Audi’s Quattro GmbH sports car division has its work cut out lately. Apart from the RS5 Convertible, the RS4 Avant and rumored RS7, the company’s engineers are also developing the RS1 based on the A1 premium supermini.
Captured here by our crafty spy photographers while testing in and around the Nürburgring race circuit, the prototype sports typical RS-styling traits such as the prominent front bumper air vents, a large rear wing and a rear diffuser with space for two bulbous tail pipes.
The production version may also feature carved wheel arches along with the usual interior goods like bucket sport seats, a different steering wheel and RS-specific trim.
And now for the big question: what’s going on under the sheetmetal? Well, first of all, Audi has been working on a Quattro all-wheel drive system for the A1 that is similar to the one found in A3 and TT models. The Ingolstadt-based company even showed a prototype A1 Quattro earlier this year.
Now this brings us to the engine bay. It is believed that Audi will opt for a four-cylinder turbocharged unit (though there have been rumors about the turbocharged five-pot). It should be substantially more powerful than the most potent standard A1, which features a 185HP 1.4-liter TSI, producing somewhere around 250-ponies.
We’d look for the RS1 making its debut at an international motorshow in 2012 or 2013 the latest.
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