Audi's A1 Luxury Baby

The long-awaited 2010 Audi A1 is about to hit the markets, Audi have recently released the specifications of the A1 range at launch date.

Sitting on a 2469 mm wheelbase and with an overall length of just 3954 mm, the Audi A1 is the smallest Audi models since the Audi A2. The Audi A1 features a coefficient of drag of between 0.329 and 0.333, depending on the model, and a frontal area of 2.04 m2. 3 engine options are available initially: 1.2 and 1.4 TFSI petrol units and a 1.6 TDI diesel.

The 1.2 TFSI engine is good for 85 PS (63 kW) at 4800 rpm and has a peak torque of 160 Nm (118 ft.lb) developed between 1500 and 3500 rpm. Driving the front wheels through a five speed manual gearbox, this is enough to thrust the 1040 kg hatchback Audi A1 1.2 TFSI from 0 to 100 km/h in a claimed 11.7 seconds and on to a top speed of 180 km/h (112 mph). CO2 emissions are a tidy 118 g/km.

The next petrol engined variant is the 1.4 TFSI, available with or without start & stop technology. The turbocharged 1390 cc engine produces 122 PS (90 kW) at 5000 rpm and achieves peak torque of 200 Nm from 1500 rpm to 4000 rpm. Driving through a 7 speed automatic gearbox, the 1125 kg Audi A1 1.4 TFSI is propelled to 100 km/h from rest in 8.9 seconds and has a claimed top speed of 203 km/h. 122 g/km of CO2 is claimed overall, with that figure dropping to 119 g/km with the start & stop technology.

The only diesel engine available at launch is the 1.6 TDI. This 1598 cc unit delivers 105 PS (77 kW) at 4400 rpm and 250 Nm of torque at 1500-2500 rpm. Unusually for a modern diesel, it has just a 5-speed manual gearbox. Claimed CO2 emissions for the Audi A1 1.6 TDI are 103 g/km. It weighs 1040 kg and has a 0-100 km/h sprint time of 10.5 seconds. The claimed top speed for this model is 195 km/h.