A1/S1 Official: Audi A1 Quattro

[Betty Swollocks]

Hey Betty, do you think you will want one?

I most definitely WANT one. The thing is, I don't NEED one. The sporty tool in my box is the R8 V10. I'm more likely to replace my current A1 1.2 with a BMW 1 Series or Audi A3.

 

[Tumbo]

I most definitely WANT one. The thing is, I don't NEED one. The sporty tool in my box is the R8 V10. I'm more likely to replace my current A1 1.2 with a BMW 1 Series or Audi A3.

No way man.. Are you really concidering the world most ugly new car at the moment; the 1er??

 

[Betty Swollocks]

No way man.. Are you really concidering the world most ugly new car at the moment; the 1er??

I've seen a few versions of it recently and it doesn't look too bad. It's certainly not good looking though. But I don't care about the looks for my everyday car. Far more important are that it has a nice interior, things like sat nav have a good user interface and other buttons are simple to use, it's comfortable and not necessarily sporty, and it's realtively new. Rear space isn't that important either. The new 2 Series when it's launched could well be a candidate too.

 

[Zafiro]

I've seen a few versions of it recently and it doesn't look too bad. It's certainly not good looking though.

I agree and with M-package it looks even better but like you said its not the hottest car on the planet. I rather buy a 3-series.

 

[Soup]

Wrong thread

 

[Guibo]

Couple of first drives (only on ice with spiked tires, sadly).

Via Pistonheads:

I love the motor industry: just when you think it has been standardised into a series of predictable formats, a car like the A1 Quattro comes along.

As we all know, the A1 shares its platform with the students' favourite the VW Polo. In having 256hp, it opens itself up to being described as a near-260hp Polo, which is actually a very cool association to foster.

But more bizarrely for a shopping trolley boasting the power-to-weight ratio of a Porsche 964, the narrative behind this car is actually as interesting as the finished product.

You see Audi has a strict hierarchy of fastness. Its normal cars are developed by certain teams, the hotter S models go to a group fed on slightly spicier food and the RS versions - the fastest of all - always go to the people at Quattro GmbH, who dine exclusively on Scotch Bonnets.

The A1 Quattro is a very hot little car. That 256hp from the 2.0-litre TFSI motor is supported by 258lb ft and Audi claims 0-62mph in 5.7sec. In fact it's about as potent as we'd expect an RS1 to be, and yet it has been nowhere near Quattro GmbH.

That's like BMW launching the 1 M Coupe and not consulting the boys at M. Ask Audi why this is the case and it says the team at Quattro have been busy on other projects (RS4, revised R8 etc) but it does seem strange that the company has circumnavigated its own, it has to be said hard-earned, performance heritage to launch one of its silliest cars for many years.

There are over 600 changes to the A1 to make this car, and herein lies another area of suspicion. Audi is making just 333 of these cars (no significance to the number, it just 'likes' it), all in left-hand drive, and yet it has made alterations to the body in white to swap the rear torsion beam from the standard car to a multi-link set-up that accommodates the rear running gear.

The fuel tank is now saddle-shaped to make way for the prop-shaft, there are new front suspension components and, naturally, a completely revised set of spring and damper settings and, flying completely in the face of other fast Audis, it comes with a manual gearbox only. It all rather looks like Audi blowing a raspberry at Quattro GmbH. To add insult, it also uses the Quattro badge in a markedly Ur-fashion.

And do those read like modifications that members of the board of Audi would okay for use in just 333 cars? Correct: we were not born yesterday. Homologating the new fuel tank alone probably absorbed the budget Lotus spent on the entire Evora project. There will surely be other 4WD A1s, some may even wear S and RS badges. One might even be an Allroad.

Now you might have noticed that I have avoided talking about the way the new A1 Quattro drives. I apologise for this, but there is a reason. I don't really know how it drives. I spent half an hour driving it like a wally on a frozen lake, during which time I deduced the following.

Despite weighing 1,300kg, it is surprisingly fast. The gear ratios seem quite long and throttle response is pretty sharp. The exhaust makes nice parpy sounds when power is cut suddenly.

The Haldex 4WD system still feels front-biased (because it is), but on small studs and a frozen lake it'll hold great big, all-four-wheels-pointing-in-the-same-direction slides that are immense fun. But don't actually give any indication of what the car will be like on the road.

After this I met Stig Blomqvist, who was quiet and heroic, just the way you want your heroes to be, but that didn't give me any better idea of what the A1 Quattro was like to drive.

Nor did a few thoroughly enjoyable laps on the ice in a revised RS5, with a new electromechanical steering which was so light at standstill I thought the wheel had come loose, and a few detail changes. And which was fitted with the optional sport differential.

