Forget the hybrid concept. The car needs the following.

1. 2.0 liter TFSI or the new generation "bluetec" turbodiesel

2. Manual transmission

3. 3,200 lbs curb weight WITH a 180 lbs driver inside would be ideal; I know...I know...I'm dreaming

4. Standard Audi AWD with 60 percent of power constantly sent to rear wheels.

What's with Audi adopting the tall ugly Bentley/Chrysler 300 style grills lately?

I wonder what the side crashing performance will be, without the B column...I don't get those small cars. Do people even put their children in Minis? The other day I saw a child booster on the front seat of a Lotus Elise...

Off topic: On a side note, a co-worker was just released from hospital from a brain surgery, he will be off for 80 days. His Mini Cooper was hit by a pick up from behind after stopping in a traffic light exiting I-680. He says he will be fine, but if I was him, I wouldn't get into te Mini again. If it was a side crash from an intersection, I think he would be dead by now.

No B pillar? That's nuts.

"Sphere:
I wonder what the side crashing performance will be, without the B column...I don't get those small cars. Do people even put their children in Minis? The other day I saw a child booster on the front seat of a Lotus Elise...

Off topic: On a side note, a co-worker was just released from hospital from a brain surgery, he will be off for 80 days. His Mini Cooper was hit by a pick up from behind after stopping in a traffic light exiting I-680. He says he will be fine, but if I was him, I wouldn't get into te Mini again. If it was a side crash from an intersection, I think he would be dead by now."

Some of us don't live our lives in fear.

Horrible grille.

The car Audi should be adding to its lineup is a replacement for the original Audi GT Coupe from the early 80's. That was a cool little car.

Perhaps this will spur on Acura to produce a compact sports car again...

That grill is the beginning of a Chevrolet.

So is that glowing thing behind the back seats a Flux Capacitor?

I really like the interior with the metal knobs.

Agreed with John Doe, the grill needs Audi-fied.

As to the car being small, yes some of us do not live our lives in fear. Second, maybe if people did not drive rediculously tall trucks, it'd be safer to drive small cars. That is what I do not get about people who drive SUVs for "safety," not only are you increasing your roll-over chances but that just means someone else will buy a bigger vehicle after you. Its like a Suburban Arms race.

First people bought S-10 Blazers, then Tahoes, then Suburbans, than Hummers. Whats next? Abrams Tanks? And lifting your truck makes it even less safe: now not only will you run over someone and kill them, your car is way to top heavy and the suspension will fail and cause injury to you in the manner of a) impact trauma or b) being thrown from the car. That is what some people just do not get about larger vehicles: they carry more inertia in a crash and I've seen several people thrown from their trucks when they were wearing their seat belts. They were predominately bigger people, so their own added weight meant something, but over-all bigger is not really better.

Remember that this is just a concept. It will most likely end up with a B pillar in a production version, just like the Challenger concept had to B pillar and now has one in production.

I think it's a pretty sweet little car. If I were in the market for something like that, it would definitely be worth a look.

Have you guys been outside US, specially south america? Yeah they don't have those Suburbans and Tahoes, but they have a lot of City Buses, in diffrente sizes, but they are ALL bigger than any Hummer. I`ve been in Spain, too, and England, and they do have a lot of buses there. Here where I live in California you can barely see a school bus, not to mention a City Bus. You see one each half a hour maybe, while in other countries who rely more on public transportation you see a Bus at every other block!

How can those Europeans complain about unsafe Hummers when they ride (mostly without belts) on City bus everywhere? I understand the gas issue, but, as far as road safety goes, they are not better than us Americans, and still, they chose to risk their lives driving mini cars, and even consider cars without b pillars. Now, if we factor in the South Americans and their crazy bus drivers, I'd say they are even more unsafe to themselves, and to others. But nobody complains about City Buses here, only Suburbans and Hummers. Guess they as aways forgot the third world plight for some good old USA bashing...No wonder China, India, Brazil, can get away with crazy carbon emissions, and people will complain about Suburbans...

