Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, when they first appeared, the recipe for a Hot Hatch was fairly simple – take the smallest car in your range and stuff the biggest engine you can make fit into it.
That was all you needed, and in most cases it worked well. In others, not so much, but the general idea was a sound one.
Nowadays, however, small capacity turbos with frankly silly power outputs are all the rage.
The Audi S1 actually takes both these approaches and jams them, plus a 4WD system into the tiny A1.
We make a massive sacrifice and check out whether it is a recipe that works…
What is it?
The Audi S1 is arguably the purest modern interpretation of the classic Hot Hatch on sale today. It is a very small car with a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine jammed into it. We know it is a tight fit, because the S1 is only available with a six-speed manual transmission as the DSG wouldn’t fit.
The S1’s 2.0-litre engine pumps out 170kW of power and 320Nm of torque, which is slightly more power and slightly less torque than the larger VW Golf GTi – a car considered quite the hot Hot Hatch itself – and while the S1 is much smaller, it weighs around the same, at 1,340kg.
Why is this? Because the S1 is all quattro, baby…
That’s right, the S1 lives up to its rather legendary name by punching its power through all four wheels via Audi’s quattro AWD system. If you don’t know what the original S1 Quattro is, then the video below should fill you in rather nicely…
The Audi S1 comes to these shores in a single guise – that of a five-door hatch, or Sportback as Audi like to call them, with a manual transmission only.
At $59,900, the S1 comes standard with 18-inch alloy wheels, automatic adjustable xenon headlights, LED taillights, rear parking sensors, rain-sensing wipers, cruise control and a leather multi-function sports steering wheel.
Options are, of course, manifold, with things like leather seats, dark tinted glass, different alloys, premium sound systems and contrasting roof colours being available, as well as the “Technology package” ($3,500) that adds navigation and front parking sensors, the “quattro exterior styling package” ($3,500) that adds red trim in the headlights, red painted brake callipers, a double rear spoiler, “quattro” decals on the sides and an “aluminium look” front spoiler lip and the “quattro interior styling package” ($4,500) that adds a centre console with a high gloss finish in either red, yellow or black, S sport leather seats with high gloss painted backs in either red, yellow or black and a bit more interior trim.
What’s it like?
Sharing a name with one of the greatest rally cars of all time means you had better be a damned good car to throw around. Fortunately the S1 is. Very much so.
The S1 simply staggering fun to thrash on a tightly winding road, or anywhere really, in keeping with the traditional Hot Hatch reason for existence. But it is also startlingly flexible and refined around town at low speeds, in keeping with modern demands to use cars for such dull, monotonous purposes.
On the open road a careful eye has to be kept on the S1’s speed, as even the slightest twitch of the throttle foot will see it surging well beyond the legal limit. Really get into it and the S1 responds with instant and slightly unsettling acceleration for such a small car.
The engine has a fantastic traditionally Audi growl and, while it isn’t quite as evocative as a good 5-cylinder warble, certainly lets you know it means business. That is if you can pay attention to anything other than the ferocious approach of the horizon.
But corners are the S1’s true calling. Utterly destroy them, that is. You can throw the S1 into a corner at a thoroughly ridiculous speed, hammering on the incredibly good brakes at the very last minute, then depending on your particular tastes, either tip the precise front end accurately into the corner, gently clipping the apex while maintaining a small percentage of throttle before smoothly unleashing all the power through the wheels to gracefully rocket out they other side.
Or you can just chuck it in there with all the uncoordinated thrashings of Colin Craig walking, mash on the throttle once you have flailed you way past the apex and rocket hairily out the other side grinning – to keep the minor party theme going – like Winston Peters after a particularly good Colin Craig joke.
The six-speed manual transmission is wonderfully light and fast to use and, matched to the fantastic engine is one of the true modern-day delights of the car world to use. Plus the quattro AWD system. Don’t forget that.
In fact, everything mechanical in the Audi S1 works so wonderfully well together that, as excellent as the current crop of Hot Hatches are, everyone else might as well give up. Audi pretty much has it perfected here.
What’s good about it?
See above, really. It is just one of the most fun cars on the road today.
What’s not so good?
It is rather a lot of money for a very small car, but then that’s not what you are paying the money for.
And it doesn’t actually look all that special. Until you get close enough to spot the things like the rear spoiler and bigger intakes, and even then it needs to be in a light (or bright, like the yellow car in our photos!) colour before it starts to look like something a bit special.
Our pick for colour would be white, with the exterior styling pack and then get the rear wing painted yellow. Just like its big brother…
First impressions?
The Audi S1 is a simply sensational Hot Hatch that really does live up to the big expectations generated by the name.
Not only is it well and truly a hot Hot Hatch (and then some), the fact that it also lives up to sharing a name with an absolute legend is simply staggering.
When we drove the Audi RSQ3 we questioned it wearing the hallowed RS badge, saying it felt more like an S car than anything to previously boast the RS badge.
The S1 is the polar opposite of that car – it so intensely fast, fun, accomplished and ridiculously aggressive that Audi could have easily slapped the hallowed RS badge on the small hatch and we wouldn’t have questioned them for a second.
Which leaves us with the tantalising concept of a potential future RS1. If Audi ever do one, then they have set themselves a very big benchmark to exceed with the S1.
Models/prices
Audi S1 – $59,990
Powertrain: 2.0-litre inline 4-cylinder petrol turbo producing 170kW/320Nm; 5-speed manual transmission; all-wheel drive
Fuel consumption: 7.3L/100km
CO2 emissions: 168g/km
Safety
ANCAP/EuroNCAP rating: Five stars
Air bags: 6
Stability control: yes
Lap/diagonal belts: 5
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