The Audi A1 CityCarver 30 TFSI Review - Cool, or Cringe? 

I recall when the motoring press all mocked Rover for their 'Streetwise'... and then every other manufacturer copied the concept.

Some people want a small hatchback with a raised driving position so it’s easier to get in and out of and easier to get stuff in and out of. Not everyone needs to get from A to B as fast as possible with a dynamic driving experience. This car is for those people.

28 grand for a city car thats crazy ! You can get so much better stuff on the used market

why does every car have to look like a over the top race version with air intakes everywhere? the 75 hp base models now look like they 400 hp with big fake exhausts and fake intakes. thats the reason why cars like the civic type r have to try so hard to look more powerful since the base cars already look over the top.

28K.....think i am out of touch here !

I don't understand the demand for these things

FWD pseudo-SUV? Ew

This review is fantastic I really like this style of review and video work feels top notch. I'm glad your not scared to bash the rubbish parts to a car. Many journalists just gloss over them because it's an audi and don't want to upset them

Well done, sir. You managed to review this car without mentioning the (almost identical but much cheaper) Polo.

Cringe, the car for the pretend-Chelsea-mom.

A friend saw one and thought it had a 3ltr in it..Ha !

Cringe. I don't like these Rover Streetwisey things.

lingering shot of a quattro....thats the highlight

I'd love to see you do a review of a non performance lexus. Like a modern gs. Reliable and luxurious daily potentially?? I'm not a massive fan of the suvs but I'll always love a saloon and admire them for being different from the German mainstream

That price is a little frightening. An Up! is all you need for a fun and nippy city-car.

My Father had his Audi A1 2L 143PS TDI Black Edition for just over 7 years and wanted to changed and had £32,000 to spend on a car. He looked at the new shape A1 with the 2L 200PS with extras at that sort of money. Then he seen a 3 month old VW GTI TCR 290PS 3 door with 62 miles on the clock and £4,000 of extras on the car for £32,000 and bought it. The TCR is like night and day difference over an A1. I’m glad he went for the TCR.

Ive got one and its brilliant and i used to test drive for Mercedes not so good in the bends but the 1.0 is very very impressive and brilliant on the motorway

Nice review Jay, and confirmed I made the right choice in going for the 2020 Seat Leon FR 1.5 which I ordered this week. I want a hatchback that knows it's a hatchback. The A1 is trying to be a bit SUV, a bit hatch, a bit supermini and while almost anything Audi is never going to be rubbish, if I had to get an Audi in that class, I would go for the Q2 anyday as that's a really fun drive.

Cool video 👍😀!

£18,000 for the car, £10,000 for the badge.

Young ladies who just passed their driving test and have a few bob, this is your Mini alternative. Many colours available.

I can't imagine why anyone other than extremely rich parents would pay £28,000 for a car with all the power of a food mixer; this is badge snobbery at it's very worst, the quantity of much better nearly-new cars for this sort of money, and less, are enormous.

When you said £28000.......... I nearly choked on my beer 🤮🥴. I can think of several better cars that can be purchased....... the A3 being one of them. I can't see much demand for this at all and think that Audi have made a big mistake here 🤔.

Imagine an Audi being pitched as an expensive alternative to a Picanto - ‘premium’ German brands being diluted more and more. Hate the fact this might actually sell😂

That unibrow front end is like the new Mk8 golf. Not a fan Just make it a hot hatch. Forget the micro suv

James, putting the shift up for up and down for down is a VAG thing, I had this on my 06 Golf. To me that is my preferance, logical up for up down for down, take it out of drive and down for the bend in one slick movement, easy!

They must be chasing MG CityRover sales 😂

The whole "sequential gearbox turned the wrong way" argument cracked me up for good. Seriously though, you're right.

Really liked it till £28k......Dick Turpin had the decency to, at least, wear a mask.

Thats way too expensive. I remember I paid around that much or less for a nearly new S3 back in 2017.

I hope a mk3 L&K Skoda Superb makes this series as a poor mans E class

Please review the Renault Twingo, the only rear mid engine rear wheel drive city car hatchback that you can buy today.

Ha! I agree wholeheartedly with your thoughts on the manual operation being the wrong way round. Don't they ever watch WRC?😉

Id reccomend nezt time maybe looking into civic coupes, ive tried one and they have a lot more road feel than the normal civic and all around seem just a bit different than the normal ones. Plus it's a shooting break so it arguably has a bit of a better look despite the fake vents and then theres fact that its not actually much shorter than normal civic if its smaller at all

That name "City Carver" seems to remind me of an electric carving knife 🤔

What’s the difference between the sport back and city carver models?