Also, as for the situation in US, there will always be a lot of pickup trucks out there, no matter what people think about Suburbans. Contractors will not go away anytime soon, and there are a lot of them, enough to make one worry, speacially one with a lot of kids.

This car is unsafe.

I for one think the interior is a terrible step in the wrong direction. The materials look to be high quality(for a digital render) but the overall design is awful. If you think the grille was copied from Chevy(even though its very similar to the other newer Audis), then the vents must be actual Chevy parts! As for the console, it looks like its straight out of a early civic.

My 10 year old A4 has a significantly classier interior that. I really hope that this is not the direction Audi is planning on going with the design.

Here is an S4 for reference:

http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/03/Audi-S4-driver's-seat-view.JPG

Very stylish!

Knowing Audi, they will probably make it FWD while offering Quattro on a $35K model.

Im waiting to jump into something new and exciting for 08-09 as some of the makers are finally getting in touch with enthusiast desires(BMW 135, new MB Coupe). As for Audi, they will probably continue to make cars that are overpriced for their performance(which is acceptable if they deliver elsewhere) which lose their value at twice the rate of BMWs and Benzs.

"How can those Europeans complain about unsafe Hummers when they ride (mostly without belts) on City bus everywhere?"

HAHA, buses by there nature drive everywhere at 20mph and are almost never in crashes, you don't need seatbelts in them because unless you get hit by a plane the bus isn't going to move.

"and even consider cars without b pillars"

What is said B pillar going to do for you in a country where if the crash doesn't kill you they will shoot you instead?

2004 per capita CO2 emissions (metric tons/person)

China 3.84
Brazil 1.8
India 1.2

USA 20.4

When the US cuts emissions by 80%, THEN we can start complaining about China and India.

(China's emissions have increased significantly since 2004, but per capita emissions are still less than 1/4 of the US. 20% of China's emissions are due to output for the US market anyway.)

The mini is not unsafe in that instance , it was the idiot who hit your bud, if he hadnt been hit no need for hospitalization, come on prevention people!!!!!. with some of the reasoning i hear here, crap just stay home, if i take a bus i will die because no seat belts and a bigger semi is going to hit me, get a suv it will roll over , or get hit by a big bus, drive a mid size will get hit by an suv, get a small car will get hit by a mid size. take a bike and will get hit by car, .......on and on , f-it build a bunker and stay there.

The mini is not unsafe in that instance , it was the idiot who hit your bud, if he hadnt been hit no need for hospitalization, come on prevention people!!!!!. with some of the reasoning i hear here, crap just stay home, if i take a bus i will die because no seat belts and a bigger semi is going to hit me, get a suv it will roll over , or get hit by a big bus, drive a mid size will get hit by an suv, get a small car will get hit by a mid size. take a bike and will get hit by car, .......on and on , f-it build a bunker and stay there.

but this audi looks cool

That is a cool looking car and should get great mileage. Would we all be safer if we drove dump trucks? What would be the next escalation after dump trucks? Dump trucks wouldn't seem very safe if I was driving a 60 ton tank.

@ Sphere

First, read some statistics about deaths on city bus crashes... I will give you a hint: they almost never happen. They CAN happen though, but normally it doesnt pass a couple of injured.

About the "crazy" emission, learn a little more about brazil. There is a reason why we can sell carbon credits to the other countrys, and that reason is: we pollute much less than the average.

I like the tall grills myself. But this car only looks good to me from the front. Interior looks OK, except for the door handle.

this car has a 'my daiper is too tight face'

i think the audi A1 is so cute i love and i always have since the day i saw it on the front of that magazine cover, it was like my eyes were glued to it and i stood in the shop for ten minutes reading all about it.

i think the audi A1 is so cute i love and i always have since the day i saw it on the front of that magazine cover, it was like my eyes were glued to it and i stood in the shop for ten minutes reading all about it.