jeff968

I'm right there with you.

ecaedus

don't think ppl that are looking at the S3 care much about rear seats. i think the new generation of A3 S3 are marketed towards college grads with a decent new job salary and i also think most of them are going to be leased. ppl with 2+kids in their families won't be buying these a lot mainly because to them the practicality of this car is nearly zero. a nice supermarket car for the wife? maybe. however the college grads that buy them don't NEED the back seat but it wouldn't hurt to occasionally ferry friends to bars. if those seats can be folded down 60/40 then it makes a pretty reasonable cargo mover as well.

as for the stick argument, if u live in big cities like LA u wouldn't be wanting to drive a stick in traffic. i think impreza offers stick since their autos simply suck it's CVT. don't know how the shifts feel in slow speed with these s-tronic dual clutches, if they are 6 speed then the shifts might get jerky. but i'm sure they'll be sweet in manual mode or accelerations

Des_Esseintes

I'm definitely interested in the S3, but it does depend on how useful the rear seats are.

If I'm going to spend $40K on a car with useless rear seats, I'd probably just get a TT.

cooperrf

I'm with you. The seats need to be usable. I don't have kids, but I do drive coworkers to lunch during the week and friends to dinner on the weekends. I don't care if people are a little squished for short rides, but it needs to at least be doable.

Kris Hansen

I'm over 6 feet tall, and "husky" and I fit in the back seats perfectly well, with another "husky" individual. And that was with the front seats in a reasonable position.

If anything, the S3 feels just as roomy as a B7 A4.

Kris Hansen

I'm sure too, but money talks in this case. If we can get enough people to actually plunk down money, I'm sure Audi might bring the S3 with MT6 over.