THIRTY-five is the age in which a person can no longer ‘round down’ to being closer to a youthful twenty-something, but those digits – in thousands of dollars, not human years – also happen to represent the step-off point from a mainstream to a premium small car, like the Audi A3 1.0 TFSI.

Quite aptly the Audi A3 has long been the mature, intelligent option in the premium small car class.

The 1.0 TFSI is also the most affordable of a German-badged, five-door hatchback trio that also includes the BMW 118i and Mercedes-Benz A180. The entry-level A3 was updated late last year with more equipment than before, plus a new, downsized three-cylinder turbocharged engine.

As a mainstream Volkswagen Golf, for example, tails off at around this price and hands the reins to its sportier GTI model grades, this Audi just gets started. It also starts from a higher cabin quality base, though is that enough for buyers to make the leap beyond the mainstream small car leader?