The beauty and the beast under the hood: the new Audi A1

– So, is it on diesel or gasoline? He askes me.

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I looked at him the very same way I was looking at my chemistry teacher back in high school when she was asking me something in class: lost eyes, shoulders up.

Did I even care about the kind of fuel? No.

One friend saw the pictures I posted on Instagram during my weekend with the new Audi A1 and began to ask me all sort of complicated questions, such as “How much horsepower does this car have?” or “What does 30TFSI mean?” I don’t know and I honestly don’t care. But I can google it for you! You can find on the internet everything you need to know about this car when it comes to this kind of data so if you have high hopes that you’ll find in this article numbers, you might want to close it right now.

My story is about an experience, the one of driving the new Audi A1, from a feminine perspective. I know there are many ladies who know technical stuff about cars but there are also many who don’t and may feel a little bit lost when it comes to choosing the perfect car for their needs. Well, I’m part of the last category and here is what I think about this car.

I usually don’t like to change my route if I’m already used to it. Admit it, I know you’re on my side: driving becomes so much easier when you know where are the traffic lights, certain potholes, the crosswalks, or where two lanes become one and so on. But the day I took the Audi A1 for my drive test I experienced the bittersweet feeling of seeing my only known way back home blocked and a sign on which it was written one of the words I totally hate: DEVIATION. Now, that’s when GPS becomes synonym with oxygen, in my case. If I didn’t tell you until now, you must know I’m very reluctant to car navigation, even if it writes Google Maps on it. It disappointed me in so many ways that I’m better off without it. For example, I’m sure I’m not the only one who sometimes seems to be driving in the middle of nowhere (yes, when the arrow looks hopeless and lost on a terrain, although you can see you are on a highway). I guess you understood by now that in order to get back home I decided to follow the instructions of my phone. I eventually made a huge detour but since the traffic in the area was very heavy, I guess Google Maps preferred to show me the Luxembourgish countryside instead of a blocked highway.

The following day I took the same route but I used the cars navigation. And what do you know, surprise, surprise, the way back home was actually so much shorter! Yes, you can tell me it was a different day and a different hour but I will tell you that the navigation proposed me the same route on Friday. So Audi marks a biiig point here.

Anyway, back to our sheep, initially I was bothered by the change of route but then I discovered that this Audi A1 has the sexiest sound system ever so it was truly a delight to watch the sun go down while discovering unknown bass sounds in already known songs. I actually hoped the detour to be longer. It’s been a while since I listened to loud music in a car, as the years passed it began to actually annoy me but this time it just gave me a good vibe 🙂 Thumbs up for this, Audi!

I must admit I had some issues in discovering the volume button (it happened the day after I received the car) but the controllers on the steering wheel saved the day and in the end, I honestly don’t think the volume button from the dashboard should concern the driver, but the passenger. Finally, something dedicated to the passenger. Maybe now he or she won’t be concerned about the decisions that the driver takes regarding traffic acts. Just saying!

Since I already got used to automatic cars, I don’t have a funny story to tell you about “What does this letter mean?”. The first thing that comes in my mind about this is that the gear lever moves in a straight line and I love it – I’ve tested cars that had a maze through which you had to move the lever when you wanted to change something and I’m not really into them. Like at all. There is though one thing that intrigued me regarding this Audi’s lever: the D/S inscription.

I found out (actually it was written on the dashboard) that this refers to the driving mode: dynamic or sport. To interchange them, you simply need to move the lever just like you do when you change the classic modes, back and forth. Between these two driving modes, I prefer the Sport one. It’s a little bit noisier – somehow the level of noise makes me feel more confident behind the wheel (???)- I really don’t know why. And if you want things to be smooth for you, I have a piece of advice: don’t hit any of the two pedals like you usually do.

You need to get used to tame the horses under the hood. For example, You can practice this in reverse mode, by getting closer and closer to an obstacle. By the way, this Audi A1 I tested didn’t have a rear camera so I’m sorry ladies, you will have to pay high attention to the beeps of the sensors and look through the rear window, just like your parents did when you were a kid (I hope their cars didn’t have rear camera, that would kinda make me feel aged). The good thing is that this Audi A1 also has front sensors. But no park assist 🙁

Overall, the driving part was fun, I think this a comfortable, urban car that has just the right amount of “sport” in it and a perfect match for a diva!

But what about the dashboard?

I like the fact that everything that happens on the dashboard is driver-oriented. Still, the passenger can do things on the LCD, but with a little bit more effort than in general 🙂

I also like the infotainment offered by this car. On the LCD display, the most important buttons are emphasized and everything works just fine for me. The only thing I’m not excited about is that I have to look down to see the details. But I would make a compromise because this car is almost too beautiful to be true and I can also see the navigation right in front of the steering wheel if I chose to.

The interior of this car is sporty and compact just like the trunk (no, the baby stroller won’t fit). I also think the materials used are of very good quality, giving a general feeling of being in a highly attentive designed sports car.

Finally, a car without 1000 buttons on the steering wheel.

And that’s about it. You can’t imagine my satisfied smile when I saw this steering wheel. From my point of view, it proposes the right amount of buttons.

You have the volume controller, the “view button”, that changes the what you see in front of the steering wheel, on the entirely digital dashboard: navigation, radio posts, a bigger view of the tachometer and accelerometer, etc, the “speak up and you will receive“ function, as I like to say 🙂 and a phone answering button. Just perfect!

The beauty and the…no, it’s just the beauty.

15 years. This is how long I’ve been testing make-up products until I found those that were just perfect for me. You may be wondering why am I writing this in an automotive article. Well, because ladies will understand my comparison of the beauty of the car with the perfect beauty bag. There are so many cars and out there. You can say the same thing about make-up. Which is the best for you? When you find the right thing, you just stick to it. So, such as the flawless beauty bag, the new Audi A1 brings up together elements of rare beauty.

I wanted to write more about the headlights, shapes, the Singleframe grille and all the elements that combined, make this car look stunning but it’s not like you don’t see the car. So I will choose less blah blah and more photos.

My advice about this car? Buy it and have fun, it’s an awesome road partner:) But drive test it for the beginning, I’ll be waiting for your opinions!

Many thanks to my wonderful partner for this drive test, Losch Luxembourg 🇱🇺 ✌️