THEGAYUK

Tag: Audi

All the latest breaking news on the automaker Audi. Browse THEGAYUK’s complete collection of news, articles and commentary on Audi.

  • Now you make an Audi Quattro out of Lego and we’re all in

    Now you make an Audi Quattro out of Lego and we’re all in

    Audi’s legendary Quattro model is 40 years old this year. Just let that sink in for a bit because I am sure that if you are as old as I am and now on the wrong side of 45, you will remember the various adverts narrated by Geoffrey Palmer and have vivid memories of various Audi models in snow-covered roads doing the impossible.

    THEGAYUK was invited to take part in the Audi Quattro Lego challenge. An opportunity for motoring journalists to really show how quick their motoring sections fingers were at building the Lego Speedline Quattro kit. The fastest build won the Audi UR from Audi’s heritage fleet for a week. A prize worth winning.

    THEGAYUK or more importantly, I, did not do so well. I didn’t even make it into the top 10. I almost made it there with a 36 minutes but then I’d noticed I’d fitted the doors wrongly, hadn’t applied the window decal and more annoyingly I’d failed to make the rear spoiler properly. 

    The rear spoiler being my Achilles heel and almost resulting in the Audi having a kitchen sink drama with it being thrown across the dining room towards the sink. Building Lego against the clock is stressful and I’ve done CPR!

    Once I’d corrected my errors our time failed to make it into the top 10 leader board but that was OK because what I had here was a fine Lego car to play with instead and it is a fine piece of kit from Lego. The most pleasurable piece of this build was none of it was designed specifically for the Audi. It’s all parts available from Lego and found in various Lego kits. Unlike some of their bigger models that use pre-moulded parts for a car like the Fiat 500, this was simply Lego and more enjoyable for it. More so because put together, the Lego Audi Quattro made a for a fine example.

    (C) STUART M BIRD

    The build starts with the construction of the chassis and builds up quickly from there. Attention to detail is quite fun with the gear lever and handbrake handle items added inside. Outside there are the usual attributes associated with Group B rally cars with bulges and wings. 

    Lego does a range of cars for almost every motoring enthusiast. Their kits are well worth looking at.

  • The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. The Audi A2 1999 – 2005

    TGUK have reviewed Audi’s smallest offerings with its City Carver and Sportback and both cars we liked. But this little upmarket Inglostadt offering doesn’t really bring anything new to the small car market. There was a time when Audi decided to reinvent the car.

    This was a time when the city car was given a big shakeup by the Germans with Mercedes and its A class that would fall over like a drunken sailor and Audi with its A2 made from the metal stuff that is more commonly used to make Coke cans. Both cars taking Avant-Garde styling to a new maximum.

    Originally presented in 1997 and launched in 1999, the A2 was so far out there that you could be mistaken for driving a concept car from the design studio. For a small car, the aluminium shell was unheard in a market of cheap city cars where the Audi would do its battle. Along with the reinvention of the car, Audi had also tried to reinvent the small car price tag with it.

    The shape was somewhat unusual too, being tall and slim with an unusual roofline. This was more than wacky flicks or a slip of the designer’s pen because the whole shape gave a CD figure of up to 0.29. Exceptionally low which the driving position wasn’t. The A2 was a talking point in the wine bars along with the bonnet that didn’t open. 

    There wasn’t really a bonnet to open you see. Instead, you had a service hatch in the grill where you could top up the screen wash and engine oil. So when the car overheated you were left wondering how because it’s air-cooled right? Wrong. 

    To get to the engine that you weren’t supposed to unless you were an Audi dealer, was to release some clips and remove the bonnet panel away from the car, leave it on the floor where you’d eventually trip over it. A novel idea if somewhat of a ballache. I still don’t quite understand what was wrong with a normal bonnet?

    This was all new and revolutionary. The ’90s were a time to be alive for car design. Along with Audi and Mercedes, a few others had a go at reinventing the wheels and some outside Germany achieved the impossible. But Audi went for the small cars. They needed something to break to mould in a market dominated by the humdrum of Fiesta’s and Corsa’s that were so commonplace. To do this Audi did what they did best. They made it really expensive. So expensive that you could almost buy 2 new base Rover 100’s for the price of 1 Audi.

