Audi A1 Clubsport Quattro with 496bhp at Worthersee

Audi A1 Clubsport quattro at Worthersee gets a huge 496bhp

It’s Wörthersee Tour 2011 time – heaven on earth for VW Group nutters – and this year Audi has put together a very warm A1 with 496bhp – the Audi A1 Clubsport Quattro – to tantalise and torment Audi-philes.

Tease and torment because there’s not much chance the A1 Clubsport will make it in to production any time soon, although it’s always possible something similar could see the light of day as the Audi RS1 – a tempting proposition. But first we’ll have to see the Audi S1 quattro.

The A1 Clubsport gets a modified version of the 2.5 litre five-pot from the TT-RS, but with a bigger turbo and exhaust it manages to deliver 496bhp and 487lb/ft of torque.

Running gear – the six-speed manual box and the quattro four-wheel-drive – are all nicked from the same TT-RS, which makes the performance of the A1 Clubsport almost insanely good. 62mph comes up in 3.7 seconds and double that in 10.9 seconds with a top speed limited to 155mph.

Stopping power is handled by a set of ceramic brakes up front, encased by some turbine-like 19″ alloys, and the exterior is finished in Matte White with carbon fibre for the roof, wings, doors and side panels.

Inside the Clubsport gets a set of lightweight bucket seats nicked from the R8 GT up front and absolutely nothing in the back. Audi have dumped the back seats and instead stuck in a small RSJ to stiffen things up and make room to store a pair of helmets.

As we said, there’s no chance of the A1 Clubsport quattro making production, but there is a small chance a refined verison with a very similar mechanical setup could see the light of day at some point as the Audi RS1.

An appealing prospect.

By Cars UK