Audi A1

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•     New Audi A1 revealed in Paris
•     Gets posh cabin with more space
•     Specs include huge infotainment screens
•     And high-tech petrol engines
•     Release date late 2018
•     Price from £15,500

The new Audi A1 Sportback has made its first public appearance at the Paris motor show. It sports a smart interior and clever tech that makes other small car’s cabins look like they were built in the Stone Age.

• New Audi A1 Sportback 2019 price and release date

Following its public appearance in Paris, you can expect the new Audi A1 to go on sale in November 2018 with a price that is similar to the outgoing model that starts from £15,500. The new A1 will only be available as a five-door so the Audi can’t match the sporty styling of the Mini 3-door. Other alternatives include the Volkswagen Polo, which actually shares its parts with the Audi.

 

• New Audi A1 Sportback 2019 styling

The new Audi A1 Sportback couldn’t look more different to the model it replaces. The old car’s rounded styling is gone, replaced by a cacophony of creases and angles that bring the A1 bang up to date. It gets Audi’s latest grille design that we have already seen on the Audi A6 and A8, while below it there’s a ground-hugging front bumper that wouldn’t look out of place on a pacey hot hatch. An air vent that sits above the grille only adds to the A1’s visual appeal, especially because it looks similar to the one found on Audi’s old Quattro rally car.

The A1’s headlights have LED daytime running lights, while the car’s tail lights have an animated start-up procedure when you unlock the car. the latter is something that’ll likely be optional along with full LED headlights.

Move to the car’s flanks and you’ll spot the A1 is available with a contrasting black roof that makes it look sportier and is finished off by a roof-mounted spoiler that’ll help improve fuel economy. Go for a sporty S line model and you’ll also get side skirts and large, split-spoke alloy wheels.

That leaves the back of the car, which’ll get intricate LED brake lights and chunky body-coloured bumpers with racy air vents. Expect 1.4-litre petrol models to get twin exhaust pipes, with the rest of the range making do with a single exhaust.

• New Audi A1 Sportback 2019 interior

The new Audi A1 Sportback’s interior should be an even bigger revolution than the exterior. Interior quality looks to have been improved and we can expect the A1 to be better built than the cheaper Volkswagen Polo, which the Audi shares most of its parts with.

That said, interior quality isn’t exactly a problem with the current A1, but its crude infotainment system is a different matter. That’ll change with this new model which, in all but entry level cars, gets an 8.8-inch sat-nav screen (the old car has a 6.5-inch display) with the option to uprade to a 10.25-inch screen. It will also come as standard with Apple Carplay and Android Auto and have the option to provide a 360-degree view of the car to aid parking.

As with the new Volkswagen Polo, the A1 will also be available with a 12.3-inch digital instrument binnacle that can transform into a huge map display at the touch of a button.

What’ll mark the A1 out from the rest of the famously conservative Audi range is its huge choice of personalisable options that are designed to let you stamp your own mark on the Car, much like you can in a Mini 3-door. You can expect to be able to choose from a variety of bright trim pieces and interior upholstery colours, including leather.

You’ll also be able to spec your new A1 with interior mood lighting, sports seats and a sports steering wheel.

 

• New Audi A1 Sportback 2019 practicality

In terms of practicality, the most obvious difference between old and new A1s is that the latter will only be available with five-doors – making it significantly more practical if you often use the back seats.

Wherever you sit, though, you can expect the new A1 to offer more space. Up front, there will be plenty of room for you even if you’re tall and it’ll be easy to get a comfortable driving position because all models will get a height adjustable driver’s seat and a steering wheel that moves for rake and reach. Expect electric adjustment to cost extra along with the option to have the front seats heated.

It’s the back seat where you’ll notice the biggest improvement, however, you can expect the new A1 to offer space for your passengers comparable with that offered by the larger Audi A3.

That means even six-footers should be able to get sat behind someone of a similar size with knee room and headroom to spare. With three in the back, things will start to feel a little more squeezed but the flat back seat and the fact there’s space for three people’s feet means that it should still doable.

There’s more good news when you open the A1’s boot. It will be large enough to swallow an extra small suitcase that you would have had to of left behind with the old car. On top of that, you can expect the A1’s load bay to be very well designed with a 12v power socket and plenty of tie-down and shopping hooks to help keep things tidy.

An adjustable boot floor means you can give your back a rest by sliding heavy luggage into place rather than having to lift it. Expect the A1’s rear seats to fold neatly into the floor so that it’s easy to load larger items through the boot’s big opening. Getting an adult’s bicycle into place should be easily done if you remove one of its wheels.
 

 

• New Audi A1 Sportback 2019 engines and driving

The new Audi A1 Sportback will share its engines with the Volkswagen Polo, which means you’ll be able to choose from a selection of small capacity petrol engines – but there will be no diesel.

Making up the backbone of the range will be a 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine producing 94hp. Its modest power output is a perfect match for the relatively light A1 – with it the Audi should be able to get from 0-62mph in just 9.5 seconds and have a top speed of more than 120mph.

In the real world, that translates into brisk acceleration and relaxed cruising – the latter particularly because the A1 comes as standard with a six-speed manual gearbox, which should also help improve fuel economy. You can expect the new A1 to be capable of returning fuel economy of more than 50mpg, without you having to make too much effort.

If you’ll be using the car mostly in the city – or just want to give your left leg a rest on long drives – you’ll also be able to choose from a seven-speed DSG automatic. In full auto mode it’ll shift gears very smoothly, but paddles behind the steering wheel mean quick manual changes will also be on offer.

If you’ll spend more time on the motorway then you might want to upgrade from the 1.0-litre to the 148hp 1.5-litre petrol, which will get the A1 from 0-62mph in less than eight seconds. It has cylinder deactivation technology, which means the engine can rest two of its cylinders when the extra power isn’t needed – clever tech that means it should be able to match the 1.0-litre model’s fuel economy.

 

• New Audi S1 Sportback 2019

The introduction of a new A1 means we should also have a new fast S1 model to get excited about. Expect it to follow a similar formula as the current model, which gets an aggressive body kit and four-exhaust pipes that are integrated into the rear bumper.

The new S1 is expected to get the same 2.0-litre turbocharged engine that’s fitted to the 200hp Volkswagen Polo GTI, although in the S1 it’ll be tuned to produce more like 250hp.

The S1 will be well able to handle the extra power because it is set to come with four-wheel drive as standard. Expect it to be one of the fastest car’s of its size – capable of flinging itself from 0-62mph in under six seconds.

Bookmark this page to keep up to date with all the latest news on the new Audi A1 Sportback. We’ll have a full review and video in due course.

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