2019 Audi A1 vs 2020

What's the difference?

Update:

We first published this story on 21 November 2018, but the Audi A1 2019 model has still not launched in Australia. 

The good news is that the Audi A1 2020 model is due to launch in Australia in October 2019. At the time we’re publishing this update, the company still hasn’t confirmed its plan for the new-generation A1 here.

Stay tuned for our detailed review coverage and all the pricing and specifications information you need to know. 

As originally published, 21 November 2018:

Like a scrawny kid that reappeared after the school summer holidays with stubble, a deeper voice and newly bulging biceps, the second-generation Audi A1 isn’t how you remember it.

Sure, it’s still based on the same underpinnings as a Volkswagen Polo, but it has been designed to appeal to a different market to that car, and also to its predecessor.

This time around, almost 10 years after the original Audi A1 launched, it’s no longer a cute little city car - instead, it’s a compact muscle man, a far more angular and menacing looking little tyke. Still city-sized, but with a far more aggressive stance than the car it replaces.

But is it any good? I travelled to Spain as a guest of Audi Australia to find out.

The Audi A1 2020 range offers something for everyone, and in the case of this particular variant, it’s the one you buy if you want as much grunt and gear as you can get.

It’s the top-of-the-range Audi A1 40 TFSI model, which gets the zestiest engine, the lengthiest equipment list, and offers performance to match some hot-hatches out there. It’s essentially an Audi-ised version of a VW Polo GTI. 

This test wasn’t so much about the wow-factor, though. We put it through its paces as an urban runabout to see how it coped as a real-world city car.