Audi Quattro

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Audi Quattro
Manufacturer	Audi
Parent company	Volkswagen Group
Also called	quattro
Production	1980–1991
Successor	Audi S2
Class	Coupé, rally car
Body style(s)	2-door coupé
Layout	Front engine, quattro® four-wheel drive
Engine(s)	2.1 L SOHC 10v I5 (1980–87) 2.2 L SOHC 10v I5 (1987–89) 2.2 L DOHC 20v I5 (1989–91)
Wheelbase	2522 mm (99.3 in)
Length	4404 mm (173.4 in)
Width	1722 mm (67.8 in)
Height	1346 mm (53 in)
Curb weight	1,290 to 1,350 kg (2,840 to 2,980 lb)
Fuel capacity	70 L (18 US gal/15 imp gal)
Related	Audi 80 (B2)
Designer	Jörg Bensinger Walter Treser Dr. Ferdinand Piëch

The Audi Quattro is a famous and historically significant road and rally car produced by the German maker Audi. Notably, it was the first four-wheel drive grand tourer since the Jensen FF of 1966 ("quattro" means "Four" in Italian). It is considered one of the most significant rally cars of all time, and was one of the first to take advantage of the then-recently changed rules which allowed the use of all-wheel-drive in competition racing. Many critics doubted the viability of all-wheel drive racers, thinking them to be too heavy and complex, yet the Quattro was an instant success, winning a rally on its first outing. It won competition after competition for the next two years. To commemorate the original vehicle, all future Audi Quattros were badged with a lower case Q. The original car with the upper case Q is highly sought after as a collector's piece. The Audi Quattro shared many components and the core of its body style with the Audi Coupé, which was a member of the Audi 80 (B2 model) range.

Model name

Officially, the model name was simply "quattro". The word "quattro" is used to refer to either the Audi AWD system, or any AWD version of an Audi automobile. To avoid confusion, it is also commonly referred to as the Ur-Quattro (the "Ur-" prefix is a German augmentative used, in this case, to mean "original" and is also applied to the first generation of Audi's S4 and S6 sport sedans, as in "UrS4" and "UrS6").

European distribution

Audi released the original Quattro in 1980, making it both the first car to feature Audi's quattro® four-wheel drive system (hence its name) and the first to mate four wheel drive with a turbocharged engine. The powerplant was originally a 2.1 L (2144 cc), SOHC, 10 valve straight-5 producing 200 PS (147 kW); this was eventually modified to a 2.2 L (2226 cc) 10 valve straight-5 and then to a 2.2 L (2226 cc) 20v DOHC straight-5 setup producing 220 PS (162 kW). Audi Quattros are often referred to among owners and enthusiasts by their engine codes, to differentiate between the earlier and later versions: the earliest (2144 cc 10v) being the WR engine, the 2226 cc 10v being the MB engine and the later 20v being the RR engine. Hence, Quattro models may be referred to as either the WR Quattro, MB Quattro, and RR or "20v" Quattro, respectively. Total road car production is 11,452 vehicles over the period 1980–1991 and through this 11 year production span there were no major changes in the visual design of the vehicle. For the 1983 model-year the dash was switched from an analog instrument cluster to a green digital LCD display (later changed for 1988 to an orange LCD display). The interior was redesigned in 1985 and featured a whole new dash layout, new steering wheel design and new centre console design, the switches around the instrument panel were also redesigned at this time. Externally, overall styling received very little modification during its production run. Originally, the car had a flat fronted grill featuring four separate lenses, one for each of the low and high beam units. This was altered for the 1983 model year and replaced with combined units featuring a single lens, but housing twin reflectors. This was changed again, for the 1985 model year, in what has become known as the 'facelift model' and included such alterations as a new sloping front grill, headlights, and trim and badging changes. The RR 20v Quattro also featured a new three spoke steering wheel design.

North American distribution

Sales of the Quattro in North America began with the 1983 model year, which were constructed concurrently, and were of the same design as, the European 1982 models (they did not include the minor cosmetic changes of the European 1983 model) and continued through 1986. Total sales in the USA were 664. The initial 2.1 L (2144 cc, engine code "WX") engine for US models included minor component and ECU changes, including lowered turbocharger boost pressure, which lowered power production to 172 PS (127 kW).

Audi Sport Quattro

The Audi Sport Quattro was a Quattro program car developed for Group B rallying homologation in 1984, and sold as a production car in limited numbers — it featured a 2.1 L (2133 cc) 20v DOHC engine slightly smaller than that of the Audi Quattro (in order to qualify for the 3-litre engine class after the scale factor applied to turbo engines) but capable of producing approximately 305 hp (257 kW). The vehicle also featured a body shell composed of carbon kevlar and boasting wider arches, wider wheels (nine inches as compared to the UrQuattro's optional eight inch wide wheel rim), the steeper windscreen rake of the Audi 80 (requested by the Audi Sport rally team drivers for improved visibility) and, most noticeably, a 320 mm (12.6 in) shorter wheelbase.

Audi Sport Quattro S1

Audi Sport Quattro S1
Manufacturer	Audi AG
Parent company	Volkswagen Group
Also called	S1 quattro
Predecessor	Audi Sport Quattro
Class	Coupé, rally car-Group B
Body style(s)	2 door coupé
Engine(s)	2110 cc turbo straight-5 450 PS
Transmission(s)	6-speed
Wheelbase	2224 mm (87.6 in)
Length	4240 mm (166.9 in)
Width	1860 mm (73.2 in)
Height	1344 mm (52.9 in)
Curb weight	1200 kg (2650 lb)
Related	Audi Quattro

The Audi Sport Quattro S1 was introduced in 1985 as an update to the Audi Sport Quattro. The car featured a inline 5-cylinder engine that displaced 2110 cc and produced an extraordinary 600 bhp. The S1 proved to be an immediate success in the rally circuit, helping Walter Röhrl and Christian Geistdörfer win the 1985 San Remo Rally. A modified version of the S1, driven by Michèle Mouton. It won the 1985 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, with Walter Röhrl on the steering wheel setting a world record time in the process.

Other information

The Quattro is also famous for being a career highlight of one of the pre-eminent women in rally racing, Michèle Mouton. In 2004, Sports Car International named this car number four on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1980s.

External links

This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.

• 2m:23s streaming video of Audi, Lancia, Peugeot and Renault "in full song"
• Alternate site for the above
• Alternate YouTube for above (different players need different formats)
• Audi S1 - Rally Clip (from inside, 1m:5s Google Video)
• Audi Quattro owner's site
• Official Audi Mediaroom: 25 Years of Audi Quattro
• Quattro Owners' Club
• UK based Quattro forum

Sport Quattro

• Martin Holmes (July 11, 1985). "The Sport's evolution". Autosport. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
• Rally Paradise, Audi Sport Quattro S1
• Audi Tradition at the Techno Classica 2005