Oh, sure, Audi, go ahead and take our cherished ex-child pageant heartbreaker Justin Timberlake to do your celebrity lifestyle pre-launch marketing for your new big-volume car. Quote to us your estimated U.S. fuel mileage numbers in the damned press materials. Invite a few American hacks in to drive the wee one in Berlin. But Valhalla forbid that you should ever deign to export the 2011 Audi A1 for sale in North America.

Through the tree-thick former East Germany over many curve-starved roads, we have just driven around the impeccably put-together 2011 Audi A1. Based on the same chassis underpinning the maybe-for-North-America Volkswagen Polo — 2009 European Car of the Year and 2010 World Car of the Year — the new baby Audi (model "AU210") could hardly be anything but good driving material. We played hard with the current top-trim version, the 1.4 TFSI with its 121-horsepower turbocharged direct-injected 1.4-liter inline-4; it's like driving a nicely warmed-over A3, only smaller and tighter.

The U.S. and Canada do not get the Audi A1. The Germans always tantalizingly qualify this status with "not currently," but it would take a lot to convince Audi North America that it needs to bring over an Audi that's this small and doesn't currently offer all-wheel drive. What a bloody shame, too. The 2011 Audi A1 will definitely have both BMW and Mercedes moving forward the plans for their respective compacts; if the other two don't come out with something comparable soon, they're idiots. (And no, the Mini doesn't count as BMW's premium compact.)

Big Things Come in...
Positioning of the 2011 Audi A1 is pretty clear after a first drive. One intention is to compress several big-car touches from the Audi A8 into a compact layout. One echo of this design impulse is the latest LED headlight design for which Audi has become recognized and which the other Germans are now copying — and which we're also sort of getting tired of already. There's also the new hexagonal single-frame grille first used on the latest A8.

Inside, the touch surfaces are distinctly premium in heft and all the switchgear and stalk design is dedicated for the A1 (part of the sleeker new look we'll see on all Audis from here on). In the center stack area, the latest scaled-down version of the optional MMI onboard functionality is a direct carryover from the new design launched with the A8. Instead of cramming the MMI screen into the center dash as on all sub-A8 Audis, now the 6.5-inch screen pops up from the front shelf, thus separating functions and adding lots of clarity to the layout. The entire area around the driver cockpit now just looks better for it, too.

Back outside the car, the single-element lights incorporated into the hatch gives the A1's rear a broader aspect to the eye while adding a premium presence to the car. The other key visual element is the arching graphic beams at the rear of the profile that can be specified in one of four contrasting colors. We saw some two-tone combos at the launch that really didn't work so well, with an equal number that did. Some of the test cars were simply done in one color, and we think the A1 looks particularly good in the Audi sport white.

Keeping It (Relatively) Simple
All-wheel drive will "not currently" be offered on the Audi A1, so this is a bit of a new world. "The main reason," explains A1 product marketing leader Peter Hirschfeld, "is to keep the weight down by simplifying the packaging." Besides, he also tells us, the A1's typical urban driver will not be requiring Quattro. Nonetheless, the insinuation is that the A1 will be available with optional all-wheel drive about a year after the sales introduction in August, or in conjunction with the future Audi A1 RS that will share the 180-hp version of the 1.4 TSI "twincharger" motor found in the new VW Polo GTI.

Neither will there be Audi Drive Select, the suspension calibration system. Instead the A1's front struts and rear torsion beam will be set to strike a happy medium over all surfaces. At the same time, the Audi S line list of options includes a sport suspension that firms up the dampers, springs and bushings without lowering the car, though we found we could live better all day on imperfect roads without this rigidity being added to the already stiff steel structure of our 2,480-pound test car.

One item that is appreciated and comes standard on all A1s is the Audi version of VW's XDS torque-vectoring electronics for monitoring action between the two front wheels. This electronic limited-slip differential helps quite a bit in making the acceleration from the apex through to the exit proceed as you envision it should beforehand, minimizing nicely the usual understeer on entry and over-abundant torque steer on exit. The A1's electric-assist rack-and-pinion steering has a responsive 14.8:1 compared to the sibling Polo's 15.8:1, and the difference between the two racks is plainly felt.

Pretty Quick Li'l Thing
The 1.4 TFSI engine takes the 2011 Audi A1 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in an estimated 8.9 seconds. The feeling under acceleration is just brisk enough thanks to the BorgWarner turbo and its 11.6 psi of max boost. The 148 pound-feet of torque that results is ready for us between an impressively low 1,500 rpm and 4,000 rpm.

Audi has already shown, however, several collaborative efforts with various tuners that give the A1 1.4 TFSI decidedly more rocket in the pocket. "This is a central aspect of the A1 image," says marketing leader Hirschfeld. "We want to not only make the A1 a very personal city car, but also make sure our various tuning partners might be able to have some fun with it." As is, the speed and fury of this topmost A1 is contained just right for the market segment that will find this car when it is introduced in Germany this summer. In addition, the work done to isolate the living space from noise, vibration and harshness is what we'd expect in an Audi.

Standard wheels on the base Attraction trim level are 15 inches, and for the top Ambition trim the wheels grow to 16-inchers. The standard S line wheels are also 16 inches, but you can also order either 17- or 18-inch sets as options. Our car had 17s with low-rolling-resistance Goodyear Efficient Grip tires — size 215/40R17 87W — a good all-around solution that adds a smidgen of comfort that the 17s might take out. Thanks to some work with spacers and wheel offsets, the A1 has a wider track than the VW Polo, so the basic handling package seems to be there if you want to add trick suspension, wheels and tires.

And Many Speeds
Our 1.4-liter also came with the optional seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission and S line steering wheel with shift paddles. Just as the seven speeds feel a little like overkill in the 2010 Volkswagen Scirocco, so, too, they feel like a bit much for this small A-segment stormer. In the dynamic bits that the roads near Berlin offered, we weren't getting beyond 5th, what with 4th through 7th being overdrive ratios. The result, however, is exceptional fuel mileage, a rough estimate based on Euro numbers putting mpg in the U.S. at 44.3 in the EPA combined cycle (so the German engineers told us). The standard transmission here is a six-speed manual.

So, who are the competitors in this segment that match up against the 2011 Audi A1, which measures 155.7 inches overall? The Mini is about 8-9 inches less in length, but the stretched Mini Clubman matches up nicely with the A1. Standing the two next to one another, the overall feel of fit and finish as we run our hands over the materials and the meeting points of panels is just that much better all around in the A1 versus the Mini or Mini Clubman. This is particularly true of the interior, where the plastics of the Mini family, though not by any means subpar, cannot stack up quite to the levels chosen by Audi for the A1. "We all agreed early on that to do this segment at Audi," says design leader Achim Badstubner, "we could not compromise on the Audi qualities we've become known for in the cabin."

A Major Part of the Plan
The 2011 Audi A1 is built at the VW Group's plant in Brussels and the plan is to build 100,000 units per year to make the business case ring true. Through 2010, the total sought is 80,000 and the build just started last week.

Coming in the future are a four-door hatch, a sedan for certain important markets that refuse to deal with hatchbacks (China, India et al.), available Quattro trims, S and RS trims, plus several special editions for pinpointed markets like the U.K. and Japan.

Were we to get it here in the States, a starting price on an Audi A1 1.4 TFSI like ours in Misano Red would be around $22,500, or right at that asked for a Mini Cooper S Clubman.

If only....

Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.