• A1’s interior feels solid and built to last
• Quality doesn’t live up to price in places
• But the tech available is top-rate

How is the quality and the layout?

As you’d expect, the Audi A1 does have a premium feel inside. The dashboard looks like a high quality item, the seats are nicely trimmed and the controls and switchgear have a solid, chunky feel you’ll struggle to find elsewhere in a small car.

With sharp contours across the dash, plus a large touchscreen and a wide selection of materials available, the A1 is surprisingly high-tech inside, and eye-catching.

Sadly, while the tech makes the A1 feel upmarket, some of the materials don’t back up this claim, even some of the more prominent bits, such as the top of the doors. The underside edge of the door handles is remarkably sharp-edged, too.

192

Infotainment and technology

While the touchscreen infotainment media system looks upmarket for a car in this class (it’s taken from more expensive Audi models) – especially if you go for the upgraded setup available, it isn’t the easiest to use initially due to the number of menus available. This is exacerbated by the fact you have to prod the screen to change many settings – something that can be distracting while driving.

To counter it, the screen is angled towards the driver and the ‘buttons’ you need to tap are all fairly big. The main issue is the dark theme that sometimes makes it more difficult to see. Once familiar, most will find it easy to operate without trouble.

Thankfully the digital dials can display much of what is on the media system screen and you can tweak a number of settings through the buttons on the wheel. You may have to pay a hefty amount more to get the Technology Pack which features the slickest A1 tech (bigger screen and upgraded Virtual Cockpit), but Audi’s smallest car is a sophisticated machine for a car of this size – you’ll struggle to find this level of tech on many other cars this size.

Comfort

• Standard seats not very supportive
• Lots of seat adjustment possible
• Rear seatbacks too upright

The seats look good, but aren’t quite supportive enough on the lower models in the range. The Technik model’s front seats are relatively flat and could do with greater lumbar support, while the Sport and S Line versions are a slight improvement with more supportive items that hold you firmly in place.

If you’re considering the A1, it’s definitely worth spending some time behind the wheel to make sure you can get comfortable. Heated seats, on the other hand, are available on all A1s, whichever trim you go for, but you’ll have to pay for them.

The rears are cramped as you’d expect for a car of this size, but the upright backrests are needlessly uncomfortable, especially on longer trips.

192