The new five-door Audi A1 Sportback has been launched in South Africa, some 16 months after the three-door model was locally introduced. The newest member to the Audi range promises to extend the virtues of A1 3-door to a more practical and mature package.

Identical in length to the 3-door at 3 954 mm, the Audi A1 Sportback is the most compact 5-door model in Audi’s range. Apart from the two rear doors there is little to distinguish the new car from the sportier 3-door model. The front is dominated by the single-frame grille with the beveled upper corners. The bonnet and the rear hatch wrap around the body, the shoulder line encircles the entire car and the roof, with its integrated spoiler, transitions to a steeply sloped C-pillar. Lightweight materials and construction means that the A1 Sportback remains efficient and agile. As an example, the entry-level 1.2T FSI tips the scales at just 1 065 kilograms.

Inside, the roof of the Audi A1 Sportback extends farther back than in the three-door model, providing 11 mm more rear seat headroom. The various controls and driver instrumentation remains unchanged, as does the classic Audi workmanship. Rear seats are contoured and can be folded down to increase cargo capacity from 270- to 920-litres. As with the 3-door model, there are many customization options available for the A1 Sportback. Customers can choose to differentiate their cars with various body kits from quattro® GmbH or Audi Genuine Accessories. The roof can be painted in a contrast colour while sticker sets can add an interesting dimension.

The A1 Sportback is equipped with electrohydraulic rack-and-pinion power steering, as opposed to a solely hydraulic setup. The flow of oil is produced by an electric motor, which works more efficiently than a hydraulic system and is said to produce better steering feedback and response.

The Audi A1 Sportback is available with a choice of four engines: three TFSI and one TDI unit. Paired with a five-speed manual transmission, the 1.6 TDI puts out 77 kW and 250 Nm of torque. This is good enough for a 0 – 100 km/h sprint of 10.7 seconds, a top speed of 190 km/h and fuel consumption is quoted as 3.8 L/100km.

The smallest of the three petrol engines is the 1.2 TFSI that generates 63 kW and produces its peak torque of 160 Nm between 1 500 and 3 500 r/min. Coupled with a five-speed manual transmission, it accelerates the A1 Sportback from 0 – 100 km/h in 11.9 seconds on its way to a top speed of 180 km/h. It consumes 5.1 L/100km.

The 1.4 TFSI is available in two versions. The smaller of the two is a turbocharged 90 kW / 200 Nm version. Acceleration from 0 – 100 km/h is completed in 9.0 seconds and top speed is 203 km/h. Its average fuel consumption is just 5.4 L/100km and when equipped with Audi’s 7-speed S tronic transmission, this improves to 5.3 L/100km.

The most powerful engine in the series is the super- and turbocharged 1.4 TFSI. This engine is only available with an S tronic transmission and produces 136 kW and 250 Nm of torque. The sprint from zero to 100 km/h is done in 7.0 seconds and the top speed is 227 km/h. Average fuel consumption is 5.9 L/100km.

Pricing includes a 5-year/100 000km maintenance plan.

Audi has released details and pictures of its 2012 A1 Sportback – the five-door version of its Mini rival.

The Sportback will expand an A1 line-up that has already been a sales success both globally and in South Africa and will become Audi’s best-selling model, according to the car maker.

The A1 Sportback is the same length as the 3.95 m-long three-door A1, but is 6 mm taller and wider to bring slightly more head and shoulder room. Practicality otherwise remains unchanged, with boot capacity still 270 litres – expandable to 920-litres with the rear seats folded down.

The two extra doors are obviously one of the differentiators between the two A1 models and add only about 25 kg to the five-door’s kerb weight.

A1 Sportback customers, however, have an additional paintwork option where they can pay extra for the upper section of the car – including the roof, roof arches and rear spoiler – to be finished in a contrasting colour to the main body. The three-door A1 offers only optional roof arches in a contrasting colour.

Engines in Europe again include three petrols and three diesels, although in South Africa we’re likely to see the three-door’s engine line-up continue, this is to say, a 63 kW 1.2-litre turbo petrol, 90 kW 1.4-litre turbo petrol, 136 kW 1.4-litre turbocharged and supercharged and a 77 kW 1.6-litre turbo diesel.

The 2012 Audi A1 Sportback, which as with the three-door is related to the Volkswagen Polo, is likely to carry a small premium over the three-door that starts at R219 900 for the 1.2 TFSI Attraction.

In its quest to achieve a sales target of over 1 million vehicles per year, Audi is planning new models at an increasing rate.

Over the past 12 months we’ve seen the introduction of many new models including the A5 Sportback, A7 Sportback – not to mention the sports derivatives such as the Audi TT RS, Audi R8 Spyder, Audi R8 GT – and most recently the Audi A1.

The A1 will have many spin-offs, including the Audi A1 Sportback, Audi S1 and Audi A1 Cabriolet. What you might not know however, is that the A1 family will receive a new member, the Audi Q1 or the Allroad version of the A1.

Yes, consider it a small crossover, fitted with an all-wheel-drive transmission (2-wheel drive is also considered), which will use the Suzuki SX4 platform. With the advent of VW’s 19% stake in Suzuki, it seems that Volkswagen wants to use all the advantages in order to be world’s number one automaker.

Expect the design of the Audi Q1 to take its cues from the Q5 and Q7 models, while under the bonnet we are likely to find two familiar power plants: the 1.4 TFSI engine, delivering 118 kW and the 2.0-litre TDI engine with 103 kW.

The 2011 Audi A1 broke cover less than 10 days ago and already we have preview renderings of the Audi A1 Cabrio – one of the family of variants expected to be built on the A1 platform.

The renderings are just what you’d expect: a convertible version of the A1 hatch. No surprises there. Also no surprise is the likely use of a folding soft top. Audi may be billing the A1 as the first true premium sub-compact, but it still has to meet a reasonable price point, so hardtops are likely out. Power will be the same as the engines found in the standard A1, including a pair of TFSI petrol engines and a TDI turbodiesel.

The Audi A1 Cabriolet will add to Audi’s arsenal in the battle with BMW’s range of Mini variants. Other A1 derivatives will include a five-door hatch, like the Sportback concept, and a sporty S1 variant. The S1 is expected to house a 1,4-litre TSI engine producing 147 kW – enough power to provide competition for the MINI Cooper S.

Production and sales of the Audi A1 Cabriolet are expected to start in 2012.