Press Release
Series-production quattros
The ‘original quattro’ of 1980 did not remain alone for long. Starting in 1982, Audi introduced five further all-wheel-drive variants to its production programme: the Audi Coupé, the Audi 80/90 and the Audi 100/200. The last-mentioned model, the aerodynamic world champion of the 1980s, was like its predecessor also available as an Avant. Conceived as a front-wheel-drive car as was customary at Audi, all these models could be easily converted to permanent all-wheel drive without undue effort and expense. They reflected the manufacturer’s fundamental policy decision to offer a quattro variant in every model line. In the light of Audi’s motor-sport successes it is not surprising that they all sold extremely well.
A new leading model in the quattro range appeared in 1988: the V8, with an initial output of 185 kW (250 bhp), later also available with a 206 kW (280 bhp) engine. This car was only sold with permanent all-wheel drive, and at first only automatic transmission was available, so that two differential locks were fitted – an electronically controlled, hydraulically operated multi-disc lock in the inter-axle differential and a self-locking Torsen differential in the rear axle. When the successor to this model, the A8, was introduced in 1994, Audi offered front-wheel drive as an alternative, and this option is still available for the current A8 model generation, though only 7 % of the car’s purchasers take it up.
From 1990 on, the S models with quattro driveline did much to enhance the dynamic image gained by Audi as a result of its motor-sport successes. The leading contender in this respect was the S 2 Coupé, the designated inheritor of the mantle of the original quattro. Its cultured character proved that sportiness and refinement could be harmonised in an ideal way – an approach that was continued a year later with the S4 based on the Audi 100 model line.
Audi’s first RS model also impressed its fans. The RS2 Avant amazed the trade with its performance. This five-cylinder turbo model entered the market in 1994 and was built for a good year. Its engine delivered 262 kW (315 bhp). 2,881 customers opted for this sports car, which was based on the Audi 80 Avant. The RS2 has long since become a sought-after classic with a loyal fan club.
In 2000, Audi pursued this approach a stage further with the ultimate RS 4 and RS 6 models. Their powerful V8 engines put these two cars in the high-performance sports car category, but with luxurious equipment and trim and of course the no-compromise high quality typical of the Audi brand. In addition, the TDI diesel engines, with their vigorous pulling power, have been offered more and more frequently