Man maths now has me taking an interest in a new A1 5-door (aka Sportback) to replace my A4 V6 Cabrio which will turn 10 years old in the new year.
There's a special offer special edition A1 over here at the mo, with the 1.4TFSI 122hp petrol engine (suits me) matched to the DSG 7-speed dry clutch S-tronic gearbox. Guess I should fear the gearbox..?! Then again, the A4 has a Multitronic which is soldiering on!
Also got 17-inch wheels as standard - might make for a stiff ride?
Bodywork includes a shiny black paint roof and mirrors, and some kind of S-Line spoiler on the rear window.
Brand new, unregistered, with 3-years free servicing included.
90% of the time it's just me alone driving the car, but will still need to make sure it can accommodate my 6-foot 2 height and commensurate size... And have enough zip for the spirited drive over the hills that I make in the wee small hours every couple of weeks.
Reviews on the web seem generally favourable - anyone here got any experience or views?
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Not driven an A1, and to be honest I find it pretty uninspiring. I'm sure its a good car, but it looks a little dull compared to others in the same / similar grouping.
Regarding the engine I really like that unit. Driven it in an A3 cab and a Golf and found it very nice - plenty pokey enough for me. I guess its the low down torque, but it feels much greater than its quoted output. I'm sure normally aspirated 122 hp engines do not feel anywhere as eager.
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I had an A1 TFSI S-Line from Avis a few weeks ago - only a three door (I think...ashamed to say I wouldn't put money on it though). It was white with a black roof, and I *think* had 17" wheels. Certainly they were no smaller, but of course might have been 18"
I had it 3 days and covered only 200 miles or so. But I thought it was a very nice car. Felt larger than it was, if that makes sense - very grown up feel to it, but fun to drive as well. 'Mine' was very well equipped - leather / sat nav / Bluetooth / cruise etc etc and felt like a quality car. It had covered about 8k miles from memory and felt and smelled like new. The ride was absolutely fine - including over some pretty chopped up Tarmac where roadworks were taking place.
I don't actually know which engine it had, but it felt like it had around 120 bhp, and was quite quick enough, with sufficient power to cope easily with inclines on the A90 at a cruise controlled 82mph. Economical too - I averaged just over 40mpg based on litres put in and distance covered (a bit of mental arithmetic I do with every hire car. Range for the petrol cars is from 30 ish from a BMW 420i to 44 from a MB A class. Diesels range from a shocking 31mpg from a vauxhall Mokka to 57ish from a golf)
I don't know the list price, and I suspect it was expensive, but I'd be quite happy with one. The sports seat was supportive and very adjustable. Steering wheel chunky without being too big, and high quality leather with some natty red and white stitching. I'm only 5' 10", but the seat went far further back than I needed - what it did to rear leg room on the other hand...
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Daughter has a 1.4 TFSI, only driven it a few yards but ridden it it and get to support her on per purchasing trips.
It does feel much more like a big car, quieter and better ride than (actually way ahead of) the Fiesta (previous model) she had before it and her mother's current model Fiesta Titanium.
Could not convince her that the 1.2 TFSI would be fine for what she does. She loves it.
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Had one as a hire car in Munich and used it for a blat north east of there (1 1/2 - 2 hours each way) Nice piece of kit.
Only a 2dr (did not know the 5dr existed) and a manual, so no comment on the gearbox. Felt good at all speeds, although it's shorter wheel-base makes you feel a little less secure at full-chat.
Strictly a 2 seater in the back.
Was concerned that it would not hold 4 of us plus luggage on the way back to the airport (A1 owner there in Germany looked at the 4 of us and the luggage and said "that will not work").
Always interesting to prove a German wrong, much as I love 'em, and duly got everything and everyone in.
Nice car.
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>> a BMW 420i to 44 from a MB A class. Diesels range from a shocking
>> 31mpg from a vauxhall Mokka to 57ish from a golf)
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Funny you should mention the Mokka. Had one last week and thought it was awful. It was the 1.7 CDTi unit which I think came direct from the agricultural division. Very noisy at motorway speeds, altogether an unpleasant experience. Not really sure if it was heavy on fuel - only drove it from Bristol to Heathrow via Bath and it cost me £26 to fill it back up, but can never be to sure how full it was at pick up. Assuming it was full that would put it at mid thirties at best
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That really is appalling for a diesel. My petrol Octavia vRS would have given me 38-40 mpg on that journey.
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I have just p/x'ed my 118TSi Golf DSG after just 2 years and 20,000 Km and I took a 'bath' on depreciation due in the main I suspect to the DSG's reputation over here.
I've had the 122PS (90TSi) and the 160PS (118TSi) in Golf VIs and both engines drive very very well in my opinion, the Twincharger (in my experience) was economical, refined and very tractable, I'm sure the 122PS derivative would feel very lively in the smaller A1 and IIRC VW NZ don't offer derivatives such as the Twincharger (or the replacement 150PS) in NZ due to the lack of 98RON fuel availability ?
The DQ200 DSG is more of a problem for me, for the first 14K km it drove beautifully with none of the niggles widely reported. Then it started to judder and the clutch packs were replaced and it never drove well thereafter (with new programming) IMHO. I have decided to steer clear of VW for a while as DSG (wet or dry plate) is fitted to almost all of their derivatives in Australia.
I drove a 77TSi (1.2 105PS) Polo with the DQ200 when my Golf was being fixed and it didn't feel as smooth as my Golf had originally been, it was lively though.
So, from my perspective - the 122PS (90TSi) engine will be fine, whilst VAG are fitting the DQ200 to many current models I'd not recommend it, fundamentally it can overheat in heavy traffic and surely the point of an auto (DSG) is urban usage ?
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Done deal. Pretty impressed that you can put the car in Drive (or Sport), or change gears manually using either the gearstick or the flappy paddles! And the DSG box has a 3-year warranty - unlike the 10-year old Multitronic on my outgoing car...
Interestingly they have managed to sell it to me as New (me as first registered owner), qualifying for 1.9% finance, even though it has already been registered as an Audi NZ car and has done 650 miles over the past 4 months... Should I care?!
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Audi A1 - Any owners/drivers' comments? - mikeyb
