Audi is quattro and quattro is Audi. For more than 40 years, the permanent quattro all-wheel drive has been one of Audi’s key technologies. Outstanding traction, high driving safety and enormous driving dynamics characterize Audi’s permanent all-wheel drive. This makes quattro a trump card for the brand. Audi quattro is fascination, quattro is emotion. But technically speaking, not all quattros are the same. Learn more about this in our Audi TechTalk.
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Gallery: quattro in motorsports
1978 Audi entered the world of rallying as a works team in 1978, initially running front-wheel drive cars. Barely a year had passed since the original quattro was first unveiled in Geneva than the brand began to achieve enormous success in the World Rally Championship. Hannu Mikkola from Finland won the first six special trials in the snow at the 1981 Monte Carlo Rally. He had a lead of almost six minutes when victory slipped through his fingers due to a minor accident. He recorded his first victory at the next round in Sweden.
1982–1987 The following year, the quattro dominated the championship. Audi set a new benchmark with seven victories and easily won the manufacturers’ championship. One year later, Mikkola took home the drivers’ title. The 1984 season also started off with a bang – the newly recruited two-time world champion Walter Röhrl won the Monte Carlo Rally ahead of his teammates Stig Blomqvist (Sweden) and Mikkola. At the end of the season, Audi claimed both the manufacturers’ title and the drivers’ title with Blomqvist.
To make better use of the loose regulations of the Group B class of rallying, Audi developed the Sport quattro for the 1984 season. This had a shorter wheelbase that promised nimbler handling.
The A4 represents the core of the brand – after four years in the making, Audi has made the successful midsize model even tauter and sportier. Its exterior is shaped by the brand’s new design language, while the large MMI touch display offers the kind of operating experience customers will be familiar with from their smartphone. Many engine variants now come with mild hybrid systems (MHEV) – efficiency and comfort benefit from this broad-based electrification. This also applies to the Audi S4 TDI (combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 6.3–6.2* (37.3–37.9 US mpg); Combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 166–163* (267.2–262.3 g/mi)) with a V6 TDI under the hood for the first time, a 48-volt main on-board electrical system and an electric powered compressor that lends its hefty acceleration even more spontaneity. This combination of power, torque and efficiency makes it unique in its segment.
* Information on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions as well as efficiency classes in ranges depending on the tires and alloy wheel rims used.