2011 Audi A1 Convertible Preview

History

Audi Shooting Brake Concept

Audi unveiled the Shooting Brake Concept in 2005 at the Tokyo Auto Show. With its powerful 250 bhp, 3.2-litre six-cylinder engine and quattro permanent four-wheel drive, the Shooting Brake Concept produces a quality of road behaviour that in every respect lives up to its visual impact. The study vehicle sprints from 0 to 60 mphin just six seconds, and its top speed is electronically governed at 155 mph.

A venture into a new segment: the Audi Shooting Brake Concept represents an entirely new departure in design terms. The styling of this coupé, measuring 4.18 m long by 1.84 m wide but standing just 1.35 m tall, singles it out unequivocally as a paragon of the latest Audi design, yet countless innovative elements demonstrate how this repository of shapes has taken a decisive evolutionary leap forward. Even when seen in the rearview mirror, the Shooting Brake Concept reveals at first glance a front end that is characterised by the striking single-frame radiator grille with dominant vertical slats in chrome.

Audi Shooting Brake Concept

Powerful and confident – the power unit of the Shooting Brake Concept is a transversally installed V6 four-cylinder engine with a displacement of 3.2 litres, which has already thrilled many thousands of customers in currently the most sporty versions of the A3 and TT car lines.

The six-cylinder engine is equally suited to such a distinctly sporty vehicle as the Audi Shooting Brake Concept thanks to its outstanding torque and power characteristics. Its maximum output is 184 kW (250 bhp) at 6,200 rpm, and the torque range is particularly impressive, peaking at 320 Nm between 2,500 and 3,000 rpm.

Audi A1 Metroproject Quattro concept

Tokyo Auto Show again; this time 2007: Audi presented the Metroproject Quattro concept, an original, characteristically Audi design study for the sub-compact segment. The three-door four-seater car blends dynamic styling with exemplary economy of space and supreme quality in trailblazing fashion. At the same time, a series of visionary technical solutions take efficiency, dynamism and motoring pleasure into new territory as only Audi knows how.

The drive unit for the metroproject quattro showcases a fully independent, innovative hybrid technology. At work under the bonnet is a 1.4.litre TFSI engine developing 110 kW (150 bhp), whose power is directed to the front wheels by means of the S-tronic Direct Shift Gearbox. A 30 kW (41 bhp) electric motor positioned on the rear axle is able to deliver up to an additional 200 Nm of torque when the vehicle is accelerating. When boosting, in other words driving the vehicle simultaneously by TFSI and electric motor to achieve a dynamic driving style, the study is transformed from a front-wheel-drive car to a quattro, and power is transferred to the road in the most effective way possible.

Audi Metroproject Quattro Concept

The electric motor is furthermore capable of powering the vehicle alone for zero-emission driving in residential areas, for instance. The capacity of the lithium-ion batteries gives the vehicle a range of up to 100 km in pure electric mode; the motor can be recharged from any power socket. The automatic start/stop facility, energy regeneration and phases of purely electrical operation reduce the fuel consumption and emissions of the Audi metroproject quattro by around 15 percent compared to when it is running exclusively on the combustion engine. Despite its sporty performance (0-100 km/h in 7.8 seconds, top speed of 201 km/h), the study uses just 4.9 litres of premium fuel for every 100 km, while CO2 emissions average a mere 112 g/km.

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