[Closed] Mini Cooper S to Audi A1

Both my step-sister and my aunt have them. Im really quite taken by them.

they are [A1] superior to the mini internally - she seems quite keen. makes her 2008 mini look very plasticky inside........

They have grown on me; though, I still kinda think of this when I see them...

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Citoeon DS3??

Citoeon DS3??

I likes them...though I imagine, the A1 will hit the pocket less when it depreciates - if I had the money to throw away I'd quite like whatever is the most souped up, stripped back DS3 you could buy as a ragging around the place car.

Lots of small, fun, well designed and safe cars now - like being a kid in a sweet shop these days.

I've had a couple of them as rentals in Sweden. They're OK for what they are. Boot is very small, pedal offset is odd (but that was LHD), and while the interior looks really nice, look harder and touch things and you notice things like the knobs that look like knurled alu are actually silver plastic.

I'd take a Fiat 500 over one any day, especially if I was actually paying for it.

Fiat 500 Abarth you mean.. of course you do.

We had one for 6 months and did around 6000 miles in it in that time. 'Twas a 1.4TFSi S-Line (the 120bhp version). It was actually a pretty good car all-round.

Clearly it's not the biggest car going (but then you already have a MINI, so shouldn't be a problem). As others have said, some of the internal plastics are a bit hard, but it's way better inside than any of its competitors - certainly chalk and cheese when compared to a DS3.. It's entertaining enough to drive when you're in the mood, even if it's not as focused as something like a MINI (and the ride of our S-line was far less harsh than S-line models higher up the Audi range, or for that matter a 500 Abarth...).

What you only realise over time is that rather than trying to be particularly 'retro' or 'funky' it's a genuine (and fairly convincing) effort to feel like a big(ger) premium car, only scaled down.

Clearly you'll have your own priorities in terms of interior fit and finish, driveability, price etc, but certainly there was nothing in our experience for me to try and sway you away from it.

The only points I'd suggest watching out for are avoiding the Bose speaker setup (requires a box in the boot that goes 'under' the floor, resulting in the floor being 10-15cm higher up...), and keeping an eye on the boot stops, which were wearing the paint away where they came to rest on the main body of the car. I'm sure the latter point is likely to have been fixed already if it's a common problem - ours was a very early car.

Having driven BMW-era MINIs (owned two), several DS3s (as rental cars), 500s (including Abarths), I would rate the A1 as the best all rounder. The 500 is siginficantly smaller and cheaper, but a perfectly good car (said as a Panda owner). The DS3 is OK but wasn't really to my liking. 500 Abarth is hilarious - you can't help looking at it without cracking a smile - but a bit wearing for every day use. BMW MINIs I had too many problems with for them to ever be contenders again...

thanks everyone 🙂