Audi confirms A1 quattro for the UK

Audi has confirmed that the A1 quattro will be coming to the UK, but there will be just 19 examples - all left-hand drive - available with a price tag of £41,020. The high performance version of the A1 was unveiled in December but was originally only destined for mainland Europe.

Ordering officially opens in March but Audi dealers are already taking deposits for what promises to be a highly exclusive and sought after car. It's powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine producing 256PS along with 350Nm of torque. This gives it a 0-62mph time of 5.7 seconds and a top speed of 152mph. Economy is a claimed 32.8mpg while it comes as standard with a six-speed manual gearbox plus of course, quattro four-wheel drive.

Just one paint job is available so every A1 quattro comes in Glacier White metallic and a high-gloss black roof. It also has white 18-inch alloys with a 'turbine' design and comes with bespoke front and rear bumpers and a two-colour rear spoiler.

The chassis uses parts from the TTS and to aid handling the A1 quattro comes with an XDS electronic differential, which makes for sharper cornering plus an upgraded ESP (electronic stability programme) which has a sport mode that intervenes later, plus it can be turned off all together. According to the German firm, more than 600 parts have been upgraded or replaced to create the A1 quattro

Inside there are Silk Nappa leather sports seats with integrated head rests and red stitching along with a red backed rev counter, white needles on the instrument dials and a multi-function steering wheel with red stitching. 

As it's the top of the range A1, it's no surprise that it comes well equipped as standard with xenon headlights, adaptive brake lights, light and rain sensors, parking sensors, automatic air conditioning and cruise control. It also has DAB digital radio, the Audi Music Interface (for connecting an iPod) a HDD navigation system, Bluetooth and a CD changer.