Young Tarquin to drive himself to boarding school! Best line ever

request do a demo on an mr2 mechanicaly similar to lotus elese there is even one with 2zz motor

I was walking along the street the other day and my partner, who rarely mentions cars unless it's something like a Jeep Wrangler, said she "what's that?", pointing at one of these. I assumed it was an A1, but it wasn't. Shows what I know. To be honest, it's what the A1 should be. Why bother with the standard car at all?

Who else didn’t know this even existed?

You couldn't pay me to own one

28K WOW thats Golf gti money , are they serious.

Try the Suzuki Ignis. Priced more like the Kia Picanto, higher up position if that is what you want, pretty nippy as lightweight and does everything a city car needs to with excellent mpg and no turbo needed.

ooh that white Quattro .. you tease James .. and £28k for a city - runabout ??

My takeaway, the armrest is £700 extra

We had one of the original Audi A1's, its USP was superb interior quality which really was a cut above other super-mini type cars. Its drive was competent but nothing special. The new one has gone backwards in terms of cabin quality and was actually quite disappointing when we tried one. In fairness this seems to be true of many new VW and Audi models. I think losing the MMI control dial is a massive step backwards. The drive is still competent without being particularly memorable. The old A1 was expensive but felt rather special, the new one just seems expensive.

Price point should be no more than 20k

Any Savagegeese subscibers/viewers here? That guy perfectly explains what's wrong with the Automotive industry with cars like the one shown in the video, I think people watching this now should check him out

Lol smell of the seat fabric....they was fabric all over when i was growing up on 70s and 80s....well that and plastic that gets scolding hot..👍👍😁

You should drive the Hyundai i10 N-line when it commes out

Thanks for the review James. So here is my question, as you've driven an S1 and now this, which from a daily perspective would you have if buying both used? Reason for asking is that I convinced my better half to have our current S1 but she has looked at one of these. For those out there that don't understand the need for such a car, her thought process is that she would like an elevated driving position but doesn't like a big car, a Q2 / Evoque / CLA / Countryman are for her are too big, such people do exist. And being a district nurse her job is driving round the streets all day and the S1 also has proper rear seats for our kids when they need ferrying to school which being honest an Up! or the likes don't. She hates auto boxes so wants a manual which the Citycarver does. So there is logic, Citycarver would give her a vehicle not much bigger than her S1 with an elevated driving position, less if not zero VED (her big bug bear with the S1) and something more modern. But is it worth switching to?

Nice enough car, but far too expensive for my liking. My 4/5 year old Skoda Yeti seems quite comparable and a bit more practical. I realise it doesn't have the street cred, but frankly that's not a priority for me. I might point out that extra ride height isn't only attractive to younger drivers. Having a few old injuries(Rugby + RTA), I find it easier to get in and out of. Loving the latest series of reviews... 👍

You need to understand that the bulkier carer team leaders need to get to places quick, so this car needs to exist!

Jay, would you like to do a review on my 2015 manual VW Scirocco R at some point? You are more than welcome to!

This car is pathetic and shouldn't exist. I hope Audi makes huge financial loses with this car, but just smashing plastic on their small car wasn't expensive

Micro SUV.....I think I felt a little sick come up. Milsano Red is awful too. The price is a joke, just buy an iQ if you want one of the best city cars ever made.

Great video, so pleased you are trying real people's cars. But this is the usual Audi fare- no qualities of note, just 4 rings on the front, no buyer looks at any other aspect of the car, not cares. Give this to a learner driver as a present? We clearly are not facing a recession if that is the case. Fascinating psychology going on with this brand. Give me the Kia any day, especially with the extra cash. Bet the Audi isn't as much fun. Thank you.

Now let's see a comparison with the polo this car is based on. See if things pan out any better for the audi

Shouldn't it be 20k tops?

The weird acceleration when trying to floor it is a gearbox characteristic. My dads 2019 vw Tiguan has the same issue where the gearbox needs to wake up for a few seconds, then spins the wheels for a second and then somewhat slowely starts the go. Also this car is cringe and looks horrible in my opinion, i hate this new crossover look they gave to the fiesta aswell.

Not content on copying the BL Rover SD1 for the A7, the Allegro for the original A1, and an 1100 on stilts for the Q2, Audi have now decided to copy the Rover Streetwise.......madness! 🤣😂

I do wonder how long it took to come up with that name....city carver!!!! Really is that the best they had..oh dear

These will probably fly out exclusively on finance

I like it...but I'll never see one in the US

No thankyou James, this didn't even deserve your time. I wish you driven it off the White cliffs to send a message back to Audi. I hate all these things and if I had to buy one of have bought the rover streetwise. There's only one car I hate more than this, the ford EcoSport

Rover were years ahead of the tend with the streetwise urban on roader looks like this cars grandad.