    Audi, however, didn’t care. This was a car designed for a new era in city motoring. They gave us a boxy car with round corners that gave it exceptional aerodynamics clothed in an all aluminium frame so it weighed absolutely nothing and wouldn’t rust. Not that Audi was known for making rot boxes but aluminium used to construct a car was seen as an unseen luxury that you got on the Audi A8 super barge or the Jaguar saloons now found languishing with fridge freezers on the drives of shady houses.

    On paper alone, it looked great. A totally new concept of construction and luxury with refinement only being there when parked on the driveway. For some reason, Audi had managed to make the A04 platform ride quite terribly. Germanic spring rates that would work well on an Audi A4 Quattro with all the prowess of a monster car did little to help the A2. The A2 did not need such ride attributes and yet it was fitted with them. The motoring press said it was a hoot to drive and it was but…

    Not such a problem if going fast was your favourite past time but it wasn’t. You couldn’t nip down the shops at 70mph. Instead, you kept it slow and to the legal limits and were rewarded for your pain by great fuel economy of over 100mpg in the A2 TDI.

    The Audi A2. The car that failed to reinvented the city car because it was too far ahead of its time. And that’s why it’s in the good section of The Gay UK’s GBU. Audi used its 4 rings of confidence to shake things us and make things different. 

    Just don’t mention the amount of cash Audi lost on each A2 sold!

  • CAR REVIEW | Audi A1 Citycarver 30 TFSI 116PS S tronic

    CAR REVIEW | Audi A1 Citycarver 30 TFSI 116PS S tronic

    Driving Out Of The City

    Audi has just revamped their little A1 for the city giving it the “Citycarver” moniker. It sits high up in the A1 range and therefore towers above the Sportback model in the range in more ways than one.

    What we have here is an Audi A1 that has been lifted a huge 50mm. That’s 2 inches in old money. It’s also dressed up with some black wheel arch extensions like those from Audi’s Q range but this is no SUV.

    It’s still Audi’s little hatchback car. 

    For a start, the raise in rode height should, in theory, make for a lofty wallowing ride when compared to the Sportback that we at THEGAYUK liked very much. In some degree, it does but not in a notably loose way that you would expect. It’s rather less Germanic in comfort terms and it seems to be a trend I’m noticing from the ‘normal’ cars from Ingolstadt. The ride remains faithful to the A1 Sportback in being entertaining on A and B roads while also being just that much softer while retaining a semblance of body control.

    This floaty Audi was fitted with the engaging 999cc TFSI 3 cylinder petrol unit mated to a sort of hydraulic dry clutch gearbox. In essence, it’s an automatic with 3 drive modes. Auto, wheel paddles or selected on the gearstick in S mode. All three work well though on the stick shift it always feels wrong when knocking back goes up the gearbox. Many do it the other way around and that feels more natural. This gearbox has come in for some harsh criticisms for its lack of go-go-go when you floor it from a stand-still and I’m happy to report that the hesitation now almost link to this system was well muted. It felt better suited to the city fight for space when pulling out of a side road quickly. 

    It doesn’t try to be hot hatch despite its identical credentials of the other A1 in the range and it makes for the better car. However, it doesn’t all go its own way. For a start, as a car named for the city, it lacks protection. The city can be a brutal thing. Remember all the trouble Carrie and the girls had trying to navigate their way around Manhattan? It’s like that for the A1 Citycarver. It looks great but those looks won’t last long. The absence of door rubbing strips is noticeable. There isn’t even an option for them. It goes a little way in the fitment of black wheel arch extensions but these are hardly the things to preserve the flanks of the doors in a carpark.

