ABT has worked their magic on the new Audi A1 Sportback to create the AS1 Sportback. Giving the smallest Audi a styling and performance lift, ABT boasts that ‘Sports is back’. On the styling front, ABT have left the front S-Line bumper as is, but have added carbon fibre vents to the wings just behind the wheels, and there are carbon fibre side skirt additions too. At the rear there is a carbon diffuser with a centrally mounted twin exit exhaust system to give the A1 a bit of much needed aural embellishment. Giving the biggest visual improvement are a set of 18-inch ABT split-rim alloy wheels which are considerably lighter than the stock items. There’s been a fair bit of work under the bonnet too, with the 1.4 litre TFSi engine in both states of tune a boost. The 122 hp model jumps to 160 hp, while 185 hp variant now has 210 hp, enough for a decent performance increase. There are also smaller increases available for the 1.2 litre petrol and 1.6 litre TDi engines.
Monday, October 15, 2012