Sparks are about to fly in the subcompact class as a new limited edition Audi A1 stakes a claim to be the most powerful and fastest accelerating car of its kind ever created. The new ultra-exclusive A1 is not only the first to enter production with quattro all-wheel-drive but is also the first to adopt a larger capacity petrol engine ramping power up to 256PS. Limited to just 333 examples worldwide, it will combine its unprecedented performance and agility with a suitably rarefied equipment list.

The A1 quattro will raise the tempo thanks to a turbocharged and directly injected 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine which delivers its maximum 256PS output at 6,000rpm, and its punchy 350Nm torque peak between 2,500 and 4,500rpm. It enables the A1 quattro to power from rest to 62mph in 5.7 seconds and on to a top speed of 152mph.

This advanced unit is notable for its adjustable intake cam shaft and its two balancer shafts which ensure smooth operation, but also for its high pressure common rail injection system, intercooled turbocharger and regulated oil pump which help it to operate surprisingly economically and deliver up to 33.2mpg (combined cycle).

Power is channelled via a quick-shifting six-speed manual transmission to the quattro permanent all-wheel drive system, the heart of which is an electronically controlled, hydraulically actuated multi-plate clutch whose package of plates rotates in an oil bath.

During normal driving, the clutch sends most of the engine’s power to the front wheels. If traction decreases there, the clutch can transfer torque steplessly to the rear axle in just a few milliseconds by forcing the packages of plates together by a defined amount. A pressure reservoir helps the electric pump to develop the oil pressure. If a wheel on one of the axles starts to skid, it is braked by the electronic differential lock (EDL). The electronic stability program (ESP) also includes a sport mode which sets a higher threshold for intervention, and can be switched off entirely for track use.

The chassis of the Audi A1 quattro has been adapted to suit the dynamics of the drivetrain, and the multi-plate clutch has also been positioned on the rear axle in the interest of optimum weight distribution. The front suspension is a McPherson strut construction, while a four-link set-up is used at the rear. Responsive and efficient electrohydraulic power steering with a direct 14.8:1 steering ratio complements this taut and well balanced configuration.

Unique specification

Finished exclusively in Glacier White metallic, complemented by 18-inch turbine design alloy wheels also in Glacier White and a high-gloss black roof, the A1 quattro will stand out from the outset. It will also distinguish itself visually through an exclusive design for the front and rear bumpers, the grille and its frame, red painted ‘wings’ within the headlights, a large two-colour rear spoiler and two sizeable, 100-millimetre diameter polished exhaust tailpipes.

Finishing touches such as tinted LED rear lights, tinted rear windows and a contrasting black colouring for the rear hatch and rear diffuser will also mark out the top-ranking A1, as will quattro badges on the grille, roof arch and rear hatch which bear testament to this car’s unique position as the first ever all-wheel-drive production A1.

At 3,987 millimetres in length, the A1 quattro is 33 millimetres longer than the ‘standard’ car on which it is based. It matches its counterparts for width and height, standing at 1,740 millimetres and 1,416 millimetres respectively. Luggage capacity is 210 litres with seats up rising to 860 litres with seats folded.

Purposeful black dominates the interior of the Audi A1 quattro, from the high gloss finish for the lower section of the centre console to the seats and door armrests finished in black Silk Nappa leather with contrasting red stitching. The multi-adjustable front S sport seats have pronounced bolsters, integrated head restraints and quattro insignias on their backrests. The footrest and the pedal caps are made of brushed stainless steel. Red stitching frames the floor mats, and the door sill trims bear A1 quattro badges.

The instrument cluster incorporates a number of eye-catching features, including white needles, a red-faced speedometer, a quattro logo and a colour Driver’s Information System (DIS). The multifunction sports steering wheel is flat-bottomed, trimmed in leather with contrasting red stitching and sports the car’s serial number. The shift lever knob is made of aluminium, and many control elements have an aluminium-look finish.

Lavish equipment list

As befits its standing at the pinnacle of the A1 range the A1 quattro will be suitably lavishly equipped with many features taken directly from the luxury class. Xenon plus headlights, the high-beam assistant, adaptive brake lights, an LED interior lighting package, light and rain sensors, the acoustic rear parking system, automatic air conditioning, a storage package, the convenience key and cruise control will all feature.

Infotainment kit will also be exceptional, particularly for a car in the subcompact class. It will include a CD changer, DAB digital radio, Audi Music Interface, hard disk-based MMI navigation plus, a 465-watt 14-speaker Bose sound system with illuminated woofers in the doors and Mobile Phone Preparation High with Online Services. This feature enables a Bluetooth-equipped online car phone to connect to the Internet and deliver special web services, including Google Earth, to the car. Passengers can also connect their mobile devices to the integrated Wi-Fi hotspot.

