The A1 is Audi's first attempt at building a supermini and although it's not the most amazing-looking machine in the world, it's selling rather well. A facelift has been in the works for almost a year now, and these latest spyshots preview the changes that are likely to be revealed within the few months that separate us from the Paris Motor Show (starts in early October).
Our spies captured this camouflaged 5-door A1 Sportback testing in the south of Europe. Although only the roof and pillars are showing, we can actually tell a lot of things from these photos.
For starters, the design is almost identical to the one of the S1 hot hatch that came out a few months ago. New headlights have been installed and they've lost that old A4-like wave pattern in favor of straight lines. Also based on the S1, we can tell you that there won't be a full-LED headlight option, but the adaptive xenon system should be just as good.
Based on the same platform as the recently refreshed Polo, the Audi A1 is almost 4 meters in length, making it slightly more practical than a MINI Cooper hatch. However, the recently-launched 5-door hatch from the British maker means there's almost no difference between the pair.
Where the Audi can claw back a bit of advantage is in the diverse engine range, where the A1 will offer anything from 90 to 192 hp. Both a 1-liter fuel-sipper with 90 hp and a three-cylinder, 1.4-liter TDI could be introduced by the facelift. Top-spec A1 will probably get a bump in power to the same 192 hp as next year's revised Polo GTI. However, we still can't tell you if this is coming from a 1.4-liter twin-charger or a replacement 1.8-liter with a simple turbo.
Competition in the performance diesel market is heating up, with MINI recently announcing the Cooper SD packs a very impressive 170 horsepower 2-liter. Audi could either bump its A1 2.0 TDI a only slightly to 150 hp or use one of its high-output 177 or 184 hp mills.
Outside of MINI, the A1 facelift will have little competition in the segment. Technology will be available in abundance, starting with active safety systems and ending with an updated MMI system.
For starters, the design is almost identical to the one of the S1 hot hatch that came out a few months ago. New headlights have been installed and they've lost that old A4-like wave pattern in favor of straight lines. Also based on the S1, we can tell you that there won't be a full-LED headlight option, but the adaptive xenon system should be just as good.
Based on the same platform as the recently refreshed Polo, the Audi A1 is almost 4 meters in length, making it slightly more practical than a MINI Cooper hatch. However, the recently-launched 5-door hatch from the British maker means there's almost no difference between the pair.
Where the Audi can claw back a bit of advantage is in the diverse engine range, where the A1 will offer anything from 90 to 192 hp. Both a 1-liter fuel-sipper with 90 hp and a three-cylinder, 1.4-liter TDI could be introduced by the facelift. Top-spec A1 will probably get a bump in power to the same 192 hp as next year's revised Polo GTI. However, we still can't tell you if this is coming from a 1.4-liter twin-charger or a replacement 1.8-liter with a simple turbo.
Competition in the performance diesel market is heating up, with MINI recently announcing the Cooper SD packs a very impressive 170 horsepower 2-liter. Audi could either bump its A1 2.0 TDI a only slightly to 150 hp or use one of its high-output 177 or 184 hp mills.
Outside of MINI, the A1 facelift will have little competition in the segment. Technology will be available in abundance, starting with active safety systems and ending with an updated MMI system.