I have to say the A3 in 5 door trim has always lagged behind the Golf visually from day one. However, I fear that is about to change. I will for sure be wrapping mine in cotton wool for some time to come.
The Mk4 was boring but early shots of the Mk8 (the rear end !!) do not look promising, accepting the fact that low spec models tend to look flat anyway. Maybe the GTI / R will add those extra bits to mask what appears to be a very poor overall design? What have they been doing for the last 6 years? Being different from the previous model doesn't always mean better.
Ironically I think the latest Polo looks far nicer.