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Audi has just unveiled a revised version of its A1 supermini that is both cleaner and more fuel-efficient than before.
Wait! Come back! This is important news, because in the battle for sub-99g/km-of-CO2 tax-dodging posh hatches, these differences make all the, erm, difference.
The revised 1.6-litre TDI four-pot in the A1 now returns a claimed 74.3mpg and emits 99g/km of CO2, meaning Mr Osborne can't pilfer any road tax duty (from the second year onwards), and Mr Johnson can't charge you for driving in his city.
Audi has tweaked the fuel system and ECU to achieve these money-saving gains, along with start/stop and energy recuperation systems. Though not at the expense of performance: 0-62mph remains the same at 10.5 seconds.
All rather boring but useful facts, correct? Only these economy figures are EXACTLY the same as the Mini One D. In fact, this A1 even costs the same as the Mini One D, at £14,480. The only difference is the standing start: the A1 has the jump on the Mini's 0-62mph time by 0.9s.
Then there's the small matter of the Citroen DS3 e-HDi, which emits 95g/km of CO2, returns 78.5mpg and will hit 62mph in 12.5 seconds (£14,600). Or the Fiat 500 TwinAir, which, at just 10,865 of your finest British pounds will give you 68.9mpg, emit 95g/km of CO2 and hit 62mph in 11 seconds.
We leave it to you, TopGear.commer, to decide which one you'd pick as your econo-box of choice...
Open Car Bar
What do you think?
Want to comment on this?
mingachimp commented on this article
at 06:10 pm on 21 June 2011
FIRST COMMENT
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gullyj commented on this article
at 06:11 pm on 21 June 2011
None of them
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StigClone commented on this article
at 06:39 pm on 21 June 2011
I couldn't care less about these diesels.
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niftyjack commented on this article
at 06:52 pm on 21 June 2011
Hm...the 500 TwinAir is cool. The two-cylinder engine is a nice novelty. But the A1 has the nice Audi fit-and-finish. But the DS3 looks so good! Oh wait, I'm American. We have no Audi A1, 500 TwinAir (but the 500 is sold in my city!), or French cars whatsoever. These are all the kinds of cars that NEED to be sold here to show everybody that yes, small cars are an alternative. Hell I've even seen more SmartCars puttering around my area. Come on, Audi. The A3 is the smallest we have and it's just a Golf. Fiat, the TwinAir may be too slow for leadfoot America, but the Abarth would be nice. Citroen and Renault: come to America! I want you!
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skicyp commented on this article
at 07:11 pm on 21 June 2011
ah...duh... AUDI!!!! although I really would like an Abarth (preferably the model with the open engine compartment...lol...
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