Audi A1 Ambition Sportback 1.4 TFSI 2013 Review

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory & delivery charges): $33,450
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): Pearl effect paint $990; 16-inch Aluminium wheels $400; Technik package $2000; Air vents in high gloss wasabi green $220
Crash rating: Five-star (EuroNCAP)
Fuel: 95 RON PULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 5.4
CO2 emissions (g/km): 126
Also consider: Alfa Romeo MiTo (from $29,990); BMW 1 Series (from $36,990); MINI Cooper (from $31,650); Volkswagen Polo GTI (from $27,790)

The premium small hatch sector is awash with a wide range of three and five-door options available for those seeking to spend more for prestige.

Audi’s A1 Sportback was released to Australia earlier this year, adding two rear doors without compromising the three-door’s stylish, modern appearance. With a choice of four engines (one diesel, three petrol), manual and dual-clutch transmission choices and an expansive list of cost options a fair degree of MINI-like personalisation is possible… with easily accessible rear seats thrown in for good measure.

We sampled the mid-specification Ambition which receives the 90kW/200Nm version of the 1.4-litre TFSI turbocharged four-cylinder engine and six-speed manual transmission. The test car’s base price was $33,450 (MRLP), though with the options listed above -- including a rather unpleasant ‘Wasabi Green’ interior trim package -- the as-tested price came to $37,060.

From the outside, on relatively humble 16-inch, 10-spoke aluminium rims shod with 215/45/16 tyres the Ambition cuts a svelte, discreet figure. Open the driver’s door -- noting the provision for keyless entry, a $600 option -- and the aforementioned Wasabi highlights to the air-vents, door  and other trim sections feel out of place in an Audi and more for the MINI driver; it’s obvious A1 Sportback wants to steal sales from that particular demographic.

The manually-adjustable cloth seat is immediately cushioning and the controls are familiarly Audi, with a lovely leather-trimmed steering wheel housing controls for stereo, multi-function dash display and pop-up centre screen. This example was also fitted with the $2000 Technik package which added xenon headlights with daytime running lamps, rear parking sensors and automatic air-conditioning.

The centrally-mounted Audi media system offers the usual media options with a slot for an SD card, CD, auxiliary input and Bluetooth connectivity that is straightforward to access. Revealing its European heritage, a marked cigarette lighter and bin-style ashtray sit alongside the centre cup-holder.

Safety is taken care of via front, passenger, side and curtain airbags with stability control incorporating anti-lock brakes, stability control and an electronic differential lock.

While opening the rear doors offers easier access into the rear than in three-door form, there is a disappointing lack of room in the rear. The roofline encroaches on my head, my knees hard-up against the seat ahead of me, and the rear floor has a hump in the middle which further restricts leg-room. It does have provision for a child’s seat, but in rear-facing form I fail to see how such a seat would fit unless you never had a front-seat passenger on-board.

Apart from griping about the lack of space, the cabin is a nice place to be with good all-round visibility for this class and typically well finished trims and surfaces with light, logical controls.

Once underway that feeling of lightness repeats itself throughout the driving experience, with an easy clutch operation, easy electro-hydraulic steering and superb gearshift for the six-speed manual transmission only requiring the gentlest touch for a positive, quick shift. It’s the perfect foil for the willing, zippy little 1.4-litre turbocharged engine, which pulls keenly from 1500rpm and builds up to an old-school snarl at 4000rpm. Though it will rev out to 6500rpm, it’s far more satisfying to change up a little earlier and fall back into its peak torque range of 1500-4000rpm. At 100km/h in sixth, the 90 TFSI engine is pulling around 2000rpm which makes for economic progress, the engine note supressed by a surprising level of road and wind noise.

Around town, the idle stop-start function (engaged at a standstill when no gear is selected, the engine restarted when the clutch is dipped once more) offers a tangible economy benefit that in our hands matched the 5.4L/100km claim in mixed highway/town driving.

The ride on 45-profile rubber and 16-inch wheels is a marked improvement over the optional 17-inch (or larger) wheels sampled previously, and though there is still a degree of stiffness felt over bumps, it does take away some harshness felt in larger-wheeled examples. There is some roll felt in cornering but traction out of corners is good, while the suite of stability control programs and decent braking capability offer a reassuring safety net in day-to-day driving.

The price premium over equivalents in the Volkswagen Auto Group line-up is a legitimate head-scratcher. It is unarguably one of the leaders in the small hatch sector in terms of technology, safety, driving and desirability. It plays the cost-option game hard, but to be fair so does the competition, particularly from MINI and BMW.

Regardless, any notion of value is put into firm perspective by the one-size larger, more powerful Volkswagen Golf 118TSI Comfortline, available for $29,490 (MRLP); I’m not sure the prestige badge of the Audi is worth the premium for the majority of the market, but time and sales figures will no doubt answer that question for us.

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