The left-hand-drive only Audi A1 quattro will be available in mainland Europe in the second half of 2012. A final decision on whether or not Audi UK will import the car will be based in part on customer reaction.

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A line of limited edition Audi A1s is set to be introduced. Named A1 Editions, the series will allow owners to customise their A1s with distinctive designs that will help set their cars apart. This new range will help maintain the momentum from the successful launch in November last year, which was followed by strong month-on-month performance and a number of prestigious awards.

A1 Editions is the umbrella term under which we will introduce different design-led limited editions. Based on Sport trim these are aimed at owners who wish to personalise their cars to different levels. The A1 Editions will split into one of two design concepts, one focusing on sporty designs, the other on sophisticated styling. Together these will ensure that the A1 Edition will appeal to customers interested in individualising their cars.

Competition Line

The first of the A1 Editions to launch is the Competition Line.

Competition Line combines aerodynamic body styling with a striking, motorsport-inspired design inside and out. This range has been inspired by famous models from Audi’s motorsport heritage, such as the legendary Audi quattro rally car, which won numerous world championships in the early 1980s.

At £1,800 above Sport, Competition Line provides more than £2,000 customer value. However, this price will only be available on a limited number of cars (first 500) before the line is offered at the full retail price.

Each Audi Centre will have one of these in their showroom, around the 31 May.

Exterior design highlights

Competition Line features sporty body styling, a distinctive rally-inspired design and 18-inch wheels that enhance the car’s stance. In detail the exterior adds over Sport trim:

• 18-inch ‘polygon’ design alloy wheels
• Aerodynamic exterior styling package:
  • Front spoiler
  • Double-blade roof spoiler
  • Side skirts
  • Rear diffuser in gloss black
  • Stainless steel tailpipe trims
• Competition Line exterior design features covering:
  • Roofline
  • Shoulder line with ‘Audi Sport’ lettering
  • Number 1 on the bonnet and doors
  • Boot lid
  • Front spoiler lip, side skirts, wheel arch, surrounds and double-blade roof spoiler
  • Rear sills with Audi rings

Interior design highlights

The interior of Competition Line models follows the styling cues on the exterior and adds the following over Sport trim:

• Competition Line design on:
  • Centre console trim
  • Door handles
  • Floor mats
  • Rear-view mirror trim*
• Air vent sleeves in high gloss white

Engines and transmissions

At launch, Competition Line will be available with the following engines: 1.4 TFSI 122PS manual, 1.4 TFSI 122PS S tronic and 1.6 TDI 105PS manual.

Colours and interior trim

Competition Line will be available with the exterior colour combinations below. It is not available in combination with the roof contrast line. Upholstery choices include standard Tornado cloth and optional Milano leather in black.

Ordering

Our local Audi Dealership are taking orders for this new model, click here to visit their website: www.pooleaudi.co.uk

We’ll report back soon with other details

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As requested, this subject has been raised with Audi UK. I was pleased to see that the people there have listened to your various comments and taken them on-board. Solutions to these things always take time, and it’s possible that in the future we may see heated mirrors forming part of model year changes. The complexity of the car means that there are currently no retro-fit solutions available. However, if one is developed then I will update you with the details. Thanks again for all your feedback and the opportunity to share your comments with Audi UK.

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And so the quest for heated mirrors continues… With 19 cars on the list, we submitted a ‘DISS report’ to Audi UK this morning. The reply we have received is as follows:

“We are currently unaware of any retrofit solution at this time.”

To be honest, that is the responce that I expected at first. We need to keep submitting reg numbers and they will investigate the issue. If you haven’t done so already, please add your reg to the list: http://www.audia1ownersclub.co.uk/heated-mirror-retro-fit/

I’ll update you shortly with further progress. Thank you for your support.

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Time for us to show the power of an owners club…

The Problem we have…
I think we are all in agreement that the A1 is without a doubt, the best small car on the market. However there has been a lot of feedback on the forums that there is something that you would like to be improve. For some reason (in the UK atleast) heated mirrors do not come as standard. These are only included with the folding door mirrors option. The word back from Audi UK Technical is that heated mirrors cannot currently be retro-fitted. As the voice of the country’s Audi A1 owners, we are going to be covering progress into getting a viable retro-fit solution in the UK.

