Your Take: the Audi A1 Concept

I love it! It’s no MINI. But I still love it.

I was a little worried when I first heard about this a few months ago. Worried that it might be something I would want to get out of my MINI for, but now that I see the concept and the direction they want to head…..I’m no longer worried. :)

There is the BMW 135i though…

Ya … mmmm … not really sure what to say about that. Trying so hard to be something unique and trend setting and … well in my opinion … missing by such a wide margin. Looks like a Fiat design concept from the 70′s.

Not too worried about aesthetics, myself. I’d like to see some numbers.

I warmed up to Audi’s newer “big gaping grille” look a couple years ago, but this rendering really makes me recoil a bit. I love Audis and VW’s, but this is tough to take. I’m hoping that when we see the actual photographs from the Tokyo show next week, the photos will be more flattering.

I think competition makes things better. I am looking forward to seeing this car, in real photos and videos, not this rendering…

I’m not getting the front grill either – it just feel ill proportioned. All the Audi grills fell a little to big for me right now, and this one could have been smaller and yet still felt too big on a small car. I think they went way overboard on that – maybe the production car will be tamer.

The other thing that jumps out is the aluminum arch – emphasizing this form to me feels like a throw back to the original TT, which perhaps is deliberate. They claim that is the mother of their current design theme.

I read that they will offer the dual clutch transmission on it, and with quattro on tap then no doubt it may be a great drive. But if you option it up like that then a more fair comparison may be to the Mini with the JCW works on it – could be a real close match. I’d bet the journalists tip to the DSG in their reviews though. When BMW rolls out their version they’d better out-do Audi at their own game.

I don’t think comparisons to the Volvo make sense since its a larger class car than the Mini, and it appears the A1. The C30 and the GTI, Mazdaspeed3, sure.

There are aspects to this car that are cool, in my opinion. They did not hit it overall, though.

With what little I’ve seen — the wcf site is acting hinky on me — it reads as a none too successful mash-up of a (Holden)Pontiac GTO, 08 Chevrolet Camaro Concept & the Fiat 500 that just hit the market, fronted by a poorly made meat grinder, with the exhausts as the knozzles for the built in sausage makers.

Of course, all of the above could be the fault of a rendering that appears to have been done by the Autoexpress “art” staff.

“No more guesses. No more renderings. We have obtained the first official photos of the Audi Metroproject Quattro concept, believed to be the first version of the Audi A1.”

Who are they kidding? That’s not a photo.

I don’t get any emotional kick when looking at this. It may be slick but it doesn’t do anything for me. It’d have to be one helluva drivers car to get me to give up my MINI for that ugly thing.

I am turned off by the huge grill too. Looks very very angry. I am not sure what is Audi thinking about this big grill theme. Auto stylists are desperately looking for some visual differentiators. But personally, this is a big turn off for me. I may as well mention that some of what BMW designers are doing are also bad. The old 3 series has a much better styling and much cleaner look while the new one looks more like..well I don’t really remember how it looks.. It is more generic now and it is the problem.

What is it with car designers especially Bangle who try and make the cars look like birds or animals? Bangles eagle eye headlamps scare young children. This audi looks angry. Whatever happened to good old reliable round headlamps and radiator grilles which actually served a purpose as well as being stylish? Still there were some cars from the 50s in USA that looked like rocketships.

I rather like the back end, especially the moulding of the bumper around the tail pipes.

This effeminate toy isn’t going to fly in the USA.

Engine could be cool if it’s the 2.0T. But Audi has a habit of under-delivering on horsepower.

Audi has a reputation for under-delivering, period. Which is why their arrogance in pronouncing their concept a MINI killer is not surprising.

You always over-talk what you can’t really do.

fugly

One word “UGLY”

Looks like a cross breed between aggressive & cute…which makes it look rather awkward to me.

That is one mean looking car. I think the interior is very nice in that it is functional and unusual. I think it will appeal to the hot hatch enthusiast, but it will not be a MINI killer. MINI is unique in that it’s “cute” for many, and it appeals to the hot hatch fans because of what’s underneath.

I drive a MINI mainly because of the way it drives, not so much how it looks – The proof with the A1 for me will be whether there is substance behind it’s (overcooked in my view) style

Looks like somebody tacked the front end of a Chrysler 300 onto a TT. Did all the DaimlerChrysler designers defect to VW/Audi?

Nice bbq grille up front. It makes the Dodge and Chrysler battering ram front ends look conservative. I don’t think Audi has the strength of presence in the US small car market to really rattle anyone, let alone the impenetrable MINI community. Having driven the FWD A3 and been terribly dissappointed, it won’t get a second look from me. I’m sure if this does gain some traction, an S1 will follow. That may very well encourage development of an AWD MINI coupe many people have hoped for and keep things interesting in our neck of the woods.

WOW, looks terrible.

lol.i wanna stuff a costcoload of roast chicken into that gaping yaw. (napoleanic reference)

Rather indifferent on the design, definitely a Audi, have to say haven’t been a fan of the new front ends but then again I drive a Mini so not to worried how the front end of a Audi looks. Should be interesting to see how their performance model stacks up against the future JCW factory kit.