Well Audi have done it and finally released the 5 door A1, it's a fantastic looking car, beautifully put together with a interior that makes the MINI's look like something from China. This has got to be the CM's worst nightmare.

What MINI really need to do is improve the interior of the CM, the low rent plastic are ok in the standard MINI but the Countryman is supposed to be a premium car, it needs a premium interior, that's it's biggest letdown IMO.

 

Wow! This really is a great car and you're right, with that interior, better gas mileage than the CM and comparably priced, it will give the CM a run for it's money. You can even get a contrasting roof and the colors I saw are very interesting and fun. It doesn't have ther retro styling of the CM, but it's not unattractive, bu any means. This gets us back to the several disussions going on here about quality. If the Audi turns out to have much better quality that the CM, it's going to be very tough to pass up.

 

im going to admit that the interior is very nice but the mini interior is unique and what sets it apart from a lot of other vehicles. insofar as the outside, i dont think the two tone looks good on this car. maybe all black or all red but this one looks fugly to me....sorry but it does. ive known people to have trouble with audi quality...in fact one had two A4s and both had engine issues and others too. now volvo suppose to be coming out with a C30 four door and the concept pics looked sweet. so far now, i think with some quality improvements, the CM is quite safe.

 

Interior may be better quality but it's too generic looking to me, even the exterior. I'd still choose the CM over this one.

 

The 3 door A1 has a much higher quality interior than the CM without a doubt, so it's safe to say the 5 door will also kick it's but. There are also loads of customisation options for the A1's interior so it doesn't have to look like a black hole like the one above.

MINI really does need to do something about the CM interior, it's supposed to be a grown-up MINI yet it's a bit of a pariody of the R55 interior, especially the mickey mouse ears on the speedo.

 

So, what's the VW version? Is this a Tiguan in a tux? Or are they holding a new VW to give the ring master a chance? Way back, I cross-shopped a bunch of wagons 'cause I got tired of waiting for the new Jetta wagon. Looked at the A3 and concluded it was not worth the extra bucks for Audi polish and VW quality. We'll see how this one goes.

 

Looks nice. Would go for it over the CM in a heartbeat, but not on model release year: too many unidentified gremlins for all makes.

I haven't done any reasearch yet, but does anyone know how it will price in comparison to the CM?

I like the two-tone look. Very nice

 

The Polo is the VW version, there is also the Skoda Fabia, but the A1 is miles ahead of either in terms of interior quality, fit and finish, all the nice things your can touch and feel. The only bit which are the same are the oily bits and there is nothing wrong with any VAG engine.

 

The A1 has been around for at least a year, any problems would have been sorted with the 3 door, I can't see adding 2 extra doors being the cause of any problems.

In Europe the 3 door A1 sits in the gap between the R55 and the CM, so I'm guessing the 5 door will be priced about the same as the CM. There will also be an RS1 with 250 plus HP coming along next year.

 

But would it look hot with stripes?!?!

Nice looking ride. I'd definitely bite for a test drive!

 

Looks like the A1 has some cup holder issues up front too.

Apparently, as depicted in the photos below, the E-Brake lever takes up the entire center rail area so there's no out of the way place to lay an I-phone, I-pod, MP3 player, etc. like you can in a CM (albeit as small as it is). Perhaps under the front of the handle by the release button there may be enough room. Then again might be tough to get your fingers under it to pull up the brake lever.

Personally, I like the front rail and the USB port location on the CM to plug in my 32GB Thumb Drive. Granted the dog leg E-Brake lever precludes using most of the rail for taller objects, cup holderss, etc. as we all know.

The Boot looks to be about the same in size s the CM. Maybe a bit smaller actually. Hard to say from the photo. However the photo doesn't impress me with the size compared to what I am familiar with in the CM.

The armrest in the A1 looks like it would hold a bit more than the CM's armrest.

All that aside, I don't believe we'll be seeing the A1 stateside for quite some time, at least, that's what Car & Driver says (see below). Not to mention they say it seems to be sluggish and underpowered.

CM's Worst nightmare? C'mon now.












Car & Drive magazine has this to say about the A1

"Petrolheads get a choice of a 1.2-liter, eight-valve engine producing 85 hp and a 1.4-liter 16-valver turning out 122 hp. Neither of these engines can muster enough power to jerk the car forward with much enthusiasm, and we actually found the weaker engine to be more convincing." and;

"So, will we get the A1 or S1 in the U.S.? Not in this generation, says Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, but he confirms that the next-generation A1 is coming to America. That car will be ready in seven years, but Audi has a lot of A3s to sell here first."