    And then there is the interior. It’s just a bit business like inside. You can’t fault the ergonomics and driver comfort but the colours are more suited to a boardroom meeting with a packet of rich tea as the only available snack. Perhaps it was the £575 optional python yellow metallic paint that exaggerated this. The colour was bold and memorable and made a statement wherever it was parked. But the grey inside with the below par for Audi, silver trim across the dashboard just doesn’t cut it, well certainly not in a car that costs just under £23 grand before options. 

    It redeems itself inside with Audi’s 10.25 inch digitally adaptable facia display and 8.8-inch infotainment screen. This is thankfully angled towards the driver. The interface is easy to navigate around and responds to fingering inputs quickly. Annoyingly the lane keep assist system will always reset after you switch off. Its aggressive tugging can be quickly turned off from the end of the wiper stalk. 

    Despite my criticisms, it is a rather nice package let down perhaps by Audi being at the business end of the global company it comes from.

    A smattering of bright colour dotted around wouldn’t go amiss inside. That said, it’s the engaging enthusiasm the chassis affords you when you get out of the city. Kick-off those high heels and slip into those comfy trainers and your A1 becomes a Carver, cutting up the badly maintained back roads of England with aplomb and this time you’re allowed to keep the ESP off all the time!

    It’s just that I wouldn’t want to take it back into the big city without those door rubbing strips. They might be unfashionable but it’s cruel out there! 

    Love

    Engaging drive

    Ride comfort

    Infotainment system

    Loathe

    Price with options

    Business like interior 

    Lack of city parking protection

    The Lowdown

    Car –  Audi A1 Citycarver 30 TFSI 116PS S tronic

    Price – £ 28,035 (as tested)

    MPG – 45.6 – 46.3 mpg (WLTP combined)

    Power – 116PS

    0-62mph –  9.9 seconds

    Top Speed –  123 mph

    Co2 – 115 (g/km)

    ALL PHOTOS Ⓒ Stuart M Bird.

  • CAR REVIEW | Audi’s A1 Sportback S line

    CAR REVIEW | Audi’s A1 Sportback S line

    ★★★ | Audi’s A1 Sportback S line

    What Have We Got?

    Here we have Audi’s A1 Sportback S line. This model sits around the middle of the 6 car line up. It’s suitably dressed to impress but did it impress us at THEGAYUK?

    Driving

    With looks to kill, you’d expect the A1 S line to be fun and entertaining to drive. Thankfully it doesn’t fail to deliver in this department despite its diminutive turbocharged petrol power unit of 999cc. Power figures suggest mediocre outputs of performance. The good news is that the 116PS at over 5000rpm and torque of 147.5 lb-ft is far better than adequate. Developed low down, it will hustle along quite briskly. Yet, despite its revvy nature, it won’t allow redlining in any gear. Changes are done by 6200rpm.

    Those changes are carried out by a much improved DSG gearbox. Now it is able to deliver crawling take up without snatching as smoothly as it does changing up at speed.

    Steering is communicative to a degree, there’s also some muted feedback, though a little more would be better and the brakes, standard silver, no bright shouting red Brembo callipers, pull the A1 up briskly.

    Inside

    It’s a mixture of good and bad. The dashboard is logical and the facia panel is adaptable for maps, big dials or info. It works well and it’s surrounded by blue neons that carry on into the doors. It’s just a shame then that this isn’t carried on around the vents on the passengers’ side and the rear doors are totally void of any fancy architecture, except for a light by the door handle.

    Seats are also a mixture of good and bad. While they hug you in place during spirited driving, the seat base is very firm and despite several manual controls for the adjustments, lumber adjuster is both awkward to implement and even worse to gauge the amount such is the position of the handle.  

    Living With It

    It’s a practical car. It has 4 doors and a wide opening hatch at the rear. It’s not the most spacious in its class but it will do all that is asked of it.

    You won’t lose face when it comes to the carpark beauty pageant. The A1 has good looks on its side and if the badge is important, you have Audi prestige. And it does what it does well. The ride is more than acceptable and thankfully it is entertaining and the handling is fun. 

    There is just one snag.

    The Verdict

    There is a lot to like about the A1. Showroom and kerbside appeal will impress you and those who admire it from the outside. The nice touches that you expect from Audi are there in some places too but not everywhere. The silver trim across the facia is cheap to look at and cheaper to feel.

