Audi offers four petrol engines and two turbodiesels, with an interesting choice of transmissions, including the brilliantly-engineered Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG), a double-clutch system providing the qualities of a normal automatic (minus the usual fuel consumption penalty) combined with standard-setting 'paddle-shift' mode. In the middle of the range there is a choice of front-drive or quattro.

Cheapest Sportback is the ΂£16,010 front-driven 1.6, most expensive the 3.2 V6 quattro Sport (΂£24,625). On paper, the latter looks attractive if you have the necessary funds. But you can save ΂£2000 on purchase price and a substantial sum on insurance and emissions tax, by picking instead the 2.0T FSI quattro Sport. It is difficult to tell without driving the two cars in convoy, but I believe that little would separate them on demanding B-roads. Reduced weight over the front wheels (and consequently altered spring/ damper rates) make the feel of the 2.0T, on identical wheels and tyres, slightly different from the 3.2; for the better in my opinion. The 3.2 is more a car for old greys, says this old grey.

Throttle response of the 2.0T is cleaner too. This harmonically-balanced four-cylinder turbo engine (also to be installed in the Golf GTI) is simply fabulous. While the naturally-aspirated V6 is muted even at full throttle, the 197bhp 2.0T, though never excessively loud, announces its presence at the lightest touch of the pedal. The torque delivery is brilliantly mapped, with
206lb ft all the way from 1800rpm to 5000rpm. Zero to 60mph can be done in under seven seconds, top speed is 145mph, but it's that mid-range pull that really scores the points. With this engine, the DSG option uses marginally more fuel, but is significantly better on CO2 emissions (in some versions of the Sportback, the opposite is the case); you will need a calculator to work out which is cheaper over the duration.

Those 7.5 x 17 wheels and 225/45 Michelin Pilots, standard on the 3.2 and on Sport versions of the 2.0T, deliver at least as much grip as most of us could ask for. Even if the steering does not set new standards for feel, there is less sensation of a rubbery interface on lock than in Audis of recent years. There is little roll and not too much understeer; you can really hustle this car through
S-bends. Switching off the subtle-acting ESP has little evident effect other than a small increase in squeal and no more blinking from the little orange light. It might be a different story in the front-drive-only version of the 2.0T FSI, which comes with DSG, while the quattro version has one of the slickest conventional manual gearboxes yet devised.

The brakes of our car were a letdown: the pedal felt unpleasantly soft, fade was soon evident, and there was a tendency to pull slightly to the left under heavy deceleration; not what you need on Alpine descents with fresh-air drops into rocky ravines. I am persuaded that this was a one-off problem caused by a previous occupant, rather than resulting from the slightly lower brake spec compared with the 3.2, which performed superbly, heroically resisting strenuous attempts to induce fade.

The 2.0 TDI, expected to be Britain's top-selling Sportback, delivers 0-60mph in 9.0sec, has impressive mid-range punch, is not too noisy, and promises 38mpg on the Urban cycle. I did not have the opportunity to sample 'entry-level' versions, but a glance at specification sheets suggests that bypassing the basic 1.6 and moving up to the 1.6 FSI delivers, for only a little more money, much better performance but substantially lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Audi's aggressive new grille is already blending into the carscape, and the Sportback's overall styling, with a hint of Nuvolari concept in the rear end, is typically Audi: unostentatious yet boldly elegant. That should tempt some buyers from BMW's 1-series, as will the greater practicality - four people fit comfortably into the Sportback (the BMW is cramped in the rear), and luggage volume is good, though the rear seats do not fold flat. The BMW, however, offers the marginally more sporting driving experience. Mercedes believes its revised A-class will compete directly with these two, but that would seem to be a case of wishful thinking.