Stylish but pricey tyke
Audi is anticipating one of its most significant years yet in South Africa. As many as 23 new models are on the cards, including the monstrous RSQ8 — and the E-Tron which ought to offset those emissions, in theory anyway.
Last year the German brand launched a quartet of offerings: the Q8, RS4 Avant, Q3 and A1, the littlest breed in the stable.
We spent a week babysitting the tyke and learnt that while it might be the runt of the litter, it evinces a grown-up character. It certainly cannot escape criticism, however, which we will weigh in on a bit later.
First, a word of praise to Audi for the fantastic job its stylists executed on the secondgeneration car. After our initial impressions in 2019 we said that, unlike some products from the brand before, this new car looks just that: new, not merely a nip and tuck and wash.
Cutting an edgy profile, with dainty proportions and angular pieces, it sheds the roundness that defined the old car’s physique. Opting for the S-Line kit and Turbo Blue paint choice (as worn by our tester) leaves you with a boutique hatchback that attracts lustful stares.
In such a specification, it looks like it possesses true sporting credentials. On a leisurely Sunday night drive home at 110km/h, a fellow motorist in a 2012 S3 that sounded quite modified pulled alongside as if to goad one into an illegal street race. An offer that was untaken. After about two minutes he zoomed off, bored and leaving me staring at the massive, upper-case | QUATTRO sticker on his rear window.
If we were duelling for economy figures, the 35 TFSI would have won hands down. This derivative sits above the 999cc 30 TFSI and packs a 1,498cc, turbocharged, fourcylinder unit. That is good for 110kW and 250Nm, paired with the company’s lauded dual-clutch S-Tronic transmission with seven forward gears.
It’s a combination that provides sprightly motivation, with zesty around-town thrust and adequate grunt for confident freeway dispatches. There’s not a great deal to be hauled around, with the A1 tipping the scales at 1,165kg.The claimed combined consumption figure is 5.1l/100km. The claimed urban figure meanwhile is 6.5l/100km.
In my custodianship over the last 680km, the readout on the digitised virtual cockpit instrument panel read 7.8l/100km. Not brilliant, but certainly not as disappointing as the figures returned by the Q3 35 TFSI we ran over the festive season, which was as thirsty as it was reluctant to perform.
The expressive cabin layout mirrors the trendy exterior. Front occupants will appreciate the segmentation between driver and passenger, with the angled fascia and separate, lengthways ventilation slots for the person riding shotgun.
Operating the touchscreen Multi Media Interface (MMI) was a cinch. But how we wish they had reserved better plastics for the door panels. They are of a hard, coarse variety that looks out of place in a product billed as a luxury hatchback. Such materials might be par for the course in a Volkswagen Polo, upon which the A1 is based. But in this application, a plusher approach was expected.
Basic outlay demanded for this 35 TSI kicks off at R440,800. Throw in a few options and that price could inflate rather dramatically, as expected. It must be said that pricing encroaches on that of the A3 Sportback. For example, the A1 40 TFSI S-Line S-Tronic goes for R488,000. If you chipped in a mere R13,410 more you could have an A3 with the equivalent engine.