    And I get that Audi is a premium brand. With the A1 starting at £17,700, it’s just that I find this S line model with all the options this car has, hard to swallow at £70 shy of £30k. That’s a lot of money for a small car. 

    Love

    Facia neon illuminations

    Peppy 1 litre engine

    Gearbox

    Loathe

    Price

    Boring rear door trim

    Firm seat base and awkward lumber lever

    The Lowdown

    Car –  Audi A1 Sportback 30 TFSI 115PS S Line S Tronic

    Price – £ 29,930 (as tested)

    MPG – 47 mpg (combined)

    Power – 116PS

    0-62mph –  9.4 seconds

    Top Speed –  126 mph

    Co2 – 108 (g/km)

  • CAR REVIEW | Audi A7 Sportback 2018

    CAR REVIEW | Audi A7 Sportback 2018

    ★★★★☆ | Audi A7 Sportback

    What Have We Got?

    Here we have Audi’s large spacious and practical Sportback. It’s a cross between a hatchback and saloon in a fastback design. Does the fear of a luxury saloon with a lifting rear door distract from its market competitors or does the fact it is practical, give it the edge?

    Driving

    For such a big car, it is rather nice to drive, just as long as you don’t use multi-storey carparks. It’s a tight fit in those. 

    As with Audi, you get a selection of driving modes from comfort to dynamic and here Audi buck the trend. This A7 comes with standard sports suspension and from past experience, it has always been found to be too firm. A pleasant surprise was that it’s compliant on most surfaces while retaining a degree of Teutonic tightness. 

    The engine was the bigger 286ps V6 diesel that had a nice growl to it when you pressed on. When it opened up that is. Throttle lag is quite marked, from a slow rolling being the worst like that when creeping up to a roundabout. 

    It doesn’t get much better when on the move unless you override the system and put the Tiptronic system in manual. Once into 6th gear and you press on, the gearbox delays the pick up by selecting 2 to 3 gears down and then hurtling the car forward with a good dose of shove.

    Inside

    As you would expect, the cockpit is a nice place to be in if you are 4 up. It’s not really comfortable as a 5 seater express due to the intrusion from the transmission tunnel. 4 up, and there is plenty of room within the 2926mm wheelbase.

    Fittings were on par with this segment and the split touchscreen got my thumbs up. For those who like buttons and not touch screens, there is the option of ‘Haptic control’. This requires a bit of force on the item you want to select on the screen and in return, it vibrates on your finger. Personally, I preferred the touchscreen. For once, this was a touch screen system that worked quickly to inputs.

    What I didn’t like was the wind noise from around the driver’s door at over 50mph possibly caused by a wayward door seal though it all looked well put together. 

     

    Living With It

    Let’s get one thing out of the way first, that lifting rear door makes this an incredibly practical car. Luggage space is a whopping 535 litres with the seats up. There is minimal intrusion too, meaning the car can carry estate car type loads up to the window line at least. Loading and unloading is not a problem.

    The Verdict

    The A7 is a fine car from Audi with understated good looks. The fact it lacks aggression in its looks is a good thing. From all angles, the A7 is a handsome car that will not cause offence to anyone. If you are looking for a car to carry you great distances with minimal fuss, then this is your car. It’s subtle good looks make this Audi surprisingly calm. It can be hurried, It’s a Quattro after all, but that delay in the throttle responses is what really lets it down as a press on car. Keep it calm and cruise. It’s good at that. 

