Wednesday 1st June 2011

Audi To Unveil 500bhp A1

Worthersee show to witness debut of super-A1 concept

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Audi is set to unveil this near-500bhp Audi A1 concept at the annual Wortherseetour VW Group event in Austria this June.

Worthersee is traditionally a venue where one of the VW brands takes the wraps off some sort of wacky concept, and this year it's Audi's turn with the 496bhp A1 clubsport quattro show car.

The mega-A1 uses a version of the 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo motor from the TT RS and RS3 Sportback models, tuned to produce 496bhp and 487lb ft of torque. That's enough reckons Audi, to push the little car to 62mph from rest in 3.7secs and to 124mph in just 10.9secs.

The turbocharger, intercooler, induction tract and the exhaust line have been have all been 'massaged' and, as on the Audi A4 DTM racer, the tailpipe is located on the left of the car, just in front of the rear wheel.

A six-speed manual transmission and permanent all-wheel drive, both taken from the TT RS and 'enhanced', deliver the power to all four wheels. Top speed is limited to 155mph.

The concept A1 is fitted with 255/30 low-profile tyres on 19-inch alloy wheels with a unique 'turbine' design, Sitting behind the wheels are large, internally ventilated disc brakes. Up front, six-piston calipers work on perforated carbon fibre-ceramic discs, while the rear of the car 'makes do' with steel items.

The coilover suspension of the A1 clubsport quattro features adjustable compression and rebound damping.

Combined with the visual makeover that includes front wings, doors and rear side panels that have been widened by a total of 60 millimetres and plenty of carbon fibre gubbins, the overall effect looks likely to be pretty aggressive. Shame it's only a concept, really...

 

[Lightningman]

Now that I like...

[hornetrider]

I'm trying to figure out which angry cartoon character it reminds me of

[jimbo2728]

BUILD IT!

[Guvernator]

jimbo2728 said:

BUILD IT!

I am in total agreement, although with a normal A1 coming in at £30k, any guesses on how much this little baby would cost?

[TotalControl]

Absolutely mental.

[williamp]

Mega A1?? They could call it the A1(m)

A silly overpriced car, like an increasing number of the Audi range

[richard300]

Great interior and some nice design detail on the exterior (really like the way the front wing 'vents' into the front door)....

Audi should make this as a WRC car and then produce some road versions...

[Nors]

Very Wild!!!

That would never be built for real though, it would be quicker than all their other performance models!

If it was though it would be £20 trillion.

[RJDM3]

Ugly little car with a bland interior. Now the same with 500hp. What a show stopper

[Rick_1138]

Why? is the main thing i question.

Surely designing something a bit more interesting than making every audi look like a fatter version of the model below, then 's-line'-ing every one and then RS-ing them.

Its just makes them all look the same.

I get the idea of a Hot A1, as much as i like the idea of a Polo R but it just feels like Audi are just roling out boring boxes then tacking on these things to make us think they like making interesting things.

[Nors]

RJDM3 said:

Ugly little car with a bland interior. Now the same with 500hp. What a show stopper

Obviously a BMW driver!

[epom]

oh yes please

[Dr G]

I'll take 2, that looks absolutely barking

[RudeDog]

We all know they won't make it but if they did, you could pay £50K, £60K or anything up to £100K for this little thing and whenever anybody asks what you drive you'd still be reduced to saying "Audi" like all the other nobodies

[kambites]

RudeDog said:

We all know they won't make it but if they did, you could pay £50K, £60K or anything up to £100K for this little thing and whenever anybody asks what you drive you'd still be reduced to saying "Audi" like all the other nobodies

So possibly the only Audi that's absolutely not a car for badge snobs. That sounds like a good thing to me.

[Vladikar]

Awesome, love the front picture.

[Nors]

RudeDog said:

whenever anybody asks what you drive you'd still be reduced to saying "Audi" like all the other nobodies

Just out of interest, what do you drive?

[mylesmcd]

RudeDog said:

We all know they won't make it but if they did, you could pay £50K, £60K or anything up to £100K for this little thing and whenever anybody asks what you drive you'd still be reduced to saying "Audi" like all the other nobodies

Very rude.

[RudeDog]

Ah, sorry, I'm just an Audi hater.

In my opinion, they are cars for conformists and people with no real interest in cars.

[BuzzLightyear]

from me!! 500hp, 4WD, proper (manual) gearbox and light weight - what's not to like???
Would LOVE to hear that 5 pot warble through that side-exit exhaust!