CHEAPER THAN A VW POLO! NEW 2023 AUDI A1 S line REVIEW

[@Birmingham_racing]

It's nice looking car but when you're talking about a small car with a 1 litre engine for 30k it puts me off when I think about all the modern hot hatches for that price

[@andrewmcivor42]

That's a great video - I can vouch for the A1, as my Wife downsized her 70 plate A3 35tfsi Edition 1 manual to a 69 plate A1 35tfsi DSG contrast edition (basically the black edition with a full rotor grey leather interior & gold 18" rotor alloys). I agree with you totally on the cabin - the A1 is far, far nicer! It feels better to sit in (I could never warm to the A3, but that's possibly due to it being a manual), it just feels more "natural", with a better driving position (I'm 6'2", so it's got plenty of space). Definitely far better a/c controls than the A3 too (although we don't have the climate control). The 35tfsi is good for longer trips (although the 30 sounds better) too. Incidentally, we missed out on a 69 plate 40tfsi S line competition - somebody bought it before we could test drive it (we were test driving a 17 plate A1 at the time). It was a python yellow one too 😂. A colour I like, but it really needs the black roof (looks awful without it).

[@Lotus.F]

I can honestly say the technology pack with the bigger touch screen and customisable digital speedometer makes a huge difference and the armrest is also a must.

[@maverick4177]

Nice, but way to expensive for what it is, or isn’t in this case

[@Bambotb]

Much better than polo etc resale value alone is awesome

[@fatwalletboy2]

The cabin noise is alarming!

[@volkswizard]

It’s not ideal 😬

[@Bambotb]

@@volkswizardis polo better noise cancellation ?

[@antonyhamilton6429]

It's more expensive than an i20n... I mean, be a badge snob as much as you like but when you talk about overpriced, you can't go much further than the A1.

[@volkswizard]

A1 isn’t cheap granted if you look at the the RRP but it’s got a MASSIVELY more attractive interior & the exterior doesn’t shout OAP like that i20. I’d guess it won’t lose massively more value than an i20 over a few years even though it costs more to start off with. It might cost more per month but you get more. Tesco vs Waitrose

[@kamseihra]

My wife ran a 19 plate A1 30 tfsi s line auto for 3 years. It was a great little city car. Can’t believe how much these are now, we payed £22.5k with delivery miles! I believe there won’t be another generation of A1 after this as Audi are focusing EVs and SUVS?

[@leeradford7663]

Crazy how the prices have gone on these small cars. I ended up going for a 22 Ibiza xcellence lux 1.0tsi DSG. Really pleased with it even though it's cheaply finished compared to the Audi and even the Polo. It was 10k less than this Audi and only took 6 months to arrive

[@volkswizard]

I’m a big fan of the Ibiza and was all set to say buy one instead of A1 but when you use the RRP to PCP they just don’t make sense over VW and Audi. SEAT have had to pre-reg and discount massively to counter this and that’s why they’ve launched Cupra, so there is more than price to their appeal (not sue that’s working TBH). Personally I think VWG have too many irons in the small car fire and SEAT are coming off worst unless discounted and how long will VWG stand that for? Good cars though 👍

[@79RockShox]

Some of us want a real handbrake but the one thing that lets all these models down in the UK market is the stupid placement of the cup holders, I think we would all prefer the handbrake closer than having to try and reach over the cup holders that may have stuff in them, spilling them etc etc, bar that the current offerings are not bad, still I'll stick with my PD130 MK4 Golf lol.

[@rickydub6950]

Not long got rid of my pd130 after 10years of loyal almost fault free service.... brilliant car, miss it dearly 😔 needed about a grand put into it, turbo vnt seized, timing belt 2 years over due, bodywork rough... golf r has softened the blow but wish it was still here 👎

[@79RockShox]

@@rickydub6950 I'd have fixed it lol. :)

[@rickydub6950]

@79RockShox if you'd seen it you probably wouldn't have 😁 its living on somewhere..... on the green slip from v5 as its been mot'd and taxed but no new v5... i used the number from the one i handed in and it was mot'd about 30miles away, i thought it would have been scrapped by the dealer so at least thats made me a bit happier 😂 still have my 1.8t mk4 on the fleet... had that 13 years 👍

[@79RockShox]

@@rickydub6950 I'm in Scotland bud, I've made some right crap ones good again lol, I hope your Mk4 has a BAM and upgrades over the gutless original block? lol Good man though, I'm slowly warming to the Mk5 and maybe with 4mo but still prefer my MK4, had current one last 6 years or so (pd130), luckily it come from down south so didnt start rustin gbad till the last year or so lol - 231k miles, PD150 turbo overboosting at stage 2 levels(170k on turbo lol), solid clutch conversion, slightly lowered, aye shes a good bus. :)

