same interior passenger volume front and rear plus that large cargo hold that swallows more than twice as much gear as the sedan. Think now of the A3 as a smaller, less expensive A4.

Controls and interior refinement are typical Audi — at the top of the class. Plastics look rich (for plastics) while the leather and cloth surfaces are soft and pleasurable to the touch. Subtle chrome highlights surround the instrument bezels. Audi’s familiar red interior lighting compliments the car’s brilliant exterior finish. Audi hasn’t significantly deviated from an interior layout that has proved popular and enduring.

Multiple side airbags are standard. One-touch up/down power windows are included, too.

However, not all is perfect.

My right leg never found contentment between the seat position and the gas pedal. If the seat was close enough to comfortably reach the clutch pedal, my right leg felt cramped. If I slid the bucket backwards, my left leg strained to fully depress the clutch. A seat lacking sufficient thigh support for long journeys exacerbated this annoyance. A long, rainy, nocturnal ride from Brookline, Mass., to home resulted in a lot of twitchiness by the time my dooryard arrived.

To calm this tension and boredom, I frequently prodded the A3’s engine room into sending more power. I can’t recall driving many small cars with 200-hp although two of last year’s Ten Favorites come to mind: the VW GolfVR32 and Subaru GT. Two hundred horsepower, an open road, a six-speed gearbox, and the A3 still averages 28 mpg. This is the kind of small car that more of us would be enticed to drive if fuel prices continue their upward spiral.

This fountain of youthful exuberance would be wasted without a capable chassis underneath, and the A3 delivers the proper responses. The electric-assist power steering is a model citizen, producing more feedback than most versions of this design while path accuracy is stable and spot-on. Turn-in is precise and fun for all of your cornering, a rewarding feel that apparently springs from the A3’s GTI roots.

Lateral links and coil springs prop up the rear suspension while independent struts and coils suspend the front. Together, they give the A3 the balanced responsiveness that you expect in a small car plus the sporty inclinations and sure-footed ride of a sports sedan. You never feel punished by the Audi’s ride; only eager to drive some more. This is why premium small cars cost more.

The A3 starts at $25,460, including destination charges. Expect to pay around $28,400 for a base A4 sedan.

Currently, the A3 is only available with the turbo-four and front-wheel drive. A 250-hp VR6 engine arrives later along with Quattro all-wheel drive. Remember the reference to the VR32? Here it is all dressed up with everyplace to go; the makings of a serious road-going machine with great looks and appealing performance.

Audi is counting on enough buyers to find these virtues in the A3 so that it doesn’t suffer the same fate as the previous import hatchbacks. So far, it looks like the A3 is set to turn the tide.

Next week: Pontiac Grand Prix GXP.