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First drive: Audi S1

We drive Audi's S1 around Kyalami on its launch in South Africa. The Audi S1 uses a detuned version of Audi's S3 engine but retains the Quattro all-wheel.

First Drive: Audi S1

What is it?

The 2015 Audi S1 is nothing at all like the original Audi S1 which flipped World Rallying on its head during the early 80s. That S1 owed much of its success to the new-at-the-time Quattro drivetrain and heavily boosted five-cylinder engine replete with anti-lag systems. Pity, but if you fancy yourself as the Walter Rohrl of traffic circles and boomed-off suburbia, this is your ticket to modern hot-hatch fame. The detuned S3 2.0-litre engine is some 34kW and 120Nm stronger than the next biggest 1.4T and is the first A1 to come fitted with Quattro. The recipe is part of Audi’s laminated drivetrain marriages and we’ve always preferred the A1’s interior quality and spring pliancy to that of its peers.

What’s it like?

If power to weight is still the golden measure of any car’s fun factor, the Audi’s figures of 127kW and 276Nm/tonne eclipses the current Cooper S at a measly 111kW and 221Nm/tonne. On the road this is reinforced with a 0-100km/h of 5.8 seconds. It would be even quicker we suspect with an auto gearbox but most of the charm lies in the simple 6-speed manual – That’s how Walter would have wanted it anyway. Audi have tinkered with the power steering and the compound link rear suspension is eschewed for a four-link setup. If that sounds complicated just know that the adjustable dampers are standard.

What no silver wing mirrors? How can one possibly identify it as an S1? Quad exhausts, bigger 310mm brakes and bumpers that appear ready to gulp down huge quantities of air. Stainless steel pedals and flat-bottom wheel are what base models get but Audi brought yellow-shelled bucket seats along to the launch and they seem an important cost option.

Should I buy one?

Not a direct competitor but one that might enter the purchase decision, the S3 costs R50 000 more than the S1 Sportback and offers a chunk more performance and practicality for that. However the tenacious S1 is not about being sensible, it’s a mad-science project with some of Audi’s finest engineering shoehorned into a package that felt nippy enough with significantly smaller engines. World Rally Championship Group B might be history but this little S1 tyke is poised to compete in World Rallycross…albeit with a reported 447kW engine.

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About Andrew Leopold

audi, brakes, cooper s, dampers, firm, kyalami, manual, mini cooper, power to weight, quattro, S1, s3, sportback, suspension