Iirc this is just the Audi version of the T-Cross? I do get why they build them.. With all the massive SUV's, and cars in general becomming higher and higher,. A higher small car makes sense. I mean, I do feel awefully small in traffic when driving my Corrado. The 116hp 3cil is a pretty good enginge. Had it in my Polo company car (with a manual gearbox) it does sound good, like a entheusiastic terrier. Its just a 3 cil after all. With the manual it was pretty nippy. The biggest downside is that up to 1500 revs, the engine has NOTHING. After that the turbo kicks in, and its plenty quick. The massive downside of a turbocharged micro engines

I think this car sums up a lot wrong with the car market in 2020: the pointless need for everything to have a crossover variant, and the absurd prices new cars command

28 grand for that. You could get a top spec new Puma for that

I had a Seat Ibiza for a while which is basically an A1 with some different clothes on it and I have to say it was the worst car I have ever had the displeasure of driving, it made my back ache and I needed a new set of teeth when I got out of it after a long journey as they had been rattled out by the harsh ride.

28k 😲 If you must have a small high-rise city car,my money would go on a lightly used fiesta active ecoboost.

28K WTAF?

Such a letdown when so called posh cars don't even have leather seats.

An armrest as an option? Audi is taking the piss. Anyone who buys this has too much money and not much sense.

How much 😯

I think sensible people will look for something with a little less depreciation in this class. The only reason this has to exist is to meet the average emission goals of the manufacturer.

Not a fan, if I really needed a small city cat with a premium badge, I’d get the A1 with a manual box

28k for a raised Seat Ibiza...

I can't stand Audi's similar Q2 - basically an A3 raised up with slightly squarer, less attractive styling. What is wrong with people these days that nobody seems to care about driving and half the cars produced are shitty faux-SUVs which will never go off-road and wouldn't be any good even if they did. Audi have been safe and unexciting to drive for some time but at least they produced solid, good looking cars. Now even that seems to be slipping.

Nice small car but never gonna sell at 28k there are much cheaper cars for far less money I think ford Kia Vauxhall Skoda seat and vw will be laughing and feeling very safe for me

Reminds me slightly of the City Rover..... well maybe only a bit.... one niche too far..

It's strange that people view cars like Audi, BMW, and Mercedes as quality cars. I think they are more like perceived quality. If you look at the reliability of these cars compared to cars from Kia with a cheaper price, sometimes half the cost of the Germans which have far worse reliability they are not quality cars. They also have half the warranty on some German cars, for twice the price! You also get nothing in a standard German car, they come with no extras. By the time you spec one up they can be in the next category of car.

That's got to be the most Rover looking interior I've ever seen

Don’t like SUV’s anyway, but these city crossover things are just stupid. The normal hatch of all these types of cars, regardless of manufacturer all look better and are equally practical. I just don’t see the point of them. Either you need a proper sized SUV or you need an estate or you need a small hatch. This is none of them?

CityToddler

£28 grand for a 3 cylinder a1 is insane. Just buy a Q2. You can get a top trim black edition for under 30k. There is no reason for this car to exist.

Audi pricing just shows their average customer is a mug! 28k for that

The 1.0 TSI is actually a really good engine - with a manual gearbox. I’d stick my neck out and say that it’s currently one of VW’s best engines. Ironically the 1.0 TSI with the 7 speed DSG gearbox is pretty much the worst engine/gearbox combination at the same time 😂

You could do better using that £28k as toilet paper.

£28,000!!! WHAT!!!??? If I had 28K, I'd buy a mid 90s RX7 and a Ford Capri.

What are Audi doing with their naming of cars ? They have introduced a number to the naming that has no direct meaning or relation to anything. To this car they have also added a name reminiscent of the 2003 Tata derived Rover CityRover. They have then built something nobody needs or asked for. Are they in some-sort of marketing rut ? Perhaps this is what happens when they all work from home with poor quality inbuilt laptop webcam and microphones for prolonged periods!

The price is staggering. People will pay it though sadly.

28k really?

E X T R A C R I N G G E

Ohhh shit. Cool.

Cringe. Trying to shoehorn kids into a pentionner car and ripping them off @28k, Yikes!

No matter how hard they try Audi isn't Lamborghini. It's like every single car now has to be a Huracan.

NEARLY £30k are you fucking kidding me? Every time I see new prices for cars these days my jaw just drops. You could have an individual spec, low mileage 2017 BMW 640d for

it a car in its own class... audi can charge whatever they want lol

How much money? You must be joking...