Audi RS Q3 vs Audi S1

What's the difference?

The Audi RS Q3 Sportback edition 10 years is dynamically brilliant, beautifully finished and surprisingly civilised on day-to-day duty. A polished compact performance package that even in this special 'get-it-while-you-can' guise offers compelling value relative to its direct competitors.

Cars this small shouldn't be this fast and useable at the same time, but the Audi S1 is. It isn't without its problems - the ride is harder even than the Fiesta ST which might weary some prospective buyers.

It's also a bit difficult to justify the price - in its basic form it's missing a few creature comforts that you'd expect in a $50,000 car - reversing camera, high-res screen, that sort of thing.

However, in the hot hatch world, those things don't matter. It has the bragging rights, the tech and the outright blinding speed to take on the bonkers Focus ST and equally zany Megane RS. And even the Audi S3.

There's a lot going on with the RS Q3's exterior design; a mix of jagged lights, hard character lines, broad haunches and multiple vents surrounding the brand's signature, six-sided grille up front.

The big 21-inch rims fill the arches nicely and the rear features a deep diffuser with fat exhaust finishers poking out either side.

It's a purposeful, macho look and the Sportback edition 10 years is defined by a black package which adds gloss black to the side window trim, front spoiler blade, side blades, rear diffuser and exterior mirrors.

The limited edition is available in two colours, 'Chronos Grey metallic', which is unique to this model and 'Dew Silver matte' which will now be added to the broader RS Q3 colour palette.

Premium performance feels like the dominant theme inside with a typically Audi tech-focused approach including high-quality brushed metal elements, matt carbon inserts and quilted leather trim on the heavily bolstered front seats.

A meticulous attention to detail is obvious and the bottom line is it's all about the driver. A grippy, flat-bottom, leather-trimmed steering wheel looks as good as it feels, sleek screens enhance the racy vibe and the mix of physical and digital controls is sensible.

The A1 is so small it starts to strain Audi's design language. When you cram on the S-style bumpers and raccoon-eyed trim on the hatchback, it's starts to look a bit busy.

It isn't quite a shrink-wrapped A3 - Ingolstadt's designers know better than that - but it's full of Audi design cues, such as the strong, light-catching character lines, distinctive LED daytime running lights and fondness for big wheels.

Inside is along the themes of the A3, with what are becoming Audi's trademark; round eyeball air-con vents, the manual fold-down screen familiar to Q3 owners (but smaller) and a good clear dash. The handbrake jars slightly as it feels cheap to hold and wobbles a bit.

The S Sport seats are big and comfortable, and the top half of the backs are capped in plastic, which was colour-coded on our car. The rear passengers will certainly get an eyeful of whatever terrifying hue you've chosen, so choose wisely.

Despite the five doors, the back seats are occasionals, like the Mini the A1 is gunning for, and the boot is very small, but okay for shopping for couples or singles.

Starting at $49,900, Audi S1 is by far the priciest of the small-hatch based hotties, at least until Mini's madcap JCW arrives. This price is just almost double that of VW stablemate's forthcoming 2015 Polo GTI.

Standard on the manual-and-five-door-only S1 is a ten speaker stereo, climate control, ambient lighting, remote central locking, cruise control, satnav, headlight washers, auto headlights with xenon low beams, partial leather seats, leather-bound steering wheel, auto wipers and rear parking sensors.

Our Misano Red ($990 option) came with two extra packs. The Quattro Exterior Package ($3990) adds bi-xenon headlights with red trim, red brake calipers, spoiler, quattro logos on rear doors (ahem!) and five-spoke 18-inch alloys that are part matt black, part polished.

The Quattro Interior Package ($2490) adds S Sport front seats with Nappa leather and red backrest capping with quattro logo (ugh), more nappa around the cabin with contrast stitching, flat bottom steering wheel and red rings on the air vents.

There's an S Performance Package that brings the best of these two packs together for $4990, saving about $1500 and the embarrassment of the quattro logos.

Our test car also had aluminium air vents ($220), black contrasting boot lid ($300) and black roof ($720).

The A1 is so small it starts to strain Audi's design language

The grand total is a sobering $58,610. There's a couple more options that'll easily pop you over $60,000.

Audi's MMI is dash-mounted in the A1 as there's no room on the narrow centre console. As ever, it works well and doesn't take much getting used to. The satnav is a bit grainy on the smaller screen but is otherwise a competent unit.

Sound is from a ten-speaker stereo and you can stream across Bluetooth or plug in a memory card. The sound was good but the system did take a while to find the phone whenever we came back to the car.

The RS Q3 Sportback is powered by a 2.5-litre in-line five-cylinder intercooled turbo-petrol engine sending drive to all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and Audi's quattro permanent all-wheel drive system based on an electronically-controlled multi-plate clutch pack.

