Bravo, Audi, bravo. The Audi A3 campaign was a success from a marketing standpoint. At 10pm Pacific Time the #AudiA3 hashtag was still at the top of the list of Twitter’s trending topics, and browsing through tweets and pictures on Instagram I could see that many Audi dealerships put together some phenomenal parties.

I’ll get to the party in a minute, but...

First Things First

We attended the launch party at Audi San Diego, and upon arriving just a few minutes after six, the soiree was already in full effect. I wanted to get a test drive in before I had a drink or got settled into one of the nice black couches that were placed around the showroom floor, so we headed outside where there were several A3 sedans available.

Cory didn’t think he was going to even fit inside the car. At 6’3” he’s been slightly spoiled by the spacious A8 we’ve been driving for the past week. Alas, he was pleasantly surprised that he could fit in the front seat and back seat with just a smidgen of room. For a quick ride up the street, he was OK, but a long trip is definitely out of the question.

We took a ride in the 1.8-liter, front wheel drive, turbocharged version that has 190 horsepower, but don’t let that number fool you. It was surprisingly quick in terms of acceleration, especially when I put it in “S” mode.

I haven’t figured out if this is a good or bad thing, but the CD player and SD card slots are inside the glove compartment instead of the usual place, which was right under the middle air vents. For someone like me who streams music from my iPhone, it’s not so much a concern, but for people who still like the old school ways to store music and want to change a CD while driving, it could be annoying. So sorry, mom and dad, the A3 may not be for you.

The interior of the A3 is true to Audi’s tagline of “Stay Uncompromised”. Sure, it’s an entry-level Audi that may seem a bit minimalist and ho hum (Remember, this is coming from someone who’s been in the A8 for the past week), but there are details that remind you that you are still in an Audi. Touchpads were once only for the grownup models like the A6 and A8, but with this new A3 there is also a touchpad on the knob that controls the MMI. The pinstriped aluminum inlays also added a luxurious look and feel to the interior.

I’d be remissed if I didn’t mention that you get 4G LTE Wifi. For a writer who enjoys sitting in the car at the park or working while on a trip (in the passenger seat, of course), this is epic. The 4G will also help with quick loading of Google Maps/Earth and searching for online destinations. One noteworthy feature of the A3 that I just learned about is geotagging, which allows someone who is at your destination to take a picture, send it to the car, and the system navigates the car to that destination. Hello, technology!

The Party

Tasty beer by local brewer Saint Archer, scrumptious h’ours dourves served up by Urban Kitchen, music by DJ ARASH, photo booth, and acrobatic performances by the San Diego Aerial Artists...What more could you ask for? Well, Ok, we didn’t get the Janelle Monae and M.I.A. hologram concert, but it was close enough. Also, words are not enough to describe the event, so here are pictures and video from our night at Audi San Diego.








View more photos and video on and .

The party attracted what seemed to be a wide range of people; maybe not all the young “hipsters” that Audi headquarters was targeting, but it was still a good turnout.

Special thanks and shout-out to Audi San Diego’s brand specialists who made the experience enjoyable: Neal Kelly, Julie Holmes, Lio Leon, Don Bragg, and Willie Reid.