[@rickydub6950]

@79RockShox nah, agu still on its original ko3 on a map & clutch at 155k lol brilliant daily driver its been too... when the body gets too bad (fair bit of welding already done 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿) engine will be in one of my mk2s 👌sounds like a lot of fun in that lol mine was on a random ecu and pulled like a train til my mrs killed it driving like a granny in lockdown 1 🤦‍♂️ take it easy man, keep saving the mk4s 🙂👍

[@impy1980]

The issue isn't the DSG box, it's the gutless 1 litre 3 pot engine, when VAG (and specifically VW) had the 1.2 engine, the DSG box and engine match was perfect for a small package, I loved that car for drivability, fun to drive, had enough power and great fuel economy. I too really noticed the "lag" and need to thrash it at junctions when I had a 2019 Polo 1 litre, it felt somewhat unsafe and you really had to be aware of the lack of power, wait for a big enough gap and just floor it, I drove it hard everywhere to be honest due to the lack of power, I drive way more sensibly in the GTI I have now. My advice to anyone buying the A1 is spend the extra £1,000 for the 35 TFSI that comes with the 1.5 litre engine, now I haven't driven it, but if the Polo came with a 1.5 engine option I would've definitely gone for that over the GTI 2.0 litre, don't get me wrong I enjoy driving the GTI, but I would definitely prefer the better fuel consumption of the 1.5 on country roads and town driving, that's where the 2.0 litre suffers, but on long cruising drives, the GTI is really no worse than the 1 litre. The new A1 looks really nice, better than the Polo externally and internally, I especially like the physical dials, I really hate the touch controls in my Polo and I feel like I look down way too much just to set the damn fan setting or temp, physical dials will always mean you can do it by mostly feel, I like the 1.5 lite option Audi have, but the boot capacity is the biggest hurdle for me personally, due to the fact I have a walking frame for my disability, the Polo has a 351 litre boot, and my frame just about fits in there depth wise when laid flat, although compared to the A1 Mk1 the boot looks a massive improvement, the frame doesn't go in my mum's boyfriend's A1 Mk1 laid down. I also hate the lower floor position where the floor flap slides up at the back, it effectively reduces the depth of the boot, the older Polos, I can't remember what model it changed, the floor sat flat in the lower position. If the boot was that little bit bigger, I really would swap my Polo GTI for an A1 35 TFSI 1.5 litre. I agree about the budget door cards too, but then it seems to be the VW way these days, I was disappointed my GTI didn't have fabric or some sort of soft touch or stitch in the doors, and the rear doors are worse, just like the A1 example here. VAG it isn't acceptable and agree it needs to be called out, especially when you're paying £6-9k more than the base models depending on VW or Audi and spec you go with,

[@imergeradeaus]

The 1.0 95 is Super ..

[@impy1980]

@@imergeradeaus It's gutless, only suitable for town. It labours up any sort of hill, pulling out of a junction feels vulnerable. The 1.2 95 was a much better engine, didn't suffer the same complaints.

[@Birmingham_racing]

Sonos have been doing soundbars for years. They are one of the best when it comes to movie sound but nothing special when it comes to music sound quality

[@abayamangali]

Yeah sucks that Audi got rid of the B&O Sound system option for this car.

[@Birmingham_racing]

@@abayamangali I heard it's not very good. I thought it replaces the entry level upgrade like Bose?

[@abayamangali]

@@Birmingham_racing Audi usually has a standard 6 speaker sound system, then as an option they have an Audi ‘Hi-Fi’ sound system. After than that there was the B&O sound system, which is now replaced by the Sonos sound system. I checked the configurator and the Sonos did replace the B&O sound system, so its not available anymore.

[@pgrewcock]

31k for a posh polo madness....

[@volkswizard]

I think we are all going to have to get used to the new RRPs of cars. As long as they don’t depreciate any more than when they were cheaper, the finance shouldn’t be that different

[@PenFriends]

@@volkswizardI don’t think people should get used to it, especially as wages in general are not rising to reflect with this crazy pricing.

