Feann Torr•20 Mar 2014
NEWS
Audi S1 manual only, for now
Most affordable S model in the Audi range will be exclusively manual, for "good balance"The upcoming Audi S1 Sportback quattro will give Audi customers a compact and affordable new way to get into a hi-po S model, but is likely to sell in tiny numbers in Australia due to its lack of an automatic transmission.
Automatic gearboxes are favoured by Australian new car buyers, with roughly four out of five cars sold here packing an auto transmission – something the new Audi S1 quattro will not offer.
Due to arrive in Australian Audi dealerships in July 2014 priced at around $50,000, the new 170kW/370Nm pocket rocket accelerates from 0-100km/h in just 5.9 seconds, its 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine driving through a sweet-shifting six-speed manual gearbox.
Audi insists the lack of an auto transmission won't be a problem for the car on a global scale, but concedes that it could wangle a dual-clutch automatic S tronic cog-swapper into the car if demand were there.
"We could fit it. We would have to make some adjustments. And if a lot of people would want it, we'd change our [manual only] position," explained Tobias Sollner, product communications manager for Audi A1.
"The decision was made [to make the S1 exclusively manual] because it's a very small car, so it's even more important to get less weight on the front axle," said Sollner.
"So the manual gearbox is about 20kg lighter than the S tronic automatic. So we did it for handling," he said.
The Audi S1 Sportback tips the scales at 1340kg, not exactly light weight for such a compact car. It also features an all-new multi-link rear suspension system borrowed from the S3 in order to fit the quattro all-wheel drive system and improve road holding.
Audi Australia expects to sell a very small number – around 50 – of the five-door S1 Sportback hot hatches in 2014; roughly 10 a month between local launch and the end of the year.
Despite this low sales prediction, Audi Australia's product communications executive Shaun Cleary says the new S1 is an important car for the luxury German brand Down Under, providing "a halo car even at the lower end of the model range".
He insisted that sales won't be stymied by the lack of an auto, as it will attract enthusiast buyers who favour the purity and connection of a manual gearbox.
"It's an enthusiast car, so those kinds of people are going to be the ones who buy the car and see the attraction of an S model in that range," said Cleary.
Tags
Audi
S1
Car News
Hatchback
Performance Cars
Prestige Cars
Written byFeann Torr
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalists
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