Month: February 2012

We reckon the limited-run Audi A1 quattro is a pretty cool bit of kit. And we can think of few better places to have fun in the little fella than on a frozen lake in Sweden. That’s exactly what a few European-based journos have had the chance to do.

Evo: “Grip levels were surprisingly decent on snow-covered ice, although steering feel was still noticeable by its absence (we’ll wait until we get one on tarmac to report on that)—and the A1 has been set up with a pleasingly neutral handling balance, torque being shunted to the rear axle when understeer is detected, with a version of Audi’s torque vectoring system also helping out.”

Chris Harris for Pistonheads: “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.”

Autocar: “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.”

So they had a lot of fun, but weren’t really able to get a good feel for the A1 quattro’s on road abilities. Either way with some of the mods Audi has made for this currently unique A1 you’d reckon there’s more to come, possibly in the form of S and/or RS model designations as well as a Q1 soft-roader.

Although, given the price of the A1 quattro—at around £40K it costs more in the UK than an RS3—maybe they’ll be recouping all their development costs if they manage to sell all 333 examples.

We’ll just have to wait and see what else Audi plans to do with AWD on the A1. For now we can enjoy a short video from Evo showing the A1 quattro on ice.

[Source: Evo, Pistonheads, Autocar | Pic: Evo]

Here’s your first undisguised look at what is claimed to be the new MY13 Audi A3. It’s expected the third-generation hatch will debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month.

Audi has already given us an official look inside the new A3 and when you compare this image to the screen graphics you’ll see it’s a very good match. We think it’s pretty safe to assume this image is the real deal.

Built on the new Volkswagen Group MQB platform the A3 has taken an evolutionary approach from the outgoing 8P model. The styling has been sharpened up a little while strongly remaining part of the Audi family.

[Source: Auto-forum]

Happy days are here again, the return of the awesome Audi RS4 Avant is not too far away and today these leaked images have emerged to whet our collective appetites.

It now appears certain this month’s earlier rumour suggesting the RS4 Avant would debut at the Geneva Motor Show is correct. That means we’ll have official details very soon, but for now expect the RS4 to use a direct copy of the drivetrain from the RS5. Power is expected to come in the form of a normally aspirated 4.2 litre V8 kicking out 331kW/430Nm coupled to a double clutch gearbox with a tricky crown-gear differential at the heart of its quattro all-wheel drive system. Enough to dispatch 100km/h in around 4.7 seconds.

New elements have been added to the styling of the RS4, as you can see in the image above. The rear looks to be a translation of RS5 styling, with fat oval exhaust tips indicating the car means business. The new RS4 will start with MY13 production, which means it also gets the revised headlight design from the regular A4. Nice fat flared guards have also made it onto the wagon bodywork ensuring our lust for the RS4 Avant reaches new heights.

[Source: autoblog.nl]