Audi A1 Sportback review (17/10/2012)
Audi, having witnessed the dizzying success of rivals BMW’s premium brand Mini, were anxious to get in among the new generation of top-end superminis.
The result was the A1 and it was a venture into the dark — Audi’s previous attempt, the adventurous A2, was never hugely popular. Punters eschewed the A2 on the basis that cheaper options served the purpose just as well.
Expensiveness could again rear its ugly head, with the A1, as the car strays into the cost bracket of the larger small-family car segment, but Audi are banking on the fact that people are more willing to pay extra for a premium supermini.
Originally in three-door, the A1 has been a successful addition to Audi’s range and has hit the spot with female drivers, many of whom have switched to this car from the Mini. Not a bad achievement for a car that shares its underpinnings with the rather more humble Seat Ibiza.
The car we test here is more practical than the original A1; this is the A1 Sportback and it is a five-door hatchback. It will have more appeal to the family-oriented buyer than its sibling.
We tried the 1.6 TDI version in Sport trim and all the watchwords you associate with Audi — refinement, quality and class — can be applied to this machine.
The design is very Ingolstadt and very now, what with the trademark LED running lights all round, and the styling cues one has come to associate with the brand.
On the road, too, it persuades you that it is a real Audi and not just some sop to the marketplace. Audi has put a lot of work into this car, making it an acceptable and justifiable part of the team.
Some might say the 90 bhp produced by this 1.6-litre unit is on the weedy side, but there are positives to that: there is a lot of torque (230 Nm at between 1,500 and 2,500 rpm), it only emits 90g/km of CO2, and it fits into tax band A, costing just 104 per annum to tax.
Top speed is 182 kph and the 0-100 kph dash is achieved in a moderate 11.6 seconds, but once you accept that this won’t be beating the land speed record anytime soon and appreciate what this engine does best, like returning 3.8 l/100km (that’s over 70 mpg) over the combined cycle, you become considerably more appreciative of its abilities.
It is a very nice machine to drive and while the limitations of the torsion-beam rear suspension might have been a concern initially, Audi’s engineers have tuned the suspensions to a point where the driving experience lives up to brand values.
The Sport version is a little edgier than the standard machine, but comfort levels remain very acceptable in terms of ride. Sure, it is not as go-karty as its rival, the Mini, but the handling is taut and steering response sharp. It is very much a fun proposition.
Inside the car, you have many Audi fundamentals: smart design, excellent use of materials and fantastic build quality. This may be a cheap Audi, but it has not sold its soul at the altar of expediency. It is definitely not a poor relation of its more substantive
siblings.
I was not enthused by the dash-mounted info screen and felt it could have been more subtly entertained within the context of the dashboard layout, but that was a small crib.
The driver’s seat is firm and supportive with plenty of adjustment, and, with a large glass area, all-round visibility is very good. As you might expect with Audi, all the materials utilised are exceptionally tactile and even the more robust plastics are well hidden away. The specification of the model tested was pretty comprehensive, too, but I was disappointed at the manner in which Audi loaded up the cost in terms of the options list.
The test car was 7,000 more than the baseline Sport model, with the exclusive paintwork and Zenon lights adding 3,000 to the total.
There are three sets of seatbelts in the rear of the A1 Sportback, but this car is essentially a four-seater, unless you’re dealing with very small people.Again, this characteristic leans it towards the family buyer. The boot is a tad small, though, and the rear seats don’t fold flat.
Generally, I was dubious about the idea of a small Audi, but any fears I may have had were unjustified. I should have had more faith.
from 23,390 (30,547 as tested).
not an overly powerful 1.6 TDI, but it certainly has its merits – particularly when it comes to economy and running costs.
immediately identifiable as an Audi and there’s nothing wrong with that.
You could throw it in against a load of other superminis, but its only real opposition is from the Mini itself.