The car was just brilliant on the lake, it didn't understeer at all and actually exposed the weaknesses of the A1's Haldex system which does occasionally make the wrong call and punt all motive forces to the front wheels, right at the moment you want all drive going to the rear. Does this alter my opinion of the RS5 on the road? A little bit, but I still don't rate it as a road car.

None of this really matters. Only 20 A1 Quattros will come to the UK costing £39,930 each. 14 have already gone. One will be kept by Audi UK for its historic fleet. In the context of what else is available for the money, the car is laughable. For those who want the ultimate Waitrose chariot, it is probably the most desirable car on sale, oozing with Audi detail, style and showroom pizzazz.

And it isn't the last fast A1 we're going to see. Happy days.

AUDI A1 QUATTRO
Engine: 1,998cc in-line four
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Power (hp): 256@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 258@2,500rpm
0-62mph: 5.7sec
Top speed: 152mph
Weight: 1,300kg
MPG: 33.2mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: n/a
Price new: £39,930

Driven: Audi A1 Quattro

From CarEnthusiast.com:

In the Metal: 4/5 stars
Available exclusively in white, with contrasting black on the roof, rear slam panel and between the large twin exhausts, the Audi A1 quattro does have a look of an unpainted competition car about it. The gaping front air intakes, turbine styled wheels (not pictured, as our test car ran on spiked tyres) and roof mounted spoiler do little to dispel that, but smart touches like red inserts in the headlamps and neat quattro badging on the C-pillar underline Audi's attention to detail on this limited run special.

That special edition status follows through to the interior. The cut-off steering wheel features a '1 of 333' insert, there's a red rev counter and the seats, swathed in leather, have quattro badging on their hard backs.

Driving it: 4/5 stars
First surprise is the fact that there are three pedals and a gearstick, Audi resisting the temptation to make its most extreme A1 a dual-clutch paddle-shifted S tronic machine. It's not the most accurate transmission, with vagueness across the gate that can mean double bites when shifting, but it's infinitely preferable to an automatic. The 2.0-litre TFSI engine will be familiar to anyone who's driven an Audi TTS, though it's 16hp down here at a still mighty 256hp. It's free-revving and sounds uncharacteristically menacing at high revs with its gasping intake noise. That's a good thing in this slightly unhinged performance model.

The TTS lends not only its engine, but also elements of its suspension to create a multilink rear. That allows the quattro four-wheel drive, though the A1 quattro is front driven the majority of the time but able to transfer up to 100% of its drive to the rear when required. Quite how that will all translate to the road is anyone's guess, but on an icy test track in Sweden the A1 could be powered around at any angle you like once you coax it through its initial understeer.

Doing so on a low grip surface is easy enough, with help from the A1's short wheelbase and quick steering, along with the rapid throttle response and manual transmission. The steering is light and the cut off wheel is a pain when you're busy with it, but it's not likely to be such an issue on tarmac.

On the road we expect it to feel like the majority of quattros, with plenty of grip, massive traction and a bias towards understeer. It'll be quick, with 62mph arriving in 5.7 seconds, though we're certain it won't be as much fun to drive on the road as it was on an icy lake. Little is admittedly, but it'll take a drive on tarmac to see if Audi has played it safe with the A1 quattro, or been a bit devilish. Count on the former.

What you get for your Money: 3/5 stars
Everything is standard. But then it should be, as at £39,930 it's expensive. There's nothing left on the options list, so the A1 quattro packs masses of kit into its compact dimensions. It's left-hand drive only too, so count on taking a passenger if you want an easy life at car park exits and toll booths. One of just 333 gives it some kudos, with only 19 coming to the UK. They're pretty much sold out, as well.

Worth Noting
Audi hasn't spent considerable time and money to cram its quattro system into just 333 cars so we can expect more quattro driven A1s in time. We rather like the idea of a Sportback 2.0 TDI allroad quattro to replace all those Panda 4x4s that run around exclusive ski resorts.

Summary
Fun, and admirably unhinged, the Audi A1 quattro is a silly-money rocket for Audi fans with deep pockets. A proper road drive will be needed for it to truly reveal its breadth of talent, though if you've only a small garage and an ice lake to play on in the winter the A1 quattro could be the perfect, highly entertaining option.

Overall rating: 4/5 stars
Quattro four-wheel drive defines Audi, so it was only a matter of time before the A1 received it. The 256hp 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, racy restyle and limited edition status are all bonuses, but the price means it's one for wealthy Audi collectors.

Car reviews | Audi A1 quattro | First drive: Audi A1 quattro | by Car Enthusiast

From Autocar: Rare Audi A1 Quattro is great fun on snow, but isn't quite special enough for the price tag

What is it?
There’s been a long run up to the Audi A1 Quattro. First we thought that the car now unromantically known as the Audi A1 1.4 TFSI (with 182bhp) was going to be badged as an S1. There was much talk of 4wd powertrains and other rumours.

