Fancy a closer look? Check out our Audi A1 gallery.
Audi claim to have shrink-wrapped everything that the brand stands for with it’s new A1 supermini, but can this car go up against the MINI and Fiat 500 and win? We headed to Berlin to find out.
What’s the A1 like?
The A1 looks more like a scaled-down coupe than supermini. Design highlights are its falling roofline, muscular shoulder line and TT-like clamshell bonnet and boot. There’s the usual Audi styling cues such as the large front grille and LED running lights, but its all been integrated into what I believe will be one of the most stylish models in the premium supermini class.
Does the interior have any special features?
You’d think that with a dashboard styled to look like an aircraft wing and with air vents modeled on turbines the A1’s interior would be exciting and you’d be right. The turbine air vents look and feel great, plus the fit and finish is up to Audi’s usual exemplary quality standards.
Customisation is a key interior feature for this class and the A1 doesn’t disappoint. Many of the test cars I tried had bright coloured air-vent surrounds, seat fabrics and door trims. I liked the extra colour and think that it makes the A1’s cabin feel more youthful – just be wary of the Wasabi green.
Audi believe that its target buyers for the A1 are quite tech savvy and as such SE, Sport and S line get a pop-up 6.5-inch ‘pop-up’ screen in the dashtop, six speakers and iPod connection as standard. Need more technology? Well, the MMI+ navigation lifted straight out of the range-topping A8 is available as an option. There's also an optional Bose 5:1 surround sound upgrade, which has 465 watts, LED-lit woofers, and 14, yes 14 individual speakers.
Is there enough interior space?
There’s plenty of head and legroom for those in the front, but stowage is at a premium with door pockets only big enough for CDs. The seats themselves are supportive and comfortable, plus the driving position will suit even the lankiest. Sadly, things aren’t quite so good in the back and though the twin rear seats look smart, they aren’t built for people over 6ft. The boot, however is a practical size, with 270 litres of luggage space. With the rear seat folded this increases to 920 litres. You can also delete the spare wheel to get extra under floor space.
What's it like to drive then?
Engine choice for the A1 is limited to an 86hp 1.2-litre TFSI turbo petrol, 122hp 1.4-litre TFSI turbo petrol or 105hp 1.6-litre TDI turbo diesel. All fitted with green stop/start technology. Anyone looking for MINI-like levels of sporty handling will be disappointed. The A1 handles and rides competently, but nothing more than that. The optional S-Line suspension is too hard in my opinion.
My favourite combination at the launch was the 1.2-litre TFSI with 5-speed manual transmission. It might be slow, but its buzzy engine sounded good, handled well, is reasonably refined and can return 55.4mpg. The 1.6-litre TDi diesel is expected to be the top-seller in the UK, with a combined consumption figure of 70.6mpg and torquey performance. Sadly, it’s a bit noisy at idle and wasn’t as sophisticated as expected.
Sadly, the least impressive model is the range-topping 1.4 TFSI petrol mated with the seven-speed S tronic transmission. In terms of feel, this A1 is similar to the Seat Ibiza Cupra and Volkswagen Polo GTI. Highly stressed is probably the best description for the engine. Whilst it has the performance to shame much larger cars, I was put off from making the most of it because of the engine noise. I’d also question whether it really needs seven gears.
Summing up:
The A1 will go on sale here in November, with prices starting from £13,145. There’s no doubt it will be a massive hit for the brand (sales of this new supermini are going so well it's set to become Ingolstadt's fastest selling model), but it’s so average to drive I’d advise anyone looking for a dynamic-handling supermini to look elsewhere, which is a shame.
Fancy a closer look? Check out our Audi A1 gallery.
