Audi is on a roll here in Malaysia. The A6 hybrid that we drove last month was sold out mere weeks after its launch, with Euromobil’s entire 2013 allocation all spoken for. They’re now gunning for the entry-level premium market with the new Audi A1 Sportback, a five-door variant of the original A1 launched in 2011.
How much do you have to pay for the two extra doors? Nothing, as it’s priced exactly the same as the standard A1 at RM179,900 before insurance, making it the joint most affordable Audi you can buy here. You’ll have to be quick to get the limited period introductory price though, as it’ll revert to its standard price tag of RM185,000 soon.
Only a single variant is offered, a base turbocharged 1.4 TFSI with 122 hp at 5,000rpm and 200 Nm of torque at 1,500 to 4,000 rpm. Taking care of gear changes is a 7-speed S tronic dual-clutch transmission complete with steering mounted shift paddles. 0-100 km/h takes nine seconds flat, and top speed is 203 km/h. 18.9 km per litre is on offer here.
Dimensionally nothing much has changed. The Sportback may look bigger and longer than the three-door A1, but it’s not. Length stays the same at just under four metres, and the 2469 mm wheelbase is carried over as well. Width and height however, have been increased slightly by 6 mm each, giving passengers 11 and 13 mm more head and shoulder room respectively.
Aside from improved access, rear occupants are better accommodated too, as the seats are now designed for three, each with its own headrest and full three-point seatbelt. Available legroom stays as before, as do the 270-litre boot. The rear seats fold down (but not flat) to open up as much 920 litres of space. For neat freaks, there’s an optional luggage package that adds storage compartments under the boot floor.
Externally, standard features include LED DRLs and rear lights, xenon headlamps and 16-inch wheels (optional 17-inchers are pictured here). If you have an extra RM15,000 to spare, you can choose the S-line package that adds more aggressive exterior treatment, 17-inch alloys from quattro Gmbh, sports suspension and leather/cloth combination upholstery.
Customisation includes the choice of three contrasting colours for the roof line and the entire roof itself (a Sportback-specific addition) as part of the S-line package. Twelve colour options are available, including Samoa Orange that is available exclusively for the new five-door. Picking a pearl effect colour adds RM2,500 to the price.
This small car isn’t small on creature comforts. Automatic climate control, 6.5-inch colour display, Bluetooth connectivity and voice dialogue system are all packed in. An audiophile-approved 14-speaker 465-watt Bose audio system is a RM4,000 optional extra, while an MMI navigation with a higher res screen and Bluetooth car online system are included in the optional technology package (price yet undisclosed).
It’s not short on safety kit either. You get a full compliment of six airbags, ESP, ASR, EDL, ABS, EBD, BA, and even ISOFIX mounts for the rear seats. So there you have it. Small car, big on Audi. You likey?
Large gallery after the jump.
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Preve is still a better car
i know 180k is a little overpriced but you must be retarded.
Audi cars fail in Malaysia. They cannot compete with BMW and Mercedes because the chinaman is so fixated with either BMW or Mercedes. Its a good car globally but big failure in Malaysia
The FC = 14km/L @ KL usage
or 14.5 km/L @ Subang Mode.
on highway – city = combined = 18km/L.
No confusion. :)
it’s similar to New Suzuki Swift.Almera.Vios.
U have been mentioning this statement in almost every post in paultan
i feel very funny to look at the air cond vents design, it’s just look like those in neo or saga. waiting for somebody to bash, or noone wants to bash because it’s an audi?
Most probably proton salesman…..
Looks like Savvy isn’t it?
Add another 10k to buy Passat Sportline. It’s that good, u get something more practical and u will fall in love with the higher performance of the Passat and it’s interior dashboard. And that little classic digital analog clock. Lovely.
Those who are interested in a A1 are definately not interested in a car like the Passat. It’s a small luxury car for those who mostly go alone through city traffic. They do not want a bigger car like Passat, Mazda 5, Camry, etc.
If you change your remark to “98% of all car buyers are better off with a Passat”, then you’re right. For families the Preve would be the better choice too.
But if you add 100k, u can get an A6 Hybrid. Better yet, if you add 1mil, you can get a brand new Maserati!
If you minus 90K, you can get Vios. Better RV !!! Wait for the new gen coming !!
Dont buy Passat, A6, & brand new Maserati 1.2mil loaded in wallet…
I know its been mentioned before many times but for you info i will never add 10k more to get a unreliable VW with a DSG box
A1 also cost RM185k….so what would be the A3 Sportback cost…? May be same price..hahaha!
If you’re in the market for a German hatch, maybe you guys want to wait for the upcoming Merc A-Class.
I wonder if MB will benchmark the A-Klasse pricing to compete with this one.However I think will still higher cos of the engine capacity difference
wei Audi Malaysia.. bring in the A3 lar!! especially the sedan version, looks yummeh! 180bhp would do it just nicely.
In UK, the OTR price for this A1 is just RM71,300 only. Gov of Malaysia, pls la..