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...t-drive-review

 

I wonder if it has a flat load floor? Of note, it does not have a bench in the rear.

 

Worst nightmare? Nah, especially since you apparently won't be able to get one in the US for quite some time. Our only options for five door Audis are the A3 and the A4 Avant, right? Or the Q5, I guess. And you can't get any of those with AWD and a manual, as far as I can tell. That's why Audi dropped right off my list when I was car shopping; I couldn't get an AWD hatchback with a manual transmission.

I'm not sure what Audi is planning on releasing in the next model year, but I haven't yet seen anything available in the US that competes directly against the R60 for sporty driving (i.e., a reasonably powerful engine and a manual tranny) and has AWD.

But anything that competes directly with the Countryman is good news for all of us, so I'm happy if Audi releases a CM-killer, whether in Europe or on the US or both. Direct competition forces both MINI and Audi to keep their price points down and their features up.

 

The A1 is much smaller than the CM if I remember it correctly from my last couple of trips over the pond. It's positioned as a small and hip city car with the expected Audi interior "quality feel". Audi basically came up with a distorted copy of the MINI Cooper hardtop (the one we've known and loved for almost ten years now) a grown up interior. They even replicated the contrasting roof.

Incidentally, Audi is not the only one going after MINI sales. Citroen introduced the DS3 about a year ago - a little bigger than the MINI, funky styling (it's a Citroen after all), and also with a contrasting roof.

 

The 3 door A1 is smaller than a CM but bigger than an R55, the 5 door will be pretty much the same as size as the CM.

The DS3 is an interesting car, funky, fun to drive and significantly cheaper than the CM. It's larger than an R55. The DS3 Racing is a beast, massively fast, much faster than a Cooper S.

 

C'mon, it's only a concept vehicle while CM is on the road now. And the photos are heavily rendered by computer. When it is really on sale, CM probably go into the next gen. So let's see.

 

Worst nightmare?

Not even close.

MINI has an appeal and core customer base that really isn't going to care what Audi or other carmakers have to offer.

When I decided to replace my Cooper I car shopped between the Clubman and the Countryman....that was it...

I know I am not the only MINI enthusiast who did the same.

 

I'm also an enthusiast this is my 4th MINI, I'll probably swap mine for a Paceman when it comes out, but there aren't hundreds of thousands on MINI enthusiasts out there who will only buy MINI's.

 

Right, but there aren't hundreds of thousands of folks who are going to buy the A1 either...

Or thousands of buyers who will choose the A1 OVER a MINI CM.....

Chances are the same buyers aren't going to be looking at the 2 cars as comparable to begin with....particularly since it isn't even available here.

 

Someone asked about the pricing and I read that it's about $22K at the low end and $28K fully decked out, but it wasn't clear whether that was for the 2 door or the four door hatch. Either way that makes it price competitive with the CM. There is definitely a market out there for a five door, fuel efficient Audi. Each brand has it's own appeal and image and the Audi image is definitely higher end than the Cooper. I don't think outside the MINI community there are all that many people who realize that it's connected to BMW so it's not necessarily viewed as a high end car like the Audi is. I think those Audi rings alone for a sub-$30K car will produce a good number of sales. I love that yellowish orange color too! It would look awesome with a black roof. It didn't say anywhere whether the 1.4 liter Audi engine was turbo charged, but I would bet that when it's released in the States they offer a turbo version like the S because there's more demand for it here than in Europe.

 

Meh...no distinction. Looked like a Mazda to me at first.

 

Not a fan of the styling either. If you took the interesting headlights away and the gaping grill, it would be a very boring car indeed.

 

It's the same length as the 3 door, but slightly wider and higher. The A1 is a small car built off the VW Polo platform -- a different class of car to the Countryman. Yes Audi have the best interior build quality in the industry, but it's arguably a bit bland inside there.

I've seen a few A1's around the streets of Auckland, they don't catch the eye really.

I can't see MINI have anything to worry about.

 

No way my German Shepard is going to fit in that boot.

 

It does look smaller than the CM. I doubt my dogs would fit in there, either! Suprisingly, no one mentioned the X1 which is coming our way very soon. I would the X1 would be more of direct competition to the CM, although, it will probably be more expensive!