The Solution…
Our ultimate aim is to get Audi to add heated mirrors as a standard option and provide an approved retro-fit solution. For this, we need your help. We need a minimum of 5 registration numbers of cars affected by this to be able to raise a ‘DISS’ enquiry. The more reg numbers we get, the more likely Audi UK are to listen to our request. I have put a dedicated page up on this site where we can share our progress with you. On that page, you will find a form to register yourself on the list. The more we get the better, so please share this with other A1 owners.

Register your car now: http://www.audia1ownersclub.co.uk/heated-mirror-retro-fit/

Hope this helps

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Calling all A1 Owners and future owners… I am organising an A1OC meet, with a difference.

The venue: Rallye Sunseeker 2011, the first stage of the Rally Championship (not the WRC sadly!).

The special stage and motorfair at Somerley House on Saturday 26th Feb will this year be home to a great display of Audis of all ages. There will already be a couple of Audis competing in the various rally classes. At lunch there will be a demonstration run from some good friends in their rally prepped UR quattros. We can have a stand at the event right next to the UR quattro Owners club. I am also going to ask our friends at the TT Owners Club (if they want to) to have a stand.

Here’s a picture from last year as a teaser… 

I will be there, hopefully with something a little bit different provided by Poole Audi and so I have another 7 spaces on the A1OC stand. It would be great to get a display of different colours, specs, etc.

If you would like to be on the club stand then, I will require a contribution of £10 to the pitch costs. I am haggling with the organisers and so hopefully we can have some left over for some POS for future events. 

Normal tickets are between £25-38 each and so there is a great saving here. If any additional A1OC members, or A1-forum users would like to attend, in their A1, or another Audi – you can get discounted tickets through me of £17 per car. I might be able to get a stand extention if there are enough A1s. I’ll confirm everything very early next week, but if I could get an idea of who is up for this, I can try to reserve more space.

To put your name on the list, join in the conversation over on the A1-forum: http://www.a1-forum.co.uk/a1forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=930

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Several new options are now available to order on the A1. Most of these options have already been included in the A1 price and specification guide.

Package XE1 (Xenon Plus light package including headlight washers) has been discontinued on the A1 1.4 TFSI Sport S tronic (119g) and replaced with package XE2. The package content of XE2 is similar to XE1, but does not include headlight washers. This is due to an enhanced degree of efficiency in the Xenon Plus headlights used, which makes the legal requirement for headlight washers redundant. The new headlight design leads to a weight reduction which enables us to make option 9VK (BOSE Surround Sound) available on the 1.4 TFSI S tronic (119g) engine.

All vehicles with 2011 build weeks will automatically be amended to remove the headlight washers. 

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The time has come!

Membership is free so join today!

For more information and to join click here

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Ladies and gentleman, I have some very important news!

There is an error in the UK Audi A1 brochure. This has been corrected on the online file, but still exists in printed ones. ISO-FIX Child seat preparation on the Audi A1 is only possible on the rear seats – not the passanger seat as stated.

If you have already placed an order for an Audi A1 and this causes you a problem, please speak to your dealer asap.

…remember you heard it here first!

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The advanced national Audi A1 launch event was going to be held on the 13th November. this has now been cancelled. Audi centres will still collect their demonstrators at this event, but no customers will be present. All customers will collect their car from the Audi centre after the official launch on the 20th november.

I will update you when I hear more…

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Great news! As predicted the factory has now returned the Audi A1 External Competition Line Body-kit to production. A restriction was added meaning that only cars ordered in white were allowed to have the kit. The restriction has now been lifted.

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• Audi unveils the new high-performance engine version for the Audi A1 at the Paris Motor Show in October 
• 1.4 TFSI engine with 180PS and 250 Nm

The Audi A1, the premium car among the small compacts, has been a major success following its market debut. And now Audi is presenting the new high-performance version. This was marked to be the new Audi S1, but at the last minute (only a few weeks before unveil, it has been decided that the 180PS engine is not quick enough to be the Audi S1. Therefore we now have a new Audi A1 with 1.4 TFSI 180PS engine.

Its taut chassis provides sporty handling, while the dual-charged (super charger and variable turbo charger) 1.4 TFSI delivers 180PS of power and the S tronic dual-clutch transmission comes standard.

This new engine makes 0-62mph  in just 6.9 seconds, and the top speed is 142mph. The quick responce and high-torque, even at high speeds, is achieved thanks to its combination of supercharger and turbocharger.

