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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
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A more upmarket pocket rocket, the 2012 Audi A1 Sportback S-Line

A designer pocket rocket

Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday July 18, 2012

Call it coincidence or say it’s serendipity, but it happens occasionally that two fleet managers delivering vehicles to the editorial front lawn, simultaneously bring similar cars for review. Sometimes it’s two big SUVs, a brace of two-litre diesel sedans, or possibly a couple of baby carriers. Just recently your scribe returned from a trip to find a pair of personal pocket rockets.

Courtesy of GM was the OPC, 141 kW of turbocharged, two-door, teenage hellion. Next to it stood Audi’s rebuttal, the A1 Sportback S-Line, 1400ccs of twincharged fireworks producing 136 kW, but definitely not a rebel. Whereas we likened the little Opel to a sporty girlfriend; all sneakers, shorts and T-shirt, the Audi is more designer miniskirt and expensive heels, with immaculate hair and makeup.

There are similarities in quantity of power and how it’s obtained, but that’s where sameness ends. Two doors and four doors, manual vs. automatic, rebellious and refined, yin and yang – they beg to be compared, but it would be unfair to both to do so. Best to just move on and speak only of the A1.

Based on the three-door model, it shares all its most important dimensions, but an extended rear roofline means an additional 11mm of headroom in the back. S-Line versions, three doors and five, presently share the combination of 136 kW motor and seven-speed S-tronic, or DSG, gearbox with Polo GTI.

Other mechanical details for those who haven’t yet done their homework include:  Engine - The 1.4 TFSI (turbocharged, fuel stratified injection) power plant displaces 1390cc and is available in two versions. In 90 kW form, the four-cylinder unit is boosted by a turbocharger with water-cooled intercooler. Peak torque of 200 Nm is available between 1,500 and 4,000 rpm. Its more powerful twin, used in our test car, adds a supercharger, produces 136 kW with 250 Nm of torque and sprints from zero to 100 km/h in 7,0 seconds before storming up to 227 km/h. The only transmission available with this state of tune is the seven-speed S-tronic.

Suspension – Up front are classic McPherson struts with lower wishbones. The sub frame to which they are fastened is made of high-strength steel. A torsion beam axle with separate springs and dampers is used at the rear. Track widths are 1477 millimetres in front and 1471 millimetres at the back.  Steering is an electro-hydraulically power assisted rack-and-pinion setup. Oil flow is produced by an electric motor that, Audi says, works more efficiently than a normal hydraulic system. 

Safety equipment – You will find the usual ABS with EBD and EBA, along with ESP and four airbags. Part of the ESP stabilisation program is an electronic simulation of a limited slip differential. On detecting that the inside front wheel is starting to lift in a turn, the system arranges for a small and precise braking intervention. This is applied smoothly and before slippage increases, with excess torque flowing to the outside wheel that can apply more power to the road. The difference between the drive forces generates a targeted yaw moment that helps the driver by turning the car very slightly into the corner. Comment: The various “braking interventions” by ESP do accelerate pad wear, so be advised that driving like a cowboy will cost you more than just fuel and tyres.

As for the experience, this A1 has responsive and well weighted steering, suspension is comfortably firm and it goes like well, definitely no lady. Roll-on acceleration in manually held top gear is strong and the twin clutch transmission behaves immaculately. Full manual override is available in Drive only. Sport provides stronger responses, but override is with paddles alone and therefore temporary.

Getting around to practical details, the 270-litre boot expands to 920 litres when the rear seatbacks are folded, it’s a usable shape, has a low sill and is fitted with four lashing rings. The warning triangle is in its own compartment in the bootlid that lifts the rear lights up with it. Added tail lamps recessed into the bodywork warn cars approaching from behind of your presence, though. The spare is a spacesaver. Rear seat accommodation is for shorties only, with headroom and knee space earning only 6/10 on the tall passenger scale and foot room getting seven points. There are three head restraints and a trio of belts.

Front seats are a good compromise between ‘civilian’ and fully sports oriented, with sufficient side bolstering on the back rests. Mechanical adjustments for both chairs include the usual fore-and-aft, height, recline and lumbar support. The standard ‘Chorus’ four-speaker entertainment system offers radio, CD and MP3 playback with speed-dependent volume control. Optional units are available. The MMI 3G device with satnav and Bluetooth, fitted to the test car, included a pair of SD card slots but no USB or auxiliary.

Unfortunately the CD storage box included with the centre armrest was rather small. It was also awkwardly placed, too high and got in the way of operating handbrake and gearlever. Even folded away, it obstructed the driver’s left elbow. It might work with people of smaller build, but for the rest of us, it’s a design malfunction.

Small ergonomic concerns aside, the A1 Sportback is refined, responsive, swift and sexy – very different from the Rüsselsheim product, but not necessarily greatly superior. Think different days, different users or different moods.

The numbers
Price: R319 500 basic, R356 100 as tested with navigation and sound system, Xenon Plus headlights and contrasting roof colour
Engine: 1390cc, DOHC, 16 valves, turbopetrol
Power: 136 kW at 6200 rpm
Torque: 250 Nm between 2000 and 4500 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 7,0 seconds
Maximum speed: 227 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7,2 l/100 km
Tank: 45 litres
Warranty: 1 year, unlimited mileage
Maintenance plan: 5 years/100 000 km

Our report on the 2015 Sportback with 92 kW motor is here



What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.

What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

My articles appear every Wednesday in the motoring pages of The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles most months of the year (press cars are withdrawn over the festive season - wonder why?) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police. Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so I do actually exist.

I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax.
So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!

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