1.4 TFSI S line CoD 5dr Hatchback

Very refined, economical and no slouch for a 1.4 engine

The 1.4 engine is very quiet and very smooth. Initially you can find yourself not realising the engine has stopped at traffic lights. Don't be fooled by the small capacity, the COD Audi engine is perfectly quick enough for most drivers and handles motorways with ease. The selectable Driving Modes can make a real difference to the way the car feels, from easy going efficiency to raring to go Dynamic.

The Audi MMI is extremely good and very intuitive to use, you can connect most mobile phones using the standard connector port in the centre armrest to play music or just to charge it. Don't bother with Audi leads, most third part ones work fine. The DAB radio is good, automatically dropping back to FM if needs be. The MMI unit also takes up to two SD cards (up to 64Mb I believe) which can be loaded with music and playlists from Windows Media Player on your PC. So often there if no need to start carry round an iPod. The only small downside, is that if your music is on CDs, the CD player is inside the Glove Box thereby making it impossible to change when on the go.

It also makes the Glove Box a little on small side, which highlights a small niggle in that the cabin is a little short on storage places around the driver. The cabin on the Sport model has a First Aid kit under the drivers seat, a florescent jacking in the middle of the back seat and two led lights in the boot.

The boot floor is near level with the boot lip, which in the surface would seem to reduce space, but the floor can be lowered simply by repositioning the floor. My car has the optional extra Alcantara seats which is a lovely is expensive option. That also comes with handy storage nets in the boot and on the back of the seats.

Mid forties MPG is perfectly achievable with a mix of longer runs, mostly shorter runs should see that drop back to the low forties. The engine takes a good 100 miles to settle in. The Cylinder on Demand feature cuts in and out without you really noticing much. When you lift off there can be a slight feeling of extra drag which I assume is the alternator pushing more charge into the battery in anticipation of a start/stop condition.

The Electric Handbrake takes a bit of getting used to, especially if you are the sort of driver who was taught in driving lessons long ago not to sit with your foot on the brakes. The car will auto hold for a couple of seconds after foot brake release on a slope to give you time to engage the clutch. But consider having the optional auto hold function which will leave the brakes applied automatically thereby removing the need to keep using the electric parking brake; not not "handbrake".

The car feels very smooth, safe and solid and well thought through.

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