The supercharger springs into action at 1,500 rpm and in most situations is disengaged at 2,400 rpm. From 3,500 rpm at the latest, the turbocharger does all the work. Because it doesn’t have to do as much work at the low end of the rev range, the developers were able to use a large turbo and design it for high efficiency.

The standard seven-speed S tronic transmission directs the power of the 1.4 TFSI to the front wheels. The high-end transmission is very short and light. The seven-speed S tronic is composed of two transmission structures which are operated by two multi-plate clutches. The shifting process takes place in just a few hundredths of a second and with no detectable interruption of pulling power. The tall seventh gear reduces fuel consumption.

This new Audi A1 1.4 TFSI 180PS (originally intended to be the Audi S1) will be launched toward the end of the year at a price of approx £21,000.

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The new Audi A1 has stolen a march on its core competitors again – this time in insurance groupings released recently. Across the board, in diesel, low-power petrol and high-power petrol versions, Audi A1s are classified in lower insurance groups than competing MINI and Alfa Romeo Mito models.

Diesel Engines

Petrol low-power

Petrol High-power

Remember, you heard it here first…

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For those who have not seen these, i am re-uploading them now.

Below is the first episode of the Audi A1 mini-series starring Justin Timberlake.

Other episodes coming soon

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Breaking news from the Audi Factory!

Due to production constraints, the Competition Line exterior styling options are now only available in combination with Amalfi White paint. If you have placed an order for an Audi A1 with the competition kit in a different colour, please contact your dealer as soon as possible to discuss your options.

The restriction should be lifted soon (around the first week of September).

Sorry for any inconvenience caused and remember you heard it here first!

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Further to my post over of the A1-Forum and my tweets, etc. I would like to confirm the date and details of the Audi A1 UK launch.

The Audi A1 will launch on Saturday 13th November 2010 at Battersea Power Station with entertainment from 9:30am until 4PM.

This will be a closed event where the only people invited will be:

• Approx 100 customers (1 from each dealer)
• Audi UK representatives collecting demonstrators
• Audi Dealer representatives collecting demonstrators and hosting guests

The only customers that will be eligible are ones that have a car that is due to be delivered before the end of the first week of November. Each dealer will be provided with a list of eligible customers and asked to select just one. this customer will be contacted by the dealer to complete paperwork, etc and given a 45 minute time slot for the Battersea event, dependant on their geographical location.

On arrival guests will be welcome to enjoy the entertainment and refreshments provided. There car will be presented to them at their time slot, where their salesman/handover specialist will go over controls, etc. Following that the customer will be given the opportunity to partake in an ‘Iconic City Tour’. This escorted drive takes around 30-minutes and takes in several sights of london.

Audi hope that the high level of entertainment provided and the atmosphere will be enough to keep everybody there until 4PM, where the event culmulates in a mass drive-away of upto 300 Audi A1s! This will no doubt be a day to remember and will once again get Audi UK in the papers. The dealer staff attending will bring back their demonstrators ready for the normal A1 launch.

The centre launch of the Audi A1 will take place the following weekend. This will be an opportunity for customers to collect their cars and for interested parties to experience and actually drive the cars.

Our local dealer, Poole Audi, will be getting 2 demonstrators for this event and 1, possibly 2 showroom cars, with the rest of their fleet arriving over the next few months.

I have more details here on the launch event and so will add more detail on the launch date of the Audi A1 Owners Club.

Audi A1 Launch Date Confirmed

 Don’t forget to follow us for more information!

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There seems to be lots of confusion about when the fantastic Audi A1 is going to be launched. Well, here is what will happen…

Lots of customer ordered Audi A1s will be finished and in the country in October. However, Audi UK have stated to me that there will be NO customer deliveries in October! All cars will be held back until November.

The current plan is that there will be a national launch event the first week of November, the location has not been confirmed but one possibility is Battersea, London. One customer from each centre will be selected to ccollect their car from this national hub, where all cars will leave at the same time, probably causing tail-backs and getting Audi UK in the news!

The following weekend every centre in the UK will hold a centre launch, whereby they will all have 2 demonstrators and dependant on allocation 1/2 showroom cars, to handle demonstration test drives.

Customers will be able to collect their cars after the first event, but some centres will be likely to hold back until the centre launch event. Most centres will be making a big thing about this car as it is likely, certainly in my eyes anyway to be the biggest thing yet for Audi, bigger than the UR quattro, TT and R8 combined!

More informaton on this next week.

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This will become the number 1 resource for news and information on the Audi A1. Using information provided to us by our sources inside the Audi network, we will announce several break-throughs over the next few weeks, including exclusive footage of the second evolution of the Audi A1!

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