Category: Superminis 
Price Range: No data available
Style, prestige, space, quality, economy and, of course, that Audi badge
Uncompromising ride, poor forward and rear visibility, noisy engines
One of the poshest small cars around; fantastic quality, quirky yet smart styling and good economy all appeal. The ride's too firm and visibility poor, but the A2 is nonetheless a desirable machine, if an expensive one.
A poor two-star score here, not due to the driving characteristics of the A2, which are acceptable, but rather the shocking visibility to the rear, and the intrusive A pillars. You need to shift in your seat to see around the front pillars, and in the dark and wet the split rear screen, which means that no rear wiper can be fitted, with its heavy tint, makes rear visibility appalling. Other than that it's an easy drive; minor controls are all laid out in a familiar and logical fashion, and the high seating position gives you a good view of traffic ahead of you. The light steering doesn't give much feedback, but for the majority, the A2 is an acceptable drive once you get used to peering around those pillars. It's unlikely that drivers who opt for the practical A2 will be looking for particularly sporting responses from their cars, but push the A2 hard and it's actually rather enjoyable to drive. The suspension that crashes around town doggedly resists body roll and grip levels are suitably high. Surprisingly, it's the diesel that is the most entertaining here, the useful torque giving it great mid-range pull. Slightly heavier than the petrol models, as a result it doesn't cope with the corners as well, but you'd be hard pushed to notice the difference in day-to-day driving. The gearbox is typically Audi vague across the gate, but you soon get used to it. The steering offers better feedback than some other Audi models, but it's still not hugely communicative. Yet the A2 has a certain feel-good factor, and overall, it's reasonably entertaining.
There's a choice of three different engines and four power outputs. Initially introduced with two 1.4-litre engines, a four-cylinder petrol or three-cylinder diesel, both giving 75bhp, the 1.6 FSI direct-injection petrol unit joined the range in 2002. A 90bhp version of the diesel is new for 2004 - not only is this cleaner (it meets the upcoming Euro IV emissions legislation), but it's usefully quicker than the earlier 75bhp unit. Neither this nor the 1.4 petrol are particularly refined and quiet, though the engine note of the raspy three-cylinder diesel is rather pleasing - if somewhat at odds with the quality feel of the rest of the car. Performance from all is rather good, the A2's light weight meaning it can extract the most out of all the engine's relatively modest outputs. In addition there's that 66mpg bonus offered by the diesel, although the petrol turns in a decent 47mpg. The 1.6 FSI feels appreciably quicker than the others, though the newest diesel is the torquiest and best-suited to higher-speed cruising and motorway work. None of them feel as slow as their actual performance figures suggest, though, and the A2's light weight means the engines don't have to work too hard.
