PoloDriver

The current issue of What Car? magazine carries a mega 13-page group test of premium superminis to mark the UK launch of the Audi A1. Tested in 1.4 TFSI Sport trim, it’s pitted against in-house rival, the Polo (on which it’s based and represented here in top flight SEL trim), the Alfa Romeo Mito 1.4 Multiair TB 135 Lusso and the Mini Cooper 1.6. The magazine uses the same 1.2-litre 104bhp TSI-engined press car we drove back in June (pictured above) for the test, and although the Polo gives away 16bhp to the Audi, it beats its cousin on price, pegged at £14,710 for the three-door car, against the A1’s £15,670 with the same amount of openings. Both cars score the same for average miles per gallon, range and CO2, so it really is a case of which model you prefer. To find out which car wins, buy a copy of the January 2011 issue of What Car?, on sale until 16 December.

To read PoloDriver’s first drive of the Polo SEL 1.2 TSI, click here. The third of our special digital ‘mini-magazines’, check out the PoloDriver bookshelf for our previous two titles.