Beware, Mini: Audi is putting the European-market A1 hatchback on steroids. The smallest four-ringer, which shares its platform with the VW Polo, has just gone on sale, but the company is already testing performance variants.
The most powerful A1 in current production is powered by a 185-hp, super- and turbocharged 1.4-liter four. It’s equipped solely with a dual-clutch transmission and front-wheel drive. Before the end of the year, though, you’ll see a five-door version called the A1 Sportback, and Audi also plans to add an all-wheel-drive Quattro version of the three-door. The latter will pump out slightly more than 200 hp and be sold in limited numbers, but it won’t look much different from lesser A1 models.
That’s not to say there will be a dearth of aesthetically different A1s; we submit this new prototype, spotted at the Nürburgring, as proof. The test car sports wide rocker panels seemingly taken from Audi’s current “competition kit,” a massive roof spoiler, wide-set twin exhaust pipes, and a front bumper and air intake that look to be swiped from the Wörthersee Clubsport Quattro concept. (The Clubsport Quattro debuted at the Wörthersee, Austria, gathering of VW and Audi aficionados, and featured a turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-five. Its six-speed manual and engine—rated at an incredible 503 hp and 487 lb-ft of torque—were modified from TT RS pieces.)
It’s not clear if the model spied here is an S1 or something more powerful. Audi executives have confirmed that an S1 Quattro model will be offered in 2013; it will be powered by the brand’s turbocharged 2.0-liter EA888 four and could easily produce 230 hp or more. Whether Audi will offer a range-topping RS1 is still undecided. If an RS1 were to be engineered, it could be powered by a further-tweaked EA888, as the engine can reliably produce up to 300 hp, or the 2.5-liter turbo five.
The Clubsport Quattro proves the latter would fit under the A1′s tiny hood, but the power and torque produced by the five require stronger transmissions and rear chassis components, such as those installed in the TT RS and the RS3. Similarly extensive revisions to the A1’s underpinnings would be cost prohibitive—and possibly require retesting to meet crash standards—so we believe that the high-powered four is the more likely option.
Conjecture shouldn’t be necessary for much longer. Given how far along this particular car appears to be, we should have details on at least one high-performance A1 soon.
