First drive review: Audi A1 quattro

 

What‘s it? The Audi A1 quattro supermini, skunkworked. The foremost powerful mass-built A1 is that the 1. 4 TFSI Black Edition, good for 182bhp, however the A1 quattro, hand-built and limited to 333 left-hand-drive examples, adds nearly 40 per cent to that figure, and a similar in torque. It uses the faithful EA113 engine seen inside the TTS and VW’s Scirocco R, inside a similar state of tune. It’s not really a plug-and-play job, though - bodyshell aside, there’s little in common involving the quattro and common-or-garden A1s. Most significatly, there’s permanent quattro drive (apportioned electronically and applied hydraulically using a rear-mounted multi-plate clutch ), a revised six-speed manual gearbox, rear anti-roll bar and multi-link suspension also coming from the TTS, and beefier brakes. Steering remains the conventional 14. 8 : 1-ratio, electrohydraulic set-up, though.

Performance tooling as a carbonfibre propshaft doesn’t come cheap, and also the Audi A1 quattro costs almost twice around the Black Edition, at just over £41k. The blow is softened by £11k-worth of options, though, including rear parking sensors, a xenon and LED lights pack and bags of media treats for example DAB radio, Bose stereo, nav and web services. All examples are white having a glossy black roof and boot spoiler combo, and striking white 18-inch alloys. Inside there will be hard-backed leather sports seats and smaller touches like red stitching. What‘s it like? Great fun, for the foremost part. Once cowled inside the snug but highly adjustable driver’s seat, grab the skinny, milled aluminium gearstick and you’re insert mind of the rally car’s sequential shifter. It yields a chunky, postive otherwise short or super-quick transition involving the ratios which are set to keep your 2. 0-litre engine bubbling. Its binary power delivery is likewise retro-rally fayre, best exploited in bursts of grunt, scored from the turbo that fizzes intensely after a while of lag.

During this car’s context, the only real drawback of not pairing the EA113 engine having a dual-clutch gearbox is that the lack from the enjoyable upshift ‘blap’ coming from the exhaust. What you are doing get beyond the quiet idle is really a bassy growl as revs rise, settling to some bearable drone when cruising. Brake-pedal travel is short however the stoppers are both easily modulated and effective. As you’d expect, traction from the line is excellent, while Warwickshire in November’s quattro-friendly slippery country roads laid bare lots of stickiness upon the bends, created ESP-curbing ‘sport’ mode a perfectly comfortable choice. Unlike other A1s, the quattro’s traction control could be completely disabled by choosing ‘track’. Swift turn-in and flat cornering aren’t countered using a jarring ride. Its firm, but there’s no crashiness over scars at low speed, and rebound isn’t too aggressive over bigger undulations. The dynamic experience is let down from the steering, though. At odds with the remainder of the car’s intensity, the helm is light at low speed and doesn’t weight up much at pace. The only real feedback we experienced were distant, post-crest wiggles. And though, steering aside, there’s lots of drama on offer, the clock says objective pace isn’t as impressive as you may expect. A tidy getaway can’t help the quattro duck beneath 5. 7sec to 62mph, largely because of the 200kg weight penalty incurred by all of the extra kit.

Once you’re as much as speed, though, there’s certainly enough shove to enjoyably and rapidly link the corners in your favourite B-road. Should I buy one? Officially, you can’t buy a brand new Audi A1 quattro (the UK allocation of 19 sold out some time ago ), but brief enquiries reveal an Audi dealer advertising one for £40k. Yes, it’s a confident pricetag, and a similar would buy a brand new RS3 or Porsche Cayman, however the quattro’s limited-run and small-but-punchy, double-espresso appeal should make its depreciation less expensive. Items such as the claret-faced tacho, flat-bottomed, edition-numbered steering wheel and illuminated woofers might help justify the value to some, but could just as easily be called cynical turn-offs. However, when the looks catch your eye and the value doesn’t actually make you blink, there will be thrills to become had. Others may prefer to wait patiently to the cheaper but likely more clinical S1 that’s expected late in 2013. Audi A1 2. 0 TFSI quattroPrice £41, 035 ; Top speed 152mph ; 0-62mph 5. 7sec ; Economy 32. 8mpg (combined ) ; CO2 199g / km ; Kerb weight 1420kg ; Engine 4 cyls, 1984cc, turbo, petrol ; Power 252bhp at 6000rpm ; Torque 258lb ft at 2500-4500rpm ; Gearbox 6-spd manual First drive review : Audi A1 quattro.