[@roryb6752]

Another interesting video, Andrew. Love Misano Red - had it on my second A3 many moons ago. It's still probably my favourite colour now. I'm sure I read somewhere fairly recently that there won’t be a further iteration of the A1 after this. Shame as it's a good looking little car but the "premium" price that Audi place on their models in the VAG range is now something I won't get involved with. In addition only a DSG on the 1.5 - no thanks. Interesting to see the PCP comparison (but I'm assuming that you could PCP the Polo with Magnitude Finance for less than the Audi in any case?) (Trying not to mention my bugbear of rear doorcards again)

[@volkswizard]

Thanks Rory! Yes indeed Magnitude could quote for the Polo but 8.8% is not much different to VW's 9.2% while it's significantly less than the 11.2% Audi want and that's where the saving comes from. The Gen 2 A1 is a bit slow to be facelifted, Polo and Ibiza had theirs recently so it should be half way through its model cycle this year which means it's good until 2027 unless emissions rules kill it first. It's ridiculous small cars are being discontinued due to ever tightening emissions regulations making them unprofitable and buyers being forced into inefficient ICE SUVs or big and heavy electric cars that might be zero tailpipe emissions but use a lot of power often from fossil fuels to get about. Let's all hope synthetic fuels come to the rescue 🤞

[@richb326]

Got a turbo blue 35 tsfi Sline black edition for less money than a 30 Sline

[@volkswizard]

Nice work👍

[@thomasj5083]

I prefer the look of the Polo. This one's a bit too "cute" for me. Disappointing you can't get the Polo with the 1.5 engine though. It's 110 or 200 ps if you want a Polo - odd decision from VW. I suspect it's an emissions thing.

[@johnguidetti5839]

I suspect it’s just buy a Golf or A3.

[@robtt997]

Hyundai i20N . That’s what I would have if I wanted a super mini . @£25k with all the kit Audi charge extra for.

[@ScottPC]

Is it not worth considering a A3 on PCP? wouldn’t it be similar due to the A3 holding more value and similar price?

[@volkswizard]

Not really looked at that but undoubtedly if there were incentives on A3 it would be very close to A1 but I suspect Audi will make sure PCPs work out cheaper for A1s in the same way the RRP of an A1 is cheaper. Does the A3 hold value more? Even if it's the same you will still need to finance a bigger sum as an A3 will cost more so there might be a bit more interest as well.

[@ScottPC]

@@volkswizard yeah! The thing is you can also get bigger discounts on A3’s to A1’s so it’s a strange one

[@vr6280]

I did look at these twice as I do like them and my brother has had the previous generation for 10 years and it's been a really good car. I did get the Polo R-line (115PS) though in the end (which I loved), Now i've upgraded to the mk8 Golf R-Line (150 DSG) which is a really great car too - I think I was highly influenced by your clubsport videos at the time :) :) Not sure I would go Audi now though after the the problems we are having over my mrs's A3 though! Our local dealers have not sold us what we asked for (bought unseen) and now just want more and more money to sell us another car which is the spec this one should have been (after allready up-selling us to a higher spec model which still didn't have what we asked for!)

[@volkswizard]

Sorry to hear about the A3, can the missing bits be retrofitted? A1 and Polo are great but Golf is a big step up, and R Line 150 DSG is the sweet spot of the range and look great on the road. I think the Goodyear test car in early 2021 was exactly your model and a nice drive, the (dry clutch) DSG box was far less sluggish than in this A1 though there was the occasional whiff of burnt clutch which was little worrying, hopefully it was just bedding in :)

[@vr6280]

@@volkswizard I think it is the same colour too - Moonstone Grey? It is the parking sensors etc (comfort pack we wanted on the A3 - they up-sold us to an edition 1 saying it had front/rear parking sensors and it doesn’t. The dealer agreed to retro fit, then after having the car for 3 weeks said they couldn’t get the parts and asked us to book it in with a 3rd party and they would give us £450 towards. We were concerned about warranty if PreSence etc started playing up (more than usual!!) so haven’t done it. Have you found the PreSence seems worse on Audi’s than VW’s equivalent? Every day near enough warnings on the A3. Golf - never had a warning yet!

[@Bambotb]

Is polo more silent inside ?

[@volkswizard]

Good question,wouldn't surprise me, have always found A1s a bit boomy

[@pauls7488]

Great review. I've had a Python Yellow S Line since 2019, and wouldn't swap the colour for anything. It looks amazing.

[@volkswizard]

Python yellow looks good, it’s just I can imagine some dealers will devalue it because it’s marmite but just need one person who loves it and sold!

[@paul8000]

Have you driven a 1.5 manual version ?

[@JimboJammy]

I liked that you mentioned the quality of rear door cards. I was surprised the first time I hoovered the back of my Leon and I realised the rears didn't have that changeable light bar and the quality was less. I can forgive a brand like SEAT but its a bit naughty from a brand like AUDI.

