ENGINES AND DRIVE

The new Audi A1 will be made available with a 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine (85kw, 200Nm), a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with cylinder deactivation capability (110kw, 250Nm), and a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine (147kw, 320Nm). All motors are turbocharged with direct-injection and depending on which propulsion unit you go for, you’ll be able to choose manual or dual-clutch auto gearboxes.

First, I jumped into the model that’s probably going to appeal to most buyers, arguably because it’s going to be the cheapest way to jump into a new Audi – the 1.0-litre manual. After spending around 100km behind the wheel of the 1.0TSI manual, I came away pleasantly surprised at the unit’s pulling power and overtaking ability. Sure, you’ve got to rev the engine to make haste, but overall it’s not as laggy as I expected it to be, and the manual transmission’s ratios aren’t super eco-biased, which makes for decent (confident) acceleration from a standstill or while on the move. I then went for a 90km loop in the range-topping 2.0-litre

TFSI, fitted with 17-inch alloys and an S-line kit. This car was also fitted with a six-speed S-tronic transmission, which ensured slick-shifting and fewer missed gears (we were driving left-hand-drive cars). Left in its standard settings (you can choose from a variety of sporty or eco-driving modes through the Drive Select button on the dashboard), the 2.0-litre is responsive in the same vein as VW’S Polo GTI; fast and comfy, but a little dull in terms of feedback and grin factor.