Featuring a cast iron block, alloy head, direct-injection as well as variable intake and exhaust cam adjustment, the (EA855) engine features a special firing order (1-2-4-5-3), the odd number of cylinders producing a signature engine sound and exhaust note reminiscent of the 1980s 'Ur' Quattro.

Peak power is 294kW from 5850-7000rpm and maximum torque is 480Nm delivered across a broad plateau from 1950-5850rpm.

This is where the action is. The S1's tiny body packs a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder producing 170kW and 370Nm of torque. The S1 will streak to 100km/h in 5.9 seconds thank to the traction aid of quattro all-wheel drive.

All Audi S1s come with a six-speed manual

Despite a pretty solid hammering during its week with us, including more time than we'd have liked in Sydney traffic, the stop-start function helped deliver a pretty reasonable 10.2L/100km, however that's a long way over claimed 7.1L/100km.

All Audi S1s come with a six-speed manual, so dual-clutch haters can save the whining. The only downside from not having a self-shifter is the ECU can't deliver the boy racer farts, parps and crackles of the other S cars.

It still seems counterintuitive when a high-riding SUV is tuned to perform and handle like a low-slung sports car but here we are. And Audi executes this mystifying transformation as expertly as any carmaker in the automotive world.

Audi says the RS Q3 Sportback will blast from 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds. Anything under 5.0 seconds is properly fast, and there's nothing quite like the deep-throated bellow of a VW Group in-line five to raise the hairs on the back of your neck.

The RS Q3's sport exhaust system is a dual-branch set-up with exhaust flap control, and people of a certain age will instantly imagine themselves matching it with Ari Vatanen, Walter Röhrl and Michèle Mouton on a suburban special stage behind the wheel of a 1980s Group B Sport Quattro rally car (actually, the school drop off at an infinitely more sensible pace).

The car weighs in at a not insubstantial 1775kg, but 480Nm, available all the way from 1950rpm to 5850rpm, means a near instant surge of fierce acceleration is always lurking under your right foot.

And the VW Group is on the pace when it comes to dual-clutch auto transmissions, from Porsche's 'PDK' and VW's 'DSG' to Lambo's 'DCT' and Audi's 'S tronic'.

The RS Q3's seven-speed unit is quick and positive, the wheel-mounted paddles ramping up the engagement factor.

The variable ratio, electrically-assisted steering is capital G Great. Well weighted and precise with reassuring road feel and the Alcantara trimmed wheel is a nice way to access it all.

Suspension is by struts at the front and multi-links (four) at the rear with adaptive dampers on-board.

Despite running on 21-inch rims, shod with high-performance 255/35 Continental PremiumContact 6 rubber, ride comfort is surprisingly good.

Dial in 'Comfort' mode via the 'Drive Select' system and the impact of even substantial bumps is softened off appreciably.

An ideal set-up would be the first 'RS1' short-cut Drive Select button set for Comfort suspension, with throttle, steering and transmission set to maximum attack and the second 'RS2' mode tweaking the suspension to track-day level, too.

Push on through your favourite set of bends and you can feel the electronic wheel-selective torque control system keeping everything under control. This car puts its power down through sweeping sections with fuss-free authority.

The RS-specific menu in the digital instrument cluster provides extra instrumentation in the shape of a power/torque display, G meter and lap timer. Fun!

The brakes are professional grade with big ventilated rotors all around and aluminium fixed calipers at the front.

But beware, the flip side of the RS Q3's quick steering response is a sizeable 11.8m turning circle. Take your time when parking.

If you're buying the S1 as a comfortable urban runabout with a cool badge, you're half right. While the seating for front passengers is certainly supportive, the hard suspension tune will ensure you're well aware of road surface imperfections.

The S1 is a rocket

Thankfully, what it missed out on in the ride department it makes up for in every other way - the S1 is a rocket. The 2.0-litre turbo jammed under the bonnet has almost no lag and is paired with a slick six-speed manual that is terrific fun to manhandle through the gears.

The way the S1 picks up speed when it's on boost is addictive and licence-endangering. A flattened accelerator in second or third will obliterate just about anything this side of $100,000 and you'll be having more fun in this than big brother S3 because the chassis is more adjustable and there's a bit more life.

You can hear the turbo sing to accompany the bassy exhaust growl. Hit the massive brakes hard and the car remains stable even over rutted roads. Turning the wheel brings almost-instant turn-in, mashing the throttle again a fun little wriggle. It's superb.

It's tremendous fun point-to-point on a twisty road

You'll have to be a bit patient with the throttle to get the wriggle, though - give it too much too early and it will want to push wide, the quattro system shuffling power around to try and quell understeer while the electronic diff fiddles with the braking system to do the same thing. It gets there in the end, but you're better off meting out the power with your right foot for maximum rewards.

It's tremendous fun point-to-point on a twisty road - despite being a bit heavy for its size (1415kg), it's as chuckable as the next best thing, the Fiesta ST.

Six airbags, stability and traction control, ABS, brake assist and distribution all add up to a five star ANCAP rating.