Audi S1 Sportback quattro 2014 Review

As its four-cylinder engine greedily gulps down icy cold oxygen-rich air, revs rising, wheels kicking snow everywhere, the Audi S1 Sportback quattro scrabbles across the icy tundra with rabid eagerness, it's quattro all-wheel drive system beavering away unseen in an attempt to maintain traction.

Kitted out with spiked tyres for its international launch in Sweden, the Audi S1 Sportback quattro dashes across snow and ice with a good measure of confidence, and although it's not a common scenario for Australian customers, it highlights the car's tenacious grip.

And in a straight line it's fast, pushing occupants deep into their seats thanks to its fettled four-cylinder turbo engine.

The S1 will be priced at around $50,000 when it hits Aussie dealerships in July (2014) and is based on the garden-variety Audi A1 that starts at $26,500 (plus on-road costs). The extra coin buys you a bigger, beefier 2.0-litre turbo engine pumping out 170kW and 370Nm, and a reworked multi-link rear suspension set-up, borrowed from the S3, that allows Audi to fit a new quattro all-wheel drive system.

Bigger brakes, wheels, tyres and adaptive shock absorbers are also added.

These mechanical extras along more in-car technology and a flashy new exterior design to match make the five-door S1 Sportback an interesting proposition, and not just for the ease in which it flicks from left to right, power-sliding through low friction corners with merriment.

The quattro system is a key part of the new S1, and also means that Audi now has all-wheel drive in every single model in its range. It apportions almost 100 per cent of engine power to the front axle in normal use, but when push comes to shove can transfer up to 50 per cent to the rear axle, such as when carving through slippery corners.

It's a neat system and works effectively most of the time, and together with crisp, direct steering makes the car's trajectory easy and intuitive to manage.

The S1's all-paw traction, short footprint and savvy steering system -- comprising a new electro mechanical S-specific setup -- also conspire to deliver decent feedback, which allows the driver to better feel the car's connection with the road... or frozen lake.

Audi needed to slot in all-wheel drive to temper the car's fiery heart, a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine that pumps 1.4 bar of turbo boost pressure to deliver a hefty 170kW at 6000rpm and 370Nm between 1600 and 3000rpm. For a car that weighs 1340kg, it's enough mumbo to launch it to 100km/h in 5.9 seconds, and on to a top speed of 250km/h.

Its closest rival at present is the MINI Cooper S Hatch JCW, which is about to be replaced with a potent 180kW 2.0-litre engine itself, although without all-wheel drive it's unlikely to match the S1's raw pace.

For $50,000 there's not many other performance cars than can rip from woah to go in under six seconds, save for maybe a Subaru WRX, putting the Audi S1 Sportback in a unique position.

The four-cylinder Audi engine is similar to the power unit in the S3, albeit with a smaller turbo, smaller intercooler and slightly different pistons. Even so, the Audi donk is as compelling as it responsive, reacting to pedal input immediately and with virtually no turbo lag, making the Audi S1 a hugely entertaining hot hatch to belt around in.

The way the powerplant delivers thrust is addictive in all the right ways, the engine's eagerness to rev and free-spinning nature guaranteed to get your adrenaline pumping.

The S1 is packaged exclusively with a six-speed manual gearbox and it's a wee-little ripper, slotting in and out of gates with enough precision and refinement to ensure driving it is always satisfying.

That there is no automatic or dual-clutch transmission won't be an issue for enthusiasts, but Audi executives at the car's launch hinted that if demand was strong enough it would consider putting a dual-clutch S tronic tranny into the S1.

A brief 80km drive on Swedish roads would have been revealing in terms of the car's traction, were it not for the heavy snow. So it's impossible to talk about traditional grip limits and so forth. One thing that did shine through on the snow-covered road loop was ride quality, which is very good -- far smoother than the MINI Cooper S we recently tested.

The interior is comfortable, thanks in large part to a pair of sporty bucket seats up front, which provide good support to boot.

The minimalist centre stack is a winner, both in use and aesthetically, with most controls clustered underneath the high-resolution infotainment screen. The colour-coded plastic seat backs also look trick, but will probably be optional as part of a quattro interior styling package.

Naturally the interior is a bit tight [it is a compact car after all] and when two tall-ish people sit up front the driver's hand sometimes brushes the passengers knee. Apart from its narrowness and tight back seat, head and legroom are pretty good for front seat occupants.

It looks a lot tougher in the flesh than it does on a screen too, the 'S' trademark quad exhaust pipes, squat stance and sports body kit contributing to technical details like the LED lights front and rear and 18-inch alloy wheels shod with sporty 225/35-series tyres.

Braking performance is hard gauge on ice and snow as even heavy braking can be ineffectual. Although response is good from the pedal, we'll have to wait until a local road test to see how the stoppers work.

As fun as it is to nail the throttle and counter-steer through a corner in a nuggety pocket rocket bristling with attitude, plumes of snow shooting off all four wheels as the car veers wide through a snow bank, the real test of the car will be when it's pushed to its limit on sun-drenched bitumen on Australian roads.

And evaluating the car's grip threshold on dry tarmac is something I'm very much looking forward to.

Full of energy and tenacity, the Audi S1 Sportback shows loads of promise and has the potential to sell a lot more than 10 per month Audi Australia is predicting for its final five months of sales in 2014.

Read about our drive with legendary S1 Quattro driver Stig Blomqvist