Beijing 2010: Ford Start Concept is Prettier Audi A1

These days one of the fastest-growing market segments are Premium Subcompacts. Manufacturers (and customers) are finally realizing that a car doesn't have to be gigantic to be luxurious or at the very least interesting, and that's nothing but good news for us.  Audi's recently debuted A1 Supermini takes all the traditional characteristics of the brand and reduces them to 6/10th's size, in a small and efficient package - but still crammed with technology, luxury, and clever design.

It looks like Ford wants to get in on the game too, and this concept car - the Start, which debuted today at the Beijing Auto Show - is definitely a great start.  Sitting below the Fiesta size-wise, the Start still is packed with interesting stylistic and technical details.  Seeing as how this is CarThrottle and not Better Homes and Gardens, we're going to start under the hood.

Ford has been saying since the 3.5L EcoBoost V6 debuted that it was going to be just one of a series of EcoBoost engines, and the Start is the debut of the newest, and smallest, member of the family.  Like all the other EcoBoost motors (3.5L V6, 2.0L and 1.6L I4's) the Start's EcoBoost motor uses Direct Fuel Injection and a relatively small, fast-spooling turbocharger.  But it's a diminuitive 1.0L in size, and only has 3 cylinders!  Ford says this engine, which uses an iron block and aluminum head and crank case and has a 10.0:1 Compression Ratio, will make comparable power to a 1.6L naturally-aspirated inline-4 cylinder engine, but with much lower consumption and emission rates - perhaps under 100g/km of C02!  Power should be around 105-110bhp, so Ford's Metric is right - that'd be about as much power as the non-turbocharged 1.6L Mini Cooper makes, but a 1.0L 3cyl with a tiny turbo would be considerably more efficient.

And thankfully, rather than some fiendishly complicated twin-clutch automated gearbox, the Start concept has... a six speed manual transmission!  So, a lightweight hatchback with a turbo 3cyl and a 6-speed manual... where do I sign?

Oh, but it gets better.  This has got to be one of the prettiest, most well-judged styling jobs Ford's done in a while.  I will say that it looks more like a Smart Car and an Alfa Romeo Brera had a baby than any of the current Ford lineup (which I'm also pretty damn fond of, stylistically) but it's certainly modern and clean without being boring and derivative.  I'm especially fond of the C-pillar treatment - a thin aluminum band runs in an unbroken arch from the A Pillar to the rear, and the roof bumps up to accomodate.  The way the rear glass wraps around and everything looks like it's one piece is a welcome break from the traditional two-box hatchback look that the original Mini began (and the original Golf perpetuated) so many years ago.  The headlights and tail-lights are both super-thin strips of LED's, which seem to be all the rage these days, giving it a squinty-eyed "I'm gonna punch you" look about it.  The clever styling is more than just skin-deep, though - the Start is built around a lightweight Aluminum space frame, and the body panels are deformable, recycled composites with the color pre-impregnated in, eliminating the need for painting.  This design keeps weight down, and simplicity up - a great thing, in my book.  I could do without the wheels - they're way too big and over-done for a clean, simple car like this - but otherwise, it's an A+ for me.

The inside of the Start is equally captivating.  The one-piece bucket seats look both strange and comfortable, and check out the matching headliner - pure concept car goofyness, there.  What's really interesting is that LCD screen on the center console - sure looks like an iPhone menu, doesn't it?  Ford says the Start, which has their new MyFord Mobile setup, is designed to integrate a smartphone and offer the same expandability through "Apps" much like Apple, Google, or RIM phones do today.  So rather than having a complicated hard-drive based computer and proprietary software, you'll be able to just plug in your phone and go!  Pretty clever... if you've got a modern smart-phone.

Now, Ford says the Start is just a concept - there's no production intent here - but they do say that the little 1.0L EcoBoost three-banger should be finding it's way under the hood of a Ford near you soon.  Imagine, this kind of forward-thinking and high technology whiz-bang stuff from the company that just a few years ago was happy to sell Explorers with 302ci Windsor V8's.  The world is changing, without a doubt!