[@volkswizard]

It’s an annoying trend JBJ, not even sure if £60k RS3 escapes it

[@malcolmscott4150]

Great review Andrew - we still have listed in Oz the 30, 35 and a 40 TFSI- the 40 has 147kw 320nm and 6 sp DSG but it took nearly 2 years for A1 to get here and they’re quite basic with manual air non adaptive cruise etc and often then cars here are highly spec’d with lots of option packs and supply or lack thereof keeping prices high. I’d love if there was an S1 in the future as lovely looking car and big step up from first A1 and S3 close to 80k here 😮

[@volkswizard]

Thanks again Malcolm! Surprised Audi have bothered to being A1 to AUS but at least you get the 40 TFSI though manual aircon must be a drag unless you just have it on LOW all the time?! I doubt there will be an S1 now, blame EV development and the lack of funding for skunkworks projects like the original S1 - what a car that was/is - they officially said it was TTS rear end grafted onto A1 front. Now because A1 is MQB A0 which is FWD only there's no easy way to do it and these days that means no. Oh well.

[@anthonyscott4498]

🤔🚘Get yourself a Hyundai i30 N performance for the same price you will be over the moon😍 👍 Good luck god bless all ☘️🙏🌅

[@volkswizard]

For some a nice interior, posh badge, means more than pops and bangs

[@richardmcfarlane-cen6132]

Yeah and there is also the Autogefühl Fake Exhaust Police 😂

[@volkswizard]

👏🏻

[@garys7828]

It's a nice looking small car

[@davidchambers7622]

Once again a very balanced review, I do like Audi interiors compared to BMW and the seating is considerably more comfortable, it is a pity the rear door cards let it down.

[@volkswizard]

Once again David, thanks for watching & commenting 👍

[@1066gaz]

My father wanted to buy a new audi a1 35 tfsi with a manual gearbox, but audi only had an automatic gearbox, so he ended up not buying one. Stupid audi lost a sale along with so many other potential buyers who wanted an a1 manual with a 1.5 engine. £20,000 for a 1.0 3 cylinder car, what a rip off. I remember when you could buy corsa's for £7000 not so long ago with a bigger engine and 4 cylinders. Doing it with motorbikes now with 3 cylinders and twins. Being totally ripped off now with new cars & motorbikes, paying more for less. My fathers getting a nearly new mk7.5 golf gti 2.0 now which he will keep for many years to come because we are not definitely buying a hybrid or electric car.

[@ifyouarefeelingsinister]

Interesting that he was considering an A1 and a Golf GTI, quite a big difference there. Sounds like the right choice to me though👍🏻

[@964tractorboy]

Good video, thanks. I always liked the look of the A1 and thought they had style. Not sure they've got better looking for me though. Is there any rational for the VAG (power) naming convention which leaves me none-the-wiser about anything? I'm sure it's their answer to down-sizing the engines; BMW seem to be doing the same kind of thing in places. What does Car Play do for you if it doesn't display in the binnacle? Just play instructions over the Sonos?

[@volkswizard]

Thank you!! I did nearly open the can of worms that is Audi’s power nomenclature. There is logic as the number groups together all power plants of the similar output whether petrol or diesel or electric e.g. 30 TFSI 30 TDI 30 ETRON will all be around 110 PS. CarPlay simply works on head unit, not cluster which is how nav has always been, you do get instructions through the speakers as normal. It’s all you really need.

[@j99bgr]

Another great video, mate! Really like this generation of A1. Wasn’t a fan of the previous gen, just a real shame the S1 never came to fruition. Very impressed with how good this looks for the price too, there’s a couple interior bits I wish they did differently. Being an Audi, it’s expected to be the “premium” VW, and seeing some of the savings they made takes away from that a bit imo. I personally like the standard metallic colour, see it about often and it’s very in your face colour and I understand why it’s not to peoples taste. Love it in red though!

[@volkswizard]

Thanks Josh! The yellow is OK but it's notoriously tricky to sell yellow cars so unless you REALLY love it, it's worth having a different colour and then suddenly the black edition pack makes no sense as you've been given a metallic FOC but then have to buy another at £575! The interior is still very good and well ahead of VW and SEAT and even new A3. Very surprised the soft touch dash extends so far forwards, I doubt the facelift will continue that going by new A3.

[@rasherbasher8203]

The competition version is only version I would go for... looks Good with the twin pipes... I hope they bring it back for the update...

[@volkswizard]

Let's hope so - I did look on Autotrader and looks like they were on sale until quite recently, £30k or more second hand though suggests a hefty RRP

[@JackKing12.]

How much expensive is cheap door card v. the squidgy soft one? One for VW to answer...

