Audi A1 1.4T FSi Ambition S tronic
Alfa and the petrol head go back a long way. The Alfa in South Africa has three legendary heroes from my youth. GTV, always said in reverent tones, Spider and not insignificantly Giulietta has a nostalgia all of its own. It is back. Alfisti's can be proud of the 1750 TBi Quadrifoglio Verde I tested.
If you recall the wood finish in Giulietta's of days gone by, you will miss the "wood finish" detailing that somehow always wore to a shade of white plastic. Particularly gearknobs and steering wheels. This time things are different.
Let me put it this way. Ergonomically it is practical. It is seriously sexy looking from the front. The interior is the best I have seen in any car in years. It is different, cool and it all works. About the only thing that required a visit to the manual was connecting Bluetooth, and I never figured out how to switch off traction control. I don't think you can stop short of pulling fuses. The interior has a distinctive aroma. A particularly sexy green eyed woman said that it had the aroma of a brand new pair of Italian high end shoes. I assume this is a good thing. The motor is good for 173kW and that does the sprint to 100 in 6.8 seconds. That is a stonking 99.92kW/litre. Remarkably the turbo is good for a claimed 7.6l per 100km's and this should be achievable. It has all that stop-start green technology, as if any of that stuff would have you rushing out to buy an Alfa.
The handling is sharp to say the least. Steering is the most precise and crisp this side of a 911. The dynamic proposition is just what you expect from an Alfa and it does not disappoint at all. The damping is excellent. The car is only let down dynamically in its acceleration times. One would have hoped that 173kW would be a bit quicker, but that is the price to be paid for modern comfort and safety. The toll is in the mass of the car. While the weight is never felt in grip or handling or traction, the acceleration times suffer a smidgen.
You don't even seem to need to have deep selfloathing and masochistic tendencies to get involved with this sophisticated Italian girl. It seems solid and well built. Nothing fell off during the test. I suspect some of the "metal" finish may wear down to a white plastic, but I shouldn't be surprised if it never does. At R330,275 it seems a relative bargain, and if ownership is in line with this test and reliability and customer care are up to snuff, there should be a long queue for them. Consider also the 125kw Multiair, which allows you to shave R50k off the entry fee and loses just around a second to 100.
At the coast at least, it doesn't feel dramatically inferior in city or mountain pass driving and may well be worth a look.
