Built: 2017

|  Audi S1 quattro  |

Simply an astonishing car.

The baby of the AudiSport 'S' range, this car is far from a pimped-up regular A1.

Almost entirely redesigned under the skin to accommodate the quattro four-wheel drive system, this car has one of the most powerful variants of the EA888 2-litre turbo engine widely seen across the Audi/VAG/Seat group.

To describe its power, handling and tractibility on the road as 'rewarding' is as understated as to describe nuclear war as detrimental to the countryside.

It's just so much fun, given open, country roads such as found widely across France. For example: try the D820 from Souillac to Cassaude in the Dordogne, or the D909 across the Cevennes from Saint-Flour to Mende - both brilliant 'S1' roads.

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My car is one of just two-and-a-half-thousand RHD S1s sold in the UK from 2014-18, finished in the relatively rare Vegas Yellow colour scheme with black leather interior. It has a full service history from new, supplied originally by Audi Newbury, and on its most recent trip to France its mileage just tripped above 60,000. In my ownership, all four corners have been treated to Brembo brake discs and pads, and then fitted with premium Bridgestone Potenza tyres (Nov/Dec 23) which the car really seems to like.