Probably very, very different specs though. Smaller engine, cheaper sound system, no automatic climate control, …
All those sacrifice at RM71,300? I’d still take it.
compare la with singapore, thai, indo, viet, brunei, philip, india, korea n japan
Then compare Singaporean wages compare to Malaysians.
enough already!!!! whine whine whine…winge winge winge…move to the UK then…Petrol is now RM15/liter….
Smarter people will complain to those policies that oppressed them. Its normal.
What not normal is people who ask others to move to another countries just because they are complaining.
Smart people will complain to policies that oppressed them after looking at the whole scenario in totality and various perspective not selective..That’s what smart people are..
Yalar, dont complain lah. 80k for the car, 100k for our lovely gov. LISTEN, 180k only ma, cheap what, with ONLY 180k u can drive an audi home leh! cool what! Say sorry to Geoff n our Gov! And enjoy our CHEAP petrol here in our bolehland.
if 15/liter for 40l tank thats RM600 per week, RM2400 per month, RM28800 per year, RM144000 for 5 yrs cost of fuel…
if preve cost RM20k, that mean i have to pay monthly RM2400+installment? walaweh..that already 60% of my monthly expenses just for car n fuel
aduhai… if you staying in UK, you use UK pay to do the calculation la. Rm2400 is like 510pounds, please la, if you are able to get PR there, you should be able to earn at least 2k pounds.
Don’t be stupid la. Open your eyes. In UK the ratio of salary:living cost, is not like Malaysia.
UK – 9:10
M’SIA – 2:10
Of course if we use our currency your salary just afford to pay the cost of fuel only. I do not support any political party. But this is Malaysia political culture.
Geoff,
You dont pay petrol in Ringgit in UK, you use Euro or GBP to purchase petrol, so by right you pays GBP 1.4. Not RM15. Get the point?
Think I rather go for Golf MK7. Cheaper by RM20k and better performance.
If I am you I rather top up to a VW Golf GTi, roomier interior, better performance.
Fyi, this Audi = TFSI which fuel consumption is similar to Toyota VVti 1.5L.
If, for the case of VW golf = TSi = similar to dvvt engine Fuel consumption.. about 10% – 20% more makan minyak for the same engine size.
Are you joking making comparison the Audi TFSi/VW TSi with Toyota VVTi/DVVT..higher profile on engine/gearbox technology with lower FC vs. NA engine.
Wahahahaha !!!! ahmad loy, Second you!
This is premium car while Golf is not, class difference.
For that price better opt for Polo GTi. More powerful 180PS engine and can do 0-100 sprint in less than 7 secs.
as much as I love beemers, the MMI startup screen with the light shining on the Audi rings is very classy. And this looks better than the new 1 Series. In fact Audi’s cars actually look very nice, especially the Q3, Q5 and A5, and also this A1. F30 and F10 still beats the A4 and A6 though, for a simple reason, the back of the A4/6 is a bit boring.
Nevertheless, Beemer still has the edge in dynamics and efficiency. Audi is a close second.
This A6h fact tells us that if under PR, all vehicles are at 70% of their current prices, nobody will/shall complain anymore. And this can be done.
interesting to note that the Bettle (which i believe runs on the same drivetrain)is RM40k cheaper.
Audi commands the premium, but VW is renowned for their built quality too. by this logic, the A3 could be priced at around RM250k or more.
what are u talking bout, u do know that audi is owned by vw…audi is the luxury version of vw, something like wat lexus is to toyota
What are you talking about? Even Audi is owned/bought by VW but it doesnt mean Audi is a division of VW, Both VW and Audi has their own show to run.
Mahal nya!
If I have that much money and am looking for a hatchback, I’ll definitely choose MK7 over this one. Without hesitation.
Different target market… A1 is competing with MINI Cooper really…
Hm. Audiophile approved… BOSE? Most audiophiles AFAIK don’t like BOSE. Poor sound quality that goes against what audiophiles believe, high price tag.
your ear got problem. go use your ah beng Boombox.
audiophile approved, not only good quality base, but aslo good clarity.
Nah, I’m spoilt by higher end speakers than BOSE. ;) BOSE Lifestyle systems have too much bass in the kickbass range, around 100-120 Hz. Way too much. But below 60 Hz? Not much happening at all. Just droning sound that is like those small cheap RM 100 PC speakers with “subwoofer”. The cubes BOSE uses only have one (!) midrange-ish driver. It can’t produce the lower midrange, so the subwoofer has to cover that area. That is a huge no-no, since the subwoofer is supposed to play in the area below 100 Hz, ideally below 40 or 50 Hz (so covering around 20-50 Hz for example… look at SVS for subwoofers that do 20 Hz for example). Also, a midrange driver won’t be able to do highs either, I believe someone tested them and measured something like a 8-10 kHz cut-off. The human ear can at least listen up to 16 kHz, typical decent speakers do 20 kHz, “audiophile speakers” go up to 40 kHz (for those who want to annoy their dogs, I suppose…). See the big ones from B&W (Nautilus series), Warfedale’s Airedale and Opus line, Nubert nuVero (I own Nubert speakers, though of a lower series. Nubert prides itself with being extremely linear, and they are), any Isophon, Genelec (studio speakers, as such they are brutally honest in linear).