Then, almost out of the blue, and just a few days before Christmas, Audi revealed the A1 Quattro and that it would build only 333 of them and all in left-hand drive. Numbers for the UK would be tiny; quoted as 20 but now down to 19, all sold.

The nineteen have bought an A1 that contains 600 new parts, starting with the 252bhp 2.0 TFSI engine at the front. The A1’s platform was obviously designed with all-paw drive in mind because there’s enough space in the tunnel along which the exhaust runs for a carbon fibre prop shaft to also live. The standard fuel tank gets in the way so Audi has replaced it with an upside down saddle tank, which because of the A1 Quattro’s tiny production run, is produced in stainless steel rather than plastic. Further back is a cut and shut version of the TTS’s multilink rear suspension.

Minor surgery has taken place in the shell to provide pick-up points for the suspension including new wheel wells. All-wheel drive is provided by the usual Haldex-supplied system of an electronically controlled, hydraulically actuated multi-plate clutch that sends all the torque to the front wheels in normal conditions – until things get un-normal and torque is fed to the rear wheels. You might expect to see a DSG in a car like this, but no, it’s conventional stick with six speeds.

All A1 Quattros come in glacier white with gloss black roofs. There’s a small roof spoiler over the tailgate but otherwise the car is understated. Just a little A1 badge on the boot backed up by the trademark Quattro badge.

The baby Quattro’s cabin is traditional VW Group charcoal with a whiff of colour from red stitching on the deeply bolstered leather seats. There are aluminium cappings on the pedals and a chunky alloy gearshift knob pinched, by the looks of it, from the R8.

What's it like?
Proper assessment of ride quality, the nuances of chassis behaviour, grip levels in corners, and traction out of corners is impossible on the frozen lake track we tested the car on. All that will have to wait until we get one onto a piece of Tarmac. Chuckability, however, we can judge. With 252bhp and 258lb ft of torque the A1 Quattro is going not hang around on the road. Audi says 0-62mph in 5.7sec. In the days before sophisticated traction control a four-wheel drive hatch with over 250bhp would murder a front-drive rival but not today.

I doubt any of the nineteen who have bought this car will ever have this much fun with it. You don’t even need to use the handbrake, just barrel into a corner, lift and then back on the gas in a lovely drift.



Should I buy one?
Driving the car on snow and ice is great fun but we’ll be serious for a moment. And the price of this rare little rocket is a good point at which to stop grinning and larking about. It’s £41,020. Yes, more money by over a grand than the 335bhp RS3 Sportback. Cayman cash, even. We can assume that A1 Quattro buyers are pretty serious Audistes, probably having owned a string of S and RS models.

But the A1 Quattro wears neither of these badges and I hardly think that Audi would have gone to the trouble of creating the 4wd underpinnings if it didn’t take advantage of it in larger numbers. Audi almost admits that an S1 is on its way. For sure the A1 Quattro will be a rare beast, but it is just not special enough and I don’t think that view will change even after driving it on the road.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/FirstDrives/Audi-A1-2.0-TFSI-quattro/261354/

 

[Tumbo]

I love this car!

 

[donkeykong]

I love this car!

Then you'll love this.

 

[Soup]

 

[Deckhook]

Most interesting for me is the fact that DSG doesn't fit with the 2.0L engine, so I'm expecting something smaller for the S1 though I still think the output won't drop much.

 

[Soup]

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[Human]

Audi's little bundle of joy, I would not mind having this little rocket parked in my garage.

 

[DeDe]

First test in AutoZeitung.

• Weight: 1419 kg
• 0-100 km/h: 5,6 s
• 0-200 km/h: 22,4 s
• 60-100 km/h in 5th gear: 6,0 s
• 80-120 km/h in 6th gear: 7,2 s
• Braking (100-0 km/h), cold/warm: 34,4/34,1 m

 

[DeDe]

[scans] AutoZeitung - Audi A1 quattro (TEST)
http://s1244.photobucket.com/albums...iew&current=autozeitung_-_audi_a1_quattro.jpghttp://s1244.photobucket.com/albums...ew&current=autozeitung_-_audi_a1_quattro1.jpg

 

[klier]

^ looks a bit over the top in black and white, but it's a great little car no doubt. I'd go for a more understated look, though. More fun to see surprized people when you pull off then.

 

[Human]

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[Tumbo]

I love this car

 

[donkeykong]

I would love to see the production version of this car. With no changes of course.

 

[Sunny]

Wow, the whining and bitching from the resident value police is deafening in here. If only they were this shrill in decrying BMW and Lexus as corporate blood suckers in the GTS and LFA threads... what a bunch of sock chucking hypocrates...

Other than that, nice piece of kit, love the retro wheels...

 

[Betty Swollocks]

what a bunch of sock chucking hypocrates...

"Hypocrites".