The one

It'll be the least expensive Audi on the market, but that doesn't mean the new A1 model is a penny-pinching, cheaply executed car. Far from it, says DAVE MOORE.

The kind of customer Audi envisages for its new A1 may be someone who already owns a new Mini or Fiat 500, and someone who has had a quick look at photos of the new Citroen DS3. In short, a punter ready to opt for something small but well-formed, rather than succumb to that rather immature checklist that involves as much sheet metal as you can get for the money.

There's not much in the way of sheet metal in the Audi A1. It's less than four metres long, and weighs as little as 1040 kilograms, depending on the model. As a result it sips fuel as slowly as 3.9 litres per 100 kilometres if you get the most frugal version, and even manages less than 5.2 litres if you buy the hottest one.

For something so frugal, there's nothing toyish or underwhelming about the A1's styling. In fact, it better embodies the new Audi side- crease introduced on larger models, as the ridge carries logically into and out from the car's clamshell bonnet closure line.

Frowning, slightly sinister headlights peep from under the clamshell's lower rim, flanked by Audi's latest rendering of its established "goatee" intake, which on the A1 has had its upper corners lopped off.

A unique contrast-painted hoop connecting the A and C pillars on some models helps give the car its solid look.

You can have cream with metallic brown, silver with red, and black with blue, but I can see the A1 being customised after market easily, even if Audi itself isn't willing to offer more alternatives. Like the skins you buy to personalise your iPhone and the clever red, yellow and black door- mirror sleeves entrepreneurs are selling to German motorists during the World Cup, someone could make quite a killing with the A1.

New finishes like faux-carbon fibre, Burberry check - imagine that with black - and even paisley and art deco. Mark my words, it will happen.

The A1's styling creates a car that appears as hunkered down and solidly planted as the company's much bigger models, all helped by the A1's relatively wide track.

The A1 was first seen as the Metroproject concept at the Tokyo car show in 2007, but nothing quite prepares you for the car's disarmingly engaging look in the flesh. Against the stark architecture of modern Berlin, where the A1 was launched, its one-third glasshouse, two-thirds body proportions stand out like an English football fan, and even in the immediate aftermath of that 4-1 World Cup thrashing, as I threaded through traffic, Germans had time to point, stare and even whoop with appreciation.

It's no letdown inside, either. The design team was not tempted to shrink-fit the A4's interior and have done with it.

Instead, the A1's interior is unique in the Audi lineup. Because it needs less screen space for its entertainment and air-conditioning readouts, the dash and console area is left over to vents and switches, with four great circular vents dominating the fascia - in a similar way to that in Jaguar's new XJ sedan.

A simple instrument cluster offers some information space between the speedometer and tachometer, while a pop-up sat nav screen in the dash centre is part of Audi's multi-media interface (MMI). Actual specification levels are still being worked out for the A1's arrival in New Zealand in early 2011, so what kind of screen setup will be available here is not yet known. Audi makes much of the fact that its MMI has up to 20GB of memory, which means as well as performing the usual music and phone duties through Bluetooth, the A1 can show the album cover of the music you download.

The fascia, window ledge and general plastics are exquisitely finished and delightfully textured. I particularly enjoyed pushing hard on the dash with my finger, watching the cushy foam-backed surface slowly regain its original shape. It all made me feel pleasantly secure and well- cossetted.

The A1's seating positions up front are obviously contrived for large German occupants. The whole driving and front passenger environment is pleasant and airy, with chairs which support and contain very solidly. The upholstery is firm, but the seats are well-shaped, so even several hours around Berlin, Potsdam, Liebitz and Gettsdorf failed to twinge even my ravaged back, despite the rock-hard suspension on some of the cars. But more about that later.

Rear passengers are less well- looked after.

Four engines are on offer for most of the A1's European markets. There are 1.2-litre 63kW/160Nm and 1.4 litre 90 kilowatt per 200 Newton metre TFSi petrol units and two versions of a 1.6 TDI diesel, one with 66kW/230Nm on tap and the other with 77kW and 250Nm. The smaller petrol car has a five-speed manual transmission, the larger one offers a choice of a six-speed manual with a two-pedal, paddle-shift seven-speed S-Tronic option. The diesels are manual only at the moment, but it's likely that they and the smaller petrol unit will be offered with S-Tronic too before long.

While there's no denying the compellingly elastic nature of the performance-topping 1.4-TFSi- engined car, which hits 100kmh in 8.9 seconds, nor the punchy, frugal character of the diesels, the sweet spot for me in the A1's lineup is the plain, ordinary and fussless 1.2 TSFi.

Its numbers may not add up to much, but they don't reveal the sweet-revving car it is. With five well- spaced ratios to use and a pleasingly linear mid range, the 1.2 is a refined, willing wee unit, as happy flick- flacking through Berlin traffic as it is buzzing on the autobahn at 170kmh- plus.

One of the reasons I liked the 1.2 so much was because it didn't seem that much slower than the 1.4, and being the lightest car in the range, there appeared to be even more willingness to change direction than with the others, none of which were less than sharp in terms of their handling and cornering. That the Audi has such athletic ability should be no surprise, as the A1 shares its platform and most of its underpinnings with the VW Polo - the World Car of the Year - the Skoda Fabia and Seat's latest Ibiza.

The 1.2 and the diesels I drove were also better suspended for city work than the 1.4 TFSi, which for the launch could only be driven with low-profile wheels and tyres and sporting S-Line suspension. On cobblestones - which cover a lot of Berlin and Potsdam - the S-Line car jolted abruptly on all surface changes, holes and bumps, something the less aggressively shod models didn't do.

The 1.4 TFSi came into its own on the autobahn and on the smooth country roads that made up the out of town drive route. It pointed and squirted around right-angled bends and through wicked S-bends crisply and accurately.

Though the 1.2 car displayed a little less grip, most drivers will not notice. But they will notice its relative calm when passing over broken surfaces - something the A1 will have to do most of the time in New Zealand. I can see why an S-Line car in the manifest might be a hero model for Audi in New Zealand. It looks great, but a version with more rubber and less taut underpinnings should also have a place.

With A1 specification levels called Ambition and Attraction there will be ways of adjusting the positioning of the car in New Zealand easily.

However, I don't think such adjustment will be all that necessary in our market. With fuel supply pressures and carbon taxes conspiring to force us into considering smaller, more frugal engines, the idea of a 1.2 or 1.4 litre power unit is not as difficult to envisage as it has been. Also, with people more willing to perceive value in terms of quality and execution rather than size and all-out grunt, little jewel-like small cars such as the A1 will gain more and more relevance.

AUDI A1

* Drivetrains: All transverse front-wheel drive turbocharged 16 valve fours.

* 1.2 and 1.4 petrol, 1.6 diesel - 63kW to 90kW, at 4800rpm, 160Nm to 250Nm. Max 182-203kmh, 0-100kmh 8.9 to 11.5 secs, 3.8 to 5.1L/100km, 97-118g/km C02.

* Dimensions: L 3954mm, W 1740mm, H 1417mm, W/base 2469mm, F/track 1477mm, R/track 1471mm, Fuel 45L, Weight 1040-1140kg.

* Pricing: Not settled for NZ. Likely to be less than $40,000.

* Hot: Junior Audi looks; handling balance; quality of fit and finish; engine choices; likely price.

* Not: Appalling S-line ride quality; snug rear seating.

* Verdict: Mini and Fiat 500 will have a fight on their hands with this fella.

- © Fairfax NZ News