[@robc5955]

My daughter has a newish polo gti nice car, struggles to put the power down but being the range topper odd no central armrest, otherwise nice well made car, kinda stunned albeit petty that no lined door pockets on this A1. My mid spec Octavia has them even in the back. It does seem VAG is struggling to get the specs and price points right at the mo.

[@davidviner4932]

pointless car, plenty of way better used Audis out there

[@Mudster250]

Nice review, but do you get the £1,000 deposit contribution if you take the finance from somewhere other than Audi? Usually need to take finance through the eager but not sure in this case.

[@volkswizard]

No you don’t but as I said in the video, the £1k contribution equates to a 3.5% discount off the RRP and you should be able to get 5-10% off easily. Get that off and go finance elsewhere, easy.

[@seanduncan8927]

I had a A1 as a loan car and enjoyed it but as. a 6 footer found it cramped on long journeys. Great handling but I’ll never buy another S line again as too unforgiving on our poor roads. Not sure if Audi should be in the small car market.

[@danielrussell446]

Great video Andrew it’s amazing really Audi have come full circle and offer a small car (as they did the old Audi 50 and mk1 polo) again but such a nice looking car I prefer it to the polo and looks lovely in red and black though I am biased as my t roc is two tone red and black! I can’t believe how the payments stack up and I would probably on balance have the Audi it looks nicer in my view than the current polo! Great to see a nice interior with some quality parts too! Keep up the good work and look forward to next video!

[@volkswizard]

Thanks Daniel 🙌🏻 T-Roc in red and black does also look great (as does Up! GTI). Ahh the Audi 50, would love to know how that differed from the Mk1 Polo (and which was cheaper to finance🤓)

[@shahab_shawn_siahpoosh]

It's a great looking car. I saw it in my trip to Istanbul for the first time. It's a shame that we don't get these nice looking small cars in the US

[@volkswizard]

I agree with you, it's a real shame small cars don't make it over the pond, you are missing some good ones such as the VW Up! GTI

[@martinbourne8463]

Great content Andrew, straight forward and informative, thanks, I just wonder how long will these 3 cylinders engines last, will we get 100,000 miles from them, probably not,

[@volkswizard]

Thanks Martin. Durability is definitely unclear on these 3 cylinder engines, one to watch. I've heard rumours of cracking cylinder heads but not seen it personally yet. In the short term I think they are OK but suspect they go expensively wrong after 80k miles depending on use and servicing.

[@mrstanhope1516]

@@volkswizard I did see a cheap Up GTI for sale with 80K on the clock. Highest mileage one I've seen.

[@alizawar4574]

You could get a 2019 Merecedes A35 for cheaper 😂😂

[@volkswizard]

You could get a second hand C7 RS6 for about the same as that A1 too (£32k) - used car usually better value but if the Merc goes wrong and is out of warranty then it probably would have been cheaper to go new. Modern cars are so complicated now and the faults can be well into 4 figures even on a smallish car like A Class.

[@coltatuc]

Nonsense, bro, your review is not on point swear down, you just chatting gibberish man😅

[@davidhayes4814]

Options aside, the A1 is a bit of a bargain really. I guess that the lowest spec compatible with the 150PS is the sweet spot for a peppy all rounder.

[@volkswizard]

Sadly only S line gets 150 but at least it doesn’t need to be a black edition S line. I’d need to make sure A3 wasn’t too close as that’s an even better car overall

[@t5jerry]

GREAT NEWS...........................................i`m back 🙄🙄🙄🙄

[@volkswizard]

Where you been Jerry?

[@t5jerry]

@@volkswizard trying and failing to get that ULTIMATE qualifying lap ....🏎️🏎️🏎️

[@Julia-xz7vb]

it looks ok apart from the wheels which are horrible. 😮

[@Wolfpack310]

It's only one of the A1 i want and it's the 2.0tfsi quattro

[@volkswizard]

Isn't that the S1 as that was the only quattro A1 based car ever out of both generations? Good car that

[@Wolfpack310]

@volkswizard no not the s1. It's that one that is called a1 quattro only 333 of them build. It has special white rims and other special features

[@derekallan6231]

I traded my up gti for an 18 plate s1 because new a1 too expensive would've liked 200 competition

[@volkswizard]

I think S1 is probably a cooler car than A1 S line Competition but I bet you there will be a time when the S1 will be worth more as it's not just another Audi, it's a bit special

[@derekallan6231]

@@volkswizard hopefully your correct and they go up in value but I never usually keep long enough may have to this time cars are getting too expensive now really like s1 but it's definitely expensive to run as Daily driver my lupo tdi needs to get back on road soon

[@zachduke8830]

Very informative