Saw an A1 this morning

[KaraK]

And my first thought was that it looked as if an A3 had brutally raped a Fiat 500 and then some philanphropic soul had forked out 13k to adopt the resulting unwanted child. God it's ugly!

[NotConfused]

I was reading about these yesterday, they still use the old torsion beam rear suspension, how vintage!

[VladD]

Someone at work has bought one. Looks OK for a super-mini.

[McSam]

KaraK said:

Saw an A1 this morning.. and my first thought was that it looked as if an A3 had brutally raped a Fiat 500 and then some philanphropic soul had forked out 13k to adopt the resulting unwanted child. God it's ugly!

What an excellent way of putting it, kudos

[farrendahl]

We've got about 5 brand new ones in the Car Park at work at the moment. Hideous little things......and thats coming from somebody who owns the ugly as sin Merc A-Class

[NotConfused]

doogz said:

The same sort of rear suspension set up that's on the current Civic?

How archaic!

Ironically, the older, better model, has fully independant rear suspension

[wackojacko]

I really like the A1.

Love the optional extra to have an R8 steering wheel .... Feals really nice inside with this option (sat in one whilst extremely drunk in LeMans) and also they have great plastic pint 'cup' holders
They look great in Black .....

[rhinochopig]

wackojacko said:

I really like the A1.

Love the optional extra to have an R8 steering wheel .... Feals really nice inside with this option (sat in one whilst extremely drunk in LeMans) and also they have great plastic pint 'cup' holders
They look great in Black .....

Really? That actually makes a bit of me die inside.

[NotConfused]

doogz said:

I know. Doesn't stop torsion bars being decent on the right car.

Some of the best handling FWD cars i've ever driven, in fact, ever built, have torsion bars on the rear.

Seems like a bit of a feeble put down tbh, i'm sure there are things about it that warrant more of a slagging, like the look of the whole rear end of the thing, than the rear suspension set up.

I know what you are saying, but its still a bit vintage for a car of its so called calibre. I appreciate Audi have pulled all the stops with the interior, great but if I spent just under £30k on one I'd be a bit dissapointed (at the very best) of having the same suspension setup as a Polo.

[wackojacko]

Good why just a little bit ?


Not so much because it's an R8 wheel more of a comfort touch, really nice feel to it. Ridiculously expensive for a steering wheel though !

[farrendahl]

rhinochopig said:

wackojacko said:

I really like the A1.

Love the optional extra to have an R8 steering wheel .... Feals really nice inside with this option (sat in one whilst extremely drunk in LeMans) and also they have great plastic pint 'cup' holders
They look great in Black .....

Really? That actually makes a bit of me die inside.

+1 on that, although it would at least then appear that Audi know who their target audience is for the A1, teenage boys whose Daddy has a bit of cash and can afford to buy them one of "Those cars with the R8 Steering Wheel mate"

[benjfrst]

NotConfused said:

I know what you are saying, but its still a bit vintage for a car of its so called calibre. I appreciate Audi have pulled all the stops with the interior, great but if I spent just under £30k on one I'd be a bit dissapointed (at the very best) of having the same suspension setup as a Polo.

30k?

how much was the M coupe with E30 rear suspension? happens all over the place.

[NotConfused]

benjfrst said:

30k?

how much was the M coupe with E30 rear suspension? happens all over the place.

Spec one up, 1.4 auto sport is about £22k without any extra options E30 is old.

[The Wookie]

Have to say I saw one a couple of weeks ago and my only impression was of how completely faceless it is. It's a Polo for people that wouldn't be seen dead in a Polo.

[Kiltox]

NotConfused said:

Spec one up, 1.4 auto sport is about £22k without any extra options E30 is old.

It's £20,710 without any options for the 1.4 TFSI S-Line Auto. Sport is £17,120

You need to add nearly all of the options to get it to £30k

[Alfa numeric]

There's a few knocking around near me- I think the Beautiful People are moving into them from their 500's.

It seems to be an OK car, bar the rear end. The lamps just look to big to me.



Having said that, as long as Audi don't give them to Foxtons or BSM they should be ok.

[fathomfive]

I've seen two white, non-blinged up A1s so far and they strike me as an impressively cheapened Seat Ibiza.

[Matt UK]

For those with the cash to have an upmarket little city car, I think they are just right.

I like the looks as well, very modern. Were I in the market, I'm not sure if I'd pay the premium over the new Fabia though as I like the look of those also.

[JonnyVTEC]

doogz said:

I know. Doesn't stop torsion bars being decent on the right car.

Some of the best handling FWD cars i've ever driven, in fact, ever built, have torsion bars on the rear.

Torsion bar or beam?

Torsion bars are pretty old school, Renault and the PSA group have moved away from them to the beam arrangement. Hence springs now feature on the rear suspension, that was the role of the bars.

[paranoid airbag]

rhinochopig said:

Really? That actually makes a bit of me die inside.

+2, if petrolhead heaven now is a Polo with an Audi steering wheel...

personally I'd prefer a round steering wheel that doesn't pretend to be off an F1 car, where lack of space makes that shape an advantage and quick steering mitigates the disadvantage.