    Love

    Interior styling

    Handling

    Practical

    Loathe

    Transmission tunnel intrusion in the rear

    Lethargic throttle from standing start/low speeds

    Indecisive automatic

    The Lowdown

    Car –  Audi A7 Sportback 50 TDI Quattro 286ps Sport Tiptronic

    Price – £ 60,290 (as tested)

    MPG – 48.7 mpg (combined)

    Power – 286PS @ 3500-4000 rpm

    0-62mph –  5.7 seconds

    Top Speed –  155 mph

    Co2 –  150 (g/km)

  • CAR REVIEW | Audi S1 2.0 TFSI

    CAR REVIEW | Audi S1 2.0 TFSI

    ★★★★☆ | Audi S1 2.0 TFSI 231PS Quattro Competition Nav

     

    What Have We Got 

    Audi’s S1 is the smallest and most affordable end of the S series cars. A brand new S1 starts at £27,745.00 ROTR. The S1 is a great package. 4WD, 6-speed manual gearbox, 230bhp / 370Nm torque from a 2.0L EA888 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder engine and 155 mph limited top speed. Make no mistake, this isn’t a lukewarm shopping car, this is a real driver’s car, an Audi S series car. I was surprised how much attention it gets you, lots of people complimented my choice of car for a change.

    Driving

    Audi’s S1 is a lot of fun and very capable. Being permanent 4WD, I expected it to push on it corners, understeer spoiling the party, but it seems to have a RWD bias which is great fun.

    Pulling out of a junction or accelerating out of a tight corner, a heavy right foot can prompt the tail to kick out. You have to be particularly aggressive as there’s loads of grip. Standard power from the S1 is 230bhp but with a stage 1 map that jumps to 320bhp, however, I know a couple of these engines running over 500bhp.

    Inside

    It’s fairly unremarkable inside but solid and well built. Leather, shell back bucket seats look very good and do a great job of supporting driver and passenger and the controls are well placed. You certainly feel you are in a driver’s car.

    My only criticism was the size. Obviously, it’s a small car, but for me as a grown-up carrying too many kg’s, it was almost too small. The dash is fairly plain but very nice and the quality is superb.

    Living with it

    As you would expect, the Audi S1 has a host of electronic assists such as; cross-traffic assist rear (which will alert you when vehicles cross your blind spot, and even activate the brakes if necessary). Pre sense front (uses a camera and radar sensors to alert you to approaching hazards and can apply the brakes). Park assist (parks for you), cruise control and more.

    It’s fast, fun, well built and looks great. I’d almost go as far as to say it’s in a class of its own with 230bhp in such a small package.

    The Verdict

    If you’re looking for fun in a small package but want a touch of class and quality. The S1 is right up your street. It looks subtle and classy and is very well built. It’s a bit small for me and there’s not a lot of room in the back but so what, I sit in the front.

    Small enough to park anywhere with ease, safe as any modern car with all of the electronics, it sounds great and has huge tuning potential. I’d like to take one on track and see what it’s like there.

    Love

    Performance

    Handling

    Build quality

    Loathe

    Unremarkable inside

    Too small (for me)

    Manual gearbox only, no DSG.

     

    Lowdown

    Car –  2.0 TFSI 231PS Quattro Competition Nav

    Price – £27,745.00

    MPG – 39.8 (combined)

    0-62 – 5.8s

    Power – 272hp and 330nm torque

    Top Speed – 155.3 mph

    Co2 – 166 (g/km)

     

  • Geneva Motor Show Preview: Ten Star Cars

    Between the 5th and 15th of March, Geneva in Switzerland will be home to the first major European auto show of the year. Although we are still a couple of weeks away, there have already been some major announcements. Here’s my top ten.

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  • Valentines Day Land Rover Style

    Jaguar & Land Rover have confirmed the Jaguar C-X75, Range Rover Sport SVR and Defender Big Foot will feature in the new Bond film SPECTRE. The Jag will be the baddies’ wheels for the main car chase against the Aston Martin DB10 in Rome while the Landies have been spotted in Austria. Jaguar’s press site interestingly refers to C-X75s plural rather than singular. Whether the multiple vehicles will be needed for destructive purposes or if there are a couple of C-X75s chasing/being chased by Bond is something we will have to wait to find out.

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  • The Week In Cars – Ferrari or Porsche?

    Porsche have shown us the hottest Cayman yet, the GT4. As suggested by spy shots, it gains a much more aggressive body kit with a fixed rear wing along with 20 inch wheels.

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