Baby moves Audi into space

By Alastair Sloane

This is the first official photo of the hatchback Audi A2, which will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week.

The aluminium A2 is a space frame design and is similar in size to the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, but at 895kg is considerably lighter.

It shares its floor design with the A-Class, in that the drive train is housed in a sandwich-layer floorpan. In a crash, the engine and gearbox slide under the floor out of harm's way.

The A2 is the first production car in the world to have what Audi calls a "service module."

This is a folding flap which takes the place of the conventional radiator grille and gives access to the oil dipstick and washer fluid.

The bonnet will generally only have to be opened at service intervals of 30,000km for the petrol model and 50,000km for the diesel.

Audi says the interior is deceptively roomy. For example, the rear footwells are lower than those ahead of the front seats, a design which creates more space for rear passengers.

The rear seats can also be folded down or removed for even extra space.

The A2 will come with a choice of two engines, one diesel, one petrol, both of 1.4-litres capacity and mated to a five-speed manual gearbox.

The three-cylinder turbo-diesel engine delivers 55kW and uses 4.2 litres of fuel for every 100km, says Audi. The four-cylinder petrol engine also produces 55kW and uses 6.1 litres of fuel for every 100km.

The suspension system consists of MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam axle at the rear.

Safety equipment includes anti-lock ABS brakes and an electronic stability programme.

The A2 will slip through the air - its drag co-efficient is 0.28, the same as the ground-breaking Audi 100.