Long Live the Quattro
Quattro is derived from the Italian word for the number four. What better name for Audi’s first of its kind all wheel drive road car? Quattro was the name of the model in this case, and later Audi named their all wheel drive system quattro.
The Quattro was based on the Audi Coupe GT, but had flared fenders, and a turbocharged engine. Since that original model gave way to other cars using a similar type of all wheel drive system, Audi fans have dubbed the original Quattro the ‘UR quattro’, UR being German for “original”.
Let’s take a look at how special this was and the lasting effect it’s had on not just Audi, but the world, as this amazing system turns 36 years old.
1. The beginning
The Audi Quattro was like magic in a bottle that changed the whole landscape of rally racing with all-wheel drive spunk that held the beastly GT to the road. It only took 14 months for the big wigs to give the go ahead on the project and create the magical machine after a prototype was built back in 1977. Close your eyes and think about the face of the automotive world circa late 1970’s, now wrap your mind around this: Audi created a turbocharged all wheel drive coupe in a time when rally competitions used only two-wheel drive cars. Sounds like a car from the present, doesn’t it? This angry box on wheels was assembled with the purpose of destroying competition in the World Rally Championship series and it did that job effortlessly. It impressed the public so much after debuting it was put into regular production in the early 1980’s.
2. From the rally to the road
The production Quattro was based on the Audi 80/4000 Coupe but featured a wider track, four-wheel disc brakes, independent suspension and a turbocharged five-cylinder engine modified to produce 197 hp and 210 lb-ft torque. The Quattro featured a longitudinal engine mounted ahead of the front axle and a center differential that split torque 50/50 between the front and rear axles. This and a slew of other components pushed the Quattro to a place that most 2WD vehicles could only dream of treading. This car would also mark the very first time a turbocharged engine would be mated to four-wheel drive.
3. You know me by the beat of my heart
The Quattro production car lasted for 11 years over the period of 1980-1991 and produced over 11.400 cars. There were no glaring changes visually to the model with only minor touch-ups taking place. However, the engine did get modified over the life of the car with enthusiasts referring to a specific Quattros by their engine codes. The earliest being the WR engine, then there is the MB, and the RR or 20v Quattro. The interior in 1984 had a dash that made a departure from an analogue instrument cluster to a green digital LCD cluster. Then this was done away with in 1988 for an orange LCD cluster.
4. Current stars of the show
During the production of the Quattro model, Audi offered the quattro system on nearly every production vehicle in the stable to spread the love around. The models to really use the quattro with success have been the RS4 and RS6 that deliver performance in even undesirable conditions. These two models have numerous generations behind them and are still going strong. Due to the engine layout, some Audis, like the A3 and TT, employ a different kind of quattro system. The traditional quattro system in the longitudinal cars is fully mechanical, but the transverse engine models make use of a Haldex system, which uses clutches. This has split quattro fans into two camps because the two systems are said to behave differently under extreme driving conditions.
5. Where do we go from here?
Concept models often point towards things that are on the horizon, or at least the thought pattern of engineers and designers in the brand. The A3 e-tron concept uses a system that is similar to the one in the R18 e-tron quattro. That system uses a traditional diesel engine to drive the rear wheels, while an electrical system that is charged by recovered braking, powers the front. Though a production version of this quattro will likely use batteries in place of the flywheel to store power. Hopefully, Audi can fit more characteristics of the quattro technology they’ve developed into new models so that the legendary moniker may live on. Perhaps one day the powers that be at Audi will stop teasing everyone and resurrect the Quattro model for one more sweet deliciously deserving go around.
Join in the conversation and share your thoughts on the Quattro right here in the forum.
For information on maintenance and repairs, check out our do-it-yourself technical articles at https://www.audiworld.com/how-tos/.
