The Audi Quattro, Rallying Jewel.

03 Oct 2019

Poster yourself to him … he changed everything forever.

Meet the Audi Quattro. The car i’m going to talk to you about today: one of the most revolutionary models ever designed and, without a doubt, one of the most representative icons of values and the firm belief in the advancement of the manufacturer’s technique based in Ingolstadt. Well, soak up the story of this unicorn with wheels born in the eighties.

The birth of a myth: Audi Quattro

Presented for the first time to the public during the celebration of the Geneva Motor Show of 1980, the most powerful and wild variant of the Coupé that the firm of the four rings also presented that year left everyone with an open mouth thanks to a very generous mechanics , to a very sporty image … and to an innovative system of integral traction never seen before in a tourism whose qualities were more than demonstrated in the different exhibitions made in an icy lake a few meters from the event site. The first Audi Quattro launched on the market was powered by a block of five cylinders in line and 2.2 liters that, associated with a KKK turbocharger, was able to deliver no less than 200 hp -which would be 203 in 1987 and 223 in 1989 thanks to the introduction of some improvements - at 5,500 revolutions per minute with a torque of 285 Nm at only 3,500 revolutions. Thanks to a relatively contained weight - taking into account everything that entailed incorporating the necessary elements to provide the vehicle with total traction - of 1,290 kg, its mechanics were enough to allow it to reach 100 km / h in 7.1 seconds With a top speed of 222, footwear on 15-inch wheels with 205 mm wide tires.

As you can imagine, the simple fact that a relatively generalist tourism was equipped with such a powerful mechanic was already an outstanding fact in itself … but it was in a mere anecdote when considering the type of traction chosen for the car: Until that moment the 4x4 were only conceived as very capable SUVs outside the asphalt but really clumsy inside it, with an excessive weight and a series of inconveniences that, in all cases, made this type of solution for a more normal vehicle very undesirable . Until Audi engineers arrived and started working on it, of course. “Our desire is to create a car that remains anchored on the ground. The most important aspect is not the elegance, but its aptitudes “, declared the then director of design of the firm. Amen.

It’s time to measure in rallies: welcome to Group 4 … and B!

To demonstrate the brutal capabilities of their new vehicle, Audi did not see a better opportunity than doing it against the wildest and most spectacular machines that existed in the first half of the eighties: the contestants at the World Rally Championship - you know how to see the WRC 2017 in open? -. Prepared initially to be able to take the exit within the Group 4 category - the highest at that time and only surpassed by Group 5, which were actually prototypes -, the competition version of the Quattro was subjected to a strict diet to lighten its weight to the maximum, also distributing some pieces by places other than those used in the series model with the aim of looking for a mass distribution that compensates the advanced position of its mechanics, which for the occasion was tightened up to 320 hp and 412 Nm of maximum torque.
His official debut came in the Rally of Portugal of 1980 as Car 0 - the last member of the safety caravan prior to the passage of the first participant - and, with some disappointment to see that it was slower than other models with central motor and propulsion , the whole team turned to work to change things. The following year the good results would begin to arrive - including a victory in the San Remo Rally of Michelle Mouton, the first woman in History to achieve it in a test of this type - and a title of builders that arrived in 1982 hand in hand of pilots like Hannu Mikkola, Sitg Blomqvist and the aforementioned Mouton.

1983 would be the year in which the most brutal monsters ever created in this category of motoring would arrive on stage: the Group B. Audi did not want to miss the opportunity to emerge in this new division and for that same year was able to develop two different versions of his already legendary sports model with which the Finnish Mikkola could get the title of drivers … although the brand escaped from the hands of manufacturers in favor of Lancia - whose end has recently arrived. To solve this affront to those responsible, they had no choice but to start working on a more propitious version to dominate in this new arena … created the Sport Quattro. Oh yeah.

Audi Sport Quattro: because less can be more

To try to solve the disadvantages with which he started his most brilliant model in competition, Audi decided to give birth to the Sport Quattro … that would reduce all its figures except one: the power. The most striking change with respect to the Audi Quattro launched to the market only four years before was, without a doubt, the shortening of its battle in no less than 32 centimeters to try to improve its agility in the special timed revolutions that made up the contest at that time . In addition, it also saw its total weight reduced through the use of lighter materials, which resulted in the total mass of the set being only 960 kg.

In its engine there was also a reduction … of displacement: to be able to homologate it within the category it was reduced from the initial 2,144 cubic centimeters to 2,133 which, thanks to the use of a turbocharger of greater performance and a new four-valve cylinder head per cylinder -in the first model only had two-, was able to dispense no less than 306 hp at 6,700 rpm with a maximum torque of 333 Nm at 3,700. For its approval the International Automobile Federation required manufacturers to build at least 200 units of the model, and therefore the Sport Quattro Audi assembled a total of 214 pieces … of which only 164 arrived at the hands of customers. The rest? Very simple: for competition and prototypes.

And speaking of competition … the S1 and Pikes Peak versions arrive

As you can imagine, i could not finish an article of the Audi Quattro without talking about its wildest versions created for the competition. Yes, we are talking about the S1 of Group B and the Pikes Peak version. The entry into the championship of new rivals of the size of 205 T16 - or the Lancia Delta S4 - led the brand to develop in 1985 the most brutal version of his Group B Sport Quattro, known as S1. Subjected to a savage reduction in weight and with a clear commitment to the work of aerodynamics to keep the car in place at high speeds, this monstrosity of around 500 hp - at the time the official figures were as reliable as the promises of the politicians - arrived a little late … midway through the season. The following year things were not easy and, with the fatal accidents of Joaquim Santos and Henry Toivonen, the most spectacular category of how many have ever existed in the motoring universe would see its premature end in favor of the new Group A -division in the one that began to highlight who more and less Than my hero Colin McRae-.

But all was not lost: the Audi Quattro will still have some reel thanks to one of the most mythical competitions of how many are held in American territory - there is life beyond the Fernando Alonso Indy - the climb to Pikes Peak. With still more power and a body with a commitment to even more wild aerodynamics, the German model knew how to win the victory in the hands of pilots like Michelle Mouton, Bobby Unser and Walter Rörhl in 1985, 1986 and 1987. Respectively.

You liked it, right? Well, now you just have to look for your own unit in the second-hand market -Here you have the best pearls that you will hear when buying a used car-: for just under 30,000 euros you could find a copy in a correct state of conservation of the original Audi Quattro … and you will have to prepare almost double to get a piece of the Sport Quattro that does not feel like running away just by seeing it - as with the Treser Roadster version, of which only 39 units were manufactured. .. Fortunately-. If you get one, call me. Please..

Before finishing. Lemme show you the cancelled Audi Sport Quattro Mid-Engined for the Group S era