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Here’s a European hot hatch that I truly wish we got, despite the impossible market realities that prevent it from being offered here.
Despite being the size of the Polo, Audi has shoehorned the much larger 2.0T engine from the bigger MQB cars, with this variant making 230 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. 60 mph comes up in an awfully conservative 5.8 seconds, and yes, you can get a real manual gearbox as well as all-wheel drive.
Sounds like a blast although you’d want 4WD. My wife has a Polo GTI and 180hp going to the front wheels via 7 speed DSG seems like more than enough from the 1.4l twin charged engine
The S1 has 4wd standard. Derek’s text is misleading.
Let’s not confuse 4WD with AWD. Audi has AWD.
If it has four wheels, 4WD = AWD. Let’s not confuse the debate with silly distinctions without a difference.
(I bet most of your oh-so-rugged Yank “4WD” CUVs have the exact same Haldex “AWD” system, or some cheap Yank knock-off.)
It is absolutely not the same. The fact you would argue as such is indicative of your nature of stirring the pot around here.
And besides that, you’re the KING of pedantry. You can’t say much when someone else specifies a distinction.
I’m sure this has been rehashed before, but are the market realities of a hot hatch still that impossible in 2014? I could see the better-heeled-than-your-average-urbanite wanting just that.
I suspect in this case it’s more an issue with selling a B-segment Audi. While things have shifted somewhat, Americans still frequently buy their cars by the pound, and charging a premium price for a tiny car gets a lot of resistance. The new MB CLA and Audi A3/S3 will push this forward some (a because they have 4 doors and b because they’re priced somewhat competitively, both of which rule out BMW’s 2 series), but pushing even further down the size chain is stretching things. It’s the same reason MB won’t bring the A and B class here and the new BMW 1 series hasn’t come across either. To me the idea of a small, efficient, and tossable car with a luxury interior has a lot of appeal, but I recognize that’s not the market.
It would sell well here in Canada.
But they already brought the 1 series here a couple years ago?
The current European 1-series is a 3 or 5-door hatchback, which aren’t available in the US. The replacement for the current US 1-series is the new 2-series. BMW’s willing to play with pricey coupes but thus far has been reluctant to release anything below the 3-series that has 4 doors and could cannibalize sales. And even then the previous 1-series and new 2-series have been pretty pricey with a questionable value compared to the 3 or 4-series coupes.
But, @Chris FOM, are you sure @CoreyDL is talking about BMW?
Looks like he could have meant the Audi A1? (Of which the “S1” is the sporty variant.)
Actually 5.8 seconds takes you to 100 km/h (62 mph), so you can definitely knock a few tenths off that for a 60 mph figure.
I like it.
very mediocre styling for the segment IMO. The front trunk looks like a clam shell and the all black roof is overdone.
Front trunk? The clamshell hood (bonnet) is an A1/S1 design element.
The black roof, on the other hand, is optional.
fourtitude.com/news/Audi_News_1/detail-audi-s1-s1-sportback/
It just looks like a 500L to me.
My error :) Ive owned MR2s for too long. In the MR2 there is indeed a trunk in the front.
I can relate, I did have a 914 a long time ago as well …
As soon as I saw it, I thought, this is what the 1958 Rambler American would look like if it were updated.
From certain angles, the slab sides, high beltline, blunt nose and pronounced swage line bring the Alfa Romeo SZ to mind, one of my favorite car quirky designs. That and the black roof. I really like it.
Having seen a 500L in person, This is much less dumpy. Full disclosure, I think that Audi’s are the best looking cars on the road. Would never pay for one though, given they are overpriced and cramped inside (at least up to and including the A4). I hear most are a little dull to drive, but I have never driven one.
The 500L should not be branded as a 500 at all, the look is so far removed from the regular one. It is further from the basic 500 than any of the Mini spin offs are from the regular one.
I like this…nice!
I was behind a Focus ST in traffic the other day thinking that Ford should build an AWD version of the ST with some more power and make it an SVT Focus. AWD boosted hot hatches are a cool segment.