Basically good speakers are big. BOSE speakers typically aren’t, and they are not even proper active designs like the Nubert nuPro or any Genelec active monitor, which these days typically use DSPs to make the sound more linear and to get lower than such speakers (volume, size and number of drivers) should be physically able to get.
Basically when shopping for PC speakers, look for size. Brand, not so important. Look for the biggest satellites you can find that fits within your budget, and the biggest subwoofer you can find. Chances are they are the best sounding ones (below RM 300 it’d probably be the Sensonic F7/F7+. Bass and treble controls should be centered.
Now BOSE’s in car systems should be better than their Lifestyle speakers for your home, since size is not so important there.
Btw. I’m not the only one who thinks so:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20121105012359AARjmuh
http://www.avsforum.com/t/343759/why-not-bose
Bro,
NOw you have my curiosity. What is the best speakers in a car?
Do watts matter? brand? position of the speakers? subwoofer?
Im not a heavy bass guys that wants the car to be able to shake a parking lot but i do appreciate excellent quality and top of the range sound clarity.
For that price I rather go for Mazda 6, bigger and better.
Slightly out of topic and as a reply to “frenzy”, I checked out the Mazda 6 today. Though the steering is wonderful and nicely weighted, the overall plastics built quality is quite bad, especially the top part of the dashboard and the glove compartment. For instance the Teana and Accord glove box and plastics seem 2 classes above the Mazda’s. The same goes for the compartment between the seats and the cup holders on the Mazda. They were ally of very poor quality and would show wear and tear by the first year.
Haha Audi trying to get buyers to buy A1 asap b4 the new A-Class launch hence the so called increase in price soon from RM180k to RM185 -.-
these are all options to choose..there are plenty of ppl can afford to buy..shouldn’t care of the A-class..both are good cars..
however, for me if i want to get german marque, i will just get a good performance car..why buy german cars when you only can have 122hp? i know it is a small car and not meant for fast driving..but hey, we are talking about audi..not japanese or local cars..so for 185k is probably not worth while some say Golf is much more less is better choice
aggre with you. 122hp for a german premium car? At least the A200 has 158hp and the A250 at 208hp.
If you think of practicality, better buy Audi A3….. This is just a MINI competitor…..
Errr don’t you guys think the A1 look wierd and ugly from side profile angle.
Even kia rio at much cheaper price look much better. Seriously, if they have swap the badge, the rio look more like a 180k car than audi A1. I am talking about exterior look.
This is a non-retro alternative to the very retro Mini (while maintaining a similar shape). Basically this one competes with the BMW Mini, Citroen DS3, Opel Adam, Fiat 500 (though smaller) and perhaps VW Beetle (though bigger). Premium B segment cars that sacrifice practicality for looks and exclusivity. A bit of a fashion statement perhaps. Say you want luxury like in a big premium sedan, but don’t want that size, because you’ll be only driving it in the city and only need space for 2 (+2) and a few shopping bags. A big car is hard to park. So something like this is the thing for you.
Btw. Merc will join the party too, with the X class. Based on a Renault Clio.
The Rio is something entirely different, even though they are of similar size. If it looks better… personally I disagree, but then again I don’t think the Rio is a particularly good looking car. But that’s just me. In the fashion/premium B segment I guess my favorites would be the Citroen DS3 and the Opel Adam. In terms of looks.
You and your french. No resale value and only can sell for scrap metal.
You know what chinese says about citroen….”Rugi Sampai Habis”.
Toyota look much better than your renault or citroen anytime and definately more reliable.
Agree with you. To me, B segment premium contender now is
1. Audi A1
2. Merc A Class (high spec please)
3. Clio RS
4. DS3 (heard its to be reintroduced)
5. 208 GTI (coming soo too i hope)
6. Fiesta ST (heard they thinking of it)
Bye bye Mini Cooper. Its old already
haha ? merc a class as B segment ?
its much bigger than those in the list
Yeah I know. The A class is more suitable to compete with a 1 series or A3.
But hey, just wishful thinking A Class AMG sport sub RM190k…yummy ….
but we know it wont happen…tax (sigh!!)
Why do you malaysians compare every fu..ing car with a preve i drove one sucks balls foot on the floor cant even move and after 100k’s an hour noisy like shit inside the car. Do you guys know that a PREVE is only a sub RM40 k with an extra 85% of tax only adds up to its RM 70+k. Cars below 1800cc no matter what brand are taxed 85%
All I can say is wait for the A Class. Look at the whole package here in Malaysia. Aftersales capability of Merc and Audi? 4 years unlimited mileage warranty by Merc.. Its a clear winner. Provided they price it right..
Merc A class is C segment? What is B class and C class? Cos I know E class is D segment. I need re-learning here..
Bullshit real price a Vw golf mk7 is Rm 86k Mercedes B class Rm130 both brand new and on the road price selling in Langkawi duty free
180k for this small car? add some money i get better/bigger car.
really ridiculous pricing.