Audi A1 is the supermini to help you stand out from Ford Fiesta with enough hustle to elude coach blindspots

AH, the Audi A1 – the gateway drug to a life hooked on the four rings. Come for the A1, stay for the A3, A7, Q5, Q8... and so on. This is how they getcha folks, so be careful.

Audi knows the A1 has to be good if it’s going to convert another ­person to 40 years of driving its cars. With that in mind, it isn’t like a lot of superminis on the market – hastily knocked together to meet high demand from youngsters and city dwellers.

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The build quality is as good as any other in the range, and there is a wealth of choice when it comes to engines and all the other things we expect from high-standard motors.

Included in that is a dual clutch (PDK) gearbox, which is a £1,500 optional extra for all engines other than the range-topping (for now, until the next ­generation S1 turns up) 2.0-litre turbo.

The engine I drove was the 1.0-litre turbo petrol – good for 114bhp – which in my mind is all a car this size needs.

It has got enough hustle to elude dangerous ­National Express coach blindspots, and it homes in on gaps in chocka traffic with ease.

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The ride is poised and settled and the steering nicely weighted.

Browse the Audi website and you’ll be told the A1 starts at around £18,000 – lumpy enough in itself, but no self-respecting Audi driver shops in the bargain aisle.

Audi itself predicts only five per cent will buy it in poverty spec. My test car cost – wait for it – £29,930 with all the extras. Thirty big ones for a supermini? Do me a favour.

The elephant in the room is the fact that, underneath, the A1 is a VW Polo. It looks much sexier, granted, but even the highest spec non-GTi Polo costs £18k.

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If it were me, I’d save my money and buy the Polo GTi for £21,000.

It might not look as good, but it’s the same car with more fun built in.

Still, if you care about these things the Audi A1 is the supermini to help you stand apart from the Ford Fiesta drivers.

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