To evoke the feel of driving a sports car, the seating position is placed low in relation to the high and wide console. The standard seats are okay but are too short in the thigh, and we like more lateral support, too. The leather seats are very nice front and rear. Legroom is adequate front and rear. The back seats are quite comfortable, more supportive than the front seats on many compacts, but the slope of the roof means tall passengers may find rear headroom compromised.

The point of a five-door hatchback, of course, is the versatility of the interior. For starters, the luggage area can be increased by folding flat the split rear seatbacks. Indeed, the rear seats flip down easy. This does not result in a perfectly flat cargo area, but this isn't usually an issue. Several package options are available to augment the trunk's utility, including a ski sack that can hold six pairs of slats. An optional roof rack is available in a choice of several different configurations depending on the intended use.

The wide doors make it easy to climb in and out. We found it a bit too easy to hit the panic button on the remote key fob. Audi's use of flush-fitting door hands means they aren't as easy to grab as the handles on BMWs and other cars and can snap away from your fingers when in a hurry. The seatbelt alarm goes off whenever the car is running, annoying when sitting in a parking lot.

The Open Sky dual sunroof option is very cool. Only the front of the two glass panels opens. Both have retractable sunshades, but the mesh covers let too much light in for our taste. We believe in letting the sun shine in, but not on glaring days when it distracts from driving.