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On this day, March 3, 1980, Audi's most famous model debuted at the Geneva Motor Show. At the time, it overturned established ideas about all-wheel drive and the limits of handling, revolutionized motorsport, and established Audi's image as a manufacturer of high-tech cars.
The idea of all-wheel drive at Audi was born by chance. In December 1976, routine testing of the front-wheel drive families 80, 100 and 200 was interrupted by the appearance of a new one - the Bundeswehr Iltis SUV. Unpretentious and purely utilitarian, created on the basis of the same "eighty", with a weak 75-horsepower engine from the VW Passat, in the conditions of the Lapland Arctic it turned out to be much more agile even than the flagship 200 Turbo. And not only on winter roads, but also on the perfectly cleaned roads of southern Finland. The impressed head of the chassis testing department Jörg Besiger literally "infected" his boss, the head of the KB "rings" Ferdinand Piech, with the idea of 4x4.
The very first Audi quattro in 1980.
Better than mountains...
…can only be A1, as Pih called this project. In January 1978, a pair of A1 prototypes were ready: a 160-horsepower “turbo” from the 200th series, an 80th chassis and body, plus an Iltis transmission with a modified “transfer case” design. On the VW rides arranged for the bosses, both “four-wheel drive” cars playfully raced through the Austrian Alps on… summer tires. And to the envy of the studded front-wheel drive “escort”, in proud solitude they climbed the icy saddle of the steepest (23 degrees) in those parts of the Tirracher Hoch pass.
And the bosses from Wolfsburg, who initially scoffed at the “GT for the countryside,” began to push Piech to put the A1 project on the assembly line. At the same time, they proposed a much more colorful name for it – quattro (from Italian – “four”), which emphasizes the main advantage of the model – all-wheel drive. But who suggested it and why the Germans decided to leave the capital letter lowercase is not known for certain.
Fear of novelty
At that time, there was nothing new in the idea of all-wheel drive. And not because it is connected, but permanent, with three differentials: it is enough to recall the racing Spyker 4WD (1902) and Bugatti Tipo 53 (1932). But on passenger cars, due to technical and marketing problems, such a scheme did not take root. Some manufacturers feared that the market might not be ready for such cars. Others were unable to master the production of transmission units of the highest quality. Still others were saved from the disadvantages of 4x4: high cost, complexity, bulkiness, increased noise, weight and fuel consumption. Still others were scared off by the failures of the pioneers: Jensen FF (1966), Subaru Leone SW 4WD (1972), AMC Eagle (1979), and they never managed to win the hearts of buyers.
In 1982, the quattro won the first of three consecutive titles in the World Rally Championship's works category.
Full forward!
Although the main advantages of the quattro were hidden under the body panels, it undoubtedly became a showstopper of the 1980 Geneva Motor Show. Low, elongated silhouette, faceted body, developed spoilers, convex wings.
And what did the engine cost! The inline 2,1-liter "five" with a 10-valve head and a KKK-K27 supercharger with intercooling of the charge air produced an impressive 200 hp, accelerating the 1,5-ton coupe to a hundred in 7,1 s! Oh, Porsche 911 and Ferrari Mondial, where are you?
However, even such an engine was lost against the background of the transmission itself. The quattro model became the first passenger car with a 4x4 scheme, which at that time was found only on SUVs and trucks. Moreover, in those cars the four-wheel drive was “rigid”, that is, it was connected for the time of “wandering” on the road, while Pih chose a much more sophisticated scheme, which was perfectly suited for the front-wheel drive layout of Audi. The longitudinally located engine with the end of the gearbox pointed directly at the rear axle – it remained to build a center differential into the transmission housing. But for the drive to the front wheels, the Germans did not fence off the traditional four-wheel drive garden with a separate “distribution”. They made the secondary shaft of the box empty and passed the drive shaft of the front wheels through it. Everything is ingenious…
The quattro model after the 1984 facelift
And again the Alps
The press was delighted with the quattro, vying to praise its directional stability and phenomenal cross-country ability.
Meanwhile, buyers met the novelty with restraint. Even the most effective trick, when the quattro climbed up a ski jump, did not help! The rings were simply not believed: for several more years there was a debate about whether the coupe was pulled by a winch. It was necessary to repeat the climb in 1982. However, this was no longer necessary - by that time the "four", despite the huge price of 50 thousand marks (the "regular" Coupe pulled by 18 thousand), that is, more expensive than the Jaguar XJS and Mercedes SL, had gained such popularity that it "pulled" sales even of its mono-drive relatives, and Audi rushed to create 4x4 modifications for the 80th (1982), 100th and 200th (1984) series.
Sport quattro – the most atypical of the 1985 Audi production cars.
S1
In 1981, the "four" proved itself in rallying. The debutant won the very first race, the Austrian stage of the European Championship, and dominated the next three in the World Championship.
In the mid-80s, the civilian version of the “four” actually became a hostage to its sports “sister”. Having become involved in the “arms race”, Audi practically froze work on the serial quattro. During its rather long career, the car was seriously modernized only once, in 1984. And then for sports, for which the Sport quattro model was also created, with a base shortened by 300 mm due to the rear seats, a body made of light alloys and Kevlar (!). If in the basic version (62 thousand marks) with a low-pressure turbine it produced 220 hp, then in the recommended, “high” (95 thousand marks) version it produced 306 hp, and in the rally specification S1 (147 thousand) with twin turbocharging it produced a record 550 hp for rally.
The cabin has gone with the forced locking handles of the “center” a la “Niva” – a mechanical Torsen differential has appeared. This name comes from the English words torque sensing and reflects the ability of this purely mechanical device to instantly and smoothly increase the degree of its locking in response to changes in torque on the output shafts.
In 1987, the S1 won Audi its sixth consecutive title of “King of the Mountain” – the winner of the most prestigious mountain race, Pikes Peak.
By moving the radiators and generator to the stern, the designers achieved an almost fantastic 5:52 weight distribution for a front-engine car with a heavy Turbo R48. By the way, this is where the Sport quattro style comes from, which not only contrasts sharply with the design of all other Audis designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, but also generally violates all ideas about the optimal proportions of the car. The most daring aero kit was probably the S1: hypertrophied wings for better ventilation of the brakes, huge wing and spoiler, which helped to realize the crazy power and directed some of the air flows to the cooling systems. But the game was worth the candle: the Sport quattro and S1, each on their own fronts, allowed us to take a new look at speed outside dry, flat roads.
S2
But the time of the S1 was irrevocably passing. By 1985, Citroën, Ford, Lancia, MG, Peugeot had their own all-wheel drive racing models, with a mid-engine layout. The Esca, which inherited a lot of “production” shortcomings – excessive weight and a front-engine layout that was not optimal for rallying, won only one rally victory. However, very soon, at the end of 1986, the FIA closed down Group B itself.
The last, 11nd Audi quattro. March 452
The price of victory
In fact, due to its high price and limited production run, the quattro quickly became a rarity. In total, 1991 “fours” were produced in various versions until 11. But the appearance of this car provoked a real all-wheel drive boom: 452x4 versions were acquired from small (Subaru Vivio) to large (Mercedes S4).
However, even today, the "rings" are one of the leaders in the production of all-wheel drive vehicles.
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