Overall rating:

Let's face facts: when it comes to building highly desirable cars, Audi has mastered the art. And after driving a prototype of the A1 2.0-litre TFSI quattro, it is abundantly clear it is about to have another winner on its hands. Will it be called the Audi S1?

Key Facts

Price: not yet confirmed for production
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol
Transmission: six-speed manual fitted to test car, but dual-clutch automatic likely to be offered, quattro four-wheel drive
Body style: three-door hatchback (five-door A1 Sportback due too)
CO₂ emissions: target is less than 180g/km
Top speed: electronically limited to 155mph
0-62mph: about 5.9 seconds
Power: 208bhp maximum

In the Metal:

So Audi has taken the very refined A1 supermini, rummaged around with the mechanics and produced something that now has an attitude at odds with its rather sober and sensible architecture. There are absolutely no clues within the bodywork to suggest anything other than the 'norm' is occurring - it still appears the same as the three-door version of the A1 Audi launched last year.

Driving it:

However, turn the key and the noise expelled out of the exhaust, even at tick-over, suggests this is no ordinary Audi A1. It has the same 2.0-litre TFSI 208bhp turbocharged unit Audi uses across its range. And it is a peach of an engine, rasping and snarling to its power pea, all the better for the six-speed manual gearbox fitted to the car we drive. No figures have been released as yet, but Audi has said unofficially that a 0-62mph time of 5.9 seconds is possible, a full second faster than a VW Golf GTI, while top speed will be electronically limited to 155mph.

The Haldex all-wheel drive quattro system is identical to that found in the Audi TT and the hotter TT RS, so we knew how well it worked before we drove it, but in this smaller car it proves to be even more fun. Power and torque is swapped 100 per cent from front to rear quickly and keeps the A1 exactly where it has been pointed. During our session in this car we were drove it across a frozen lake at Audi's secret test facility somewhere in Sweden (seriously, that's as much as we can tell you) and at no time did it ever feel out of control. Even when we turned off the electronic safety nannies it just danced over the ice as if it were a full pedigree rally car.
The ride is expectedly firm, with dampers uprated to match the A1's new performance (the Audi engineers were keen to stress that the suspension set-up still hasn't been finalised) yet it's not so harsh that you feel your vertebra fusing together if a speed hump is taken with too much verve.

Worth Noting

Because this is still at the prototype stage we have to wait for official figures to be published, but talking to the engineers they are working towards it returning an average of at least 40mpg and hope it won't spew out much more than 180g/km of CO₂. Also, expect to see a full range of safety acronyms - ABS, EBS etc. - included in the finished product.

Summary

Putting such a large engine into the Audi A1 doesn't seem like overkill. Despite its supermini dimensions, the quattro system ensures that the A1 has the grip to match the power. What's more, Audi has retained perhaps the A1's biggest asset - its 'big car' refinement. But now it has the performance to worry larger rivals too. We can't wait for the finished product.