Audi A1 (2010-2018) review - Practicality, comfort and boot space

Buyers need to remember that the Audi A1 is a compact premium car – anyone expecting room to stretch out in the rear is likely to be disappointed. Still, it’s not as cramped back there as you might imagine, and has its MINI arch rival beaten for cabin space.

Size

The Audi A1 is just under four metres long, so is a doddle to park in tight town centre parking spaces. And owners should have no concerns about scratching that pretty bodywork in supermarket car parks or multi-storeys, either, as it’s also relatively narrow (at only 1,746mm wide).

Incidentally, there’s no real difference between three-door and five-door versions of the A1 in terms of size. As well as identical height and width measurements, the cars have the same 2,469mm wheelbase; the Sportback is just a fraction taller than the three-door (1,746m vs 1,740mm).

Leg room, head room & passenger space

Up front is where you want to be in an A1 – the rear seats are pretty cramped, and space back there becomes even more tight in cars fitted with the optional sports bucket seats.

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In the front, the standard seats are comfortable and supportive, even on a long journey, and there’s a decent amount of leg and foot room for the driver and front seat passenger. The A1 is far better in that regard than the MINI.

It's worth noting that the three-door only comes with two rear seatbelts as standard, whereas the Sportback is equipped with three rear seatbelts, even though it doesn’t offer any more space.

Boot

A boot capacity of 270 litres doesn't exactly sound huge, but it’s not bad considering the class average. Of more interest to potential A1 buyers will be the fact that if you fold the back seats flat, you get a very decent 920 litres of space when you pack the car to the roof.

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The S1 has less space, though, as it sacrifices some luggage room to accommodate the quattro four-wheel-drive system’s rear differential. The high-performance flagship offers 210 litres with the rear seats in place, or 860 litres when they’re folded.