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Audi A1 clubsport quattro Concept Hints At Possible RS1

 
3 1,834 views Jun 3, 2011
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2011 Audi A1 clubsport quattro Concept

HI-RES GALLERY: 2011 Audi A1 clubsport quattro Concept


Though we’ve been talking about an RS1 high-performance minicar from Audi for more than year now, the strongest indication yet that we might one day see such a car came from the unveiling of the Audi A1 clubsport quattro Concept at this week’s Wörthersee Tour 2011 in Austria.

Packing the automaker’s potent 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine, which is used in other hot models such as the TT RS and RS3 Sportback, but with output dialed all the way up to 503 horsepower and 487 pound-feet of torque, the aggressively styled hatch would certainly be worthy of wearing the fabled RS badge.

Such a possibility might not appear so far-fetched it seems as the concept is in fact referred to as the RS1 within Audi, the automaker’s design chief Stefan Sielaff recently revealed to What Car?.

The Audi exec also pointed out that the A1’s engine bay doesn’t need to be modified to house the five-cylinder engine previewed in the A1 clubsport quattro Concept.

You may recall that the production form of this engine develops as much as 340 horsepower, so a detuned version matched with a quattro all-wheel drive system would be ideal for an eventual RS1.

Finally, Sielaff also mentioned that the A1 clubsport quattro Concept is a massive 880 pounds lighter than the standard A1 hatch due to extensive weight saving modifications, and while this would be too extreme for a production model, a weight saving of around 440 pounds was possible.

So just imagine it, an A1 hatch with around 300 horsepower from a turbocharged five-cylinder engine driving all four wheels and sitting in a chassis that’s been lightened by 440 pounds. Such an RS1 model would become an instant classic.

[What Car?]



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Comments (3)

  1. fb_33701777 avatar Will Cheval Jr. Posted: 6/3/2011 8:49am PDT

    The headlamps look bloodshot...Audi always comes up with fantastic headlight designs.
     
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  2. fb_100001663981238 avatar Daniel Chavez Moran Posted: 6/3/2011 8:50am PDT

    The renderings make it look like a mean VW Golf. I much more like this Audi version, with the abundance of carbon fiber and red accents.
     
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  3. By catchmyshadow Posted: 6/3/2011 9:23am PDT

    that´s great news, a mini hatch with a 5-cylinder monster.
     
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