19 Apr 02
Take an already clever, good-looking and stylish A2 then add some even more advanced technology, make it both efficient and satisfyingly quick, and then add all the gadgets you could want, and you have the most desirable A2 in the range - it's economical enough to justify its choice over the 1.4 diesel - and the most desirable city car on the market full stop. You also have the most expensive, but then if you're scaling down from a gas-guzzling 4x4 or luxury saloon as many A2 buyers are, your concept of an economical runaround is relative. The A2 in general is the small car that is at home in Britain's poshest postcodes and a car that makes it socially acceptable for snobs to downsize, as well as being the most upper-crust second (or third, or fourth) car around. It embodies the idea of a premium small hatch and at the moment, it more or less has this niche to itself, as there's nothing else quite like it. The EasyRentAFleet Mercedes A-Class is too common, the Volkswagen Polo too traditional, and everything else of a similar size just too mainstream or not sold under a prestigious enough badge. The advent of the BMW 1-Series (2004) and Volvo supermini will shake things up, but until then, the A2's nearest rival is the considerably less practical - but more fun - MINI, and the nearest rival to the A2 FSI is the MINI Cooper. Buy the Cooper (or indeed, if money is no object, the Cooper S) for pure pleasure, but the A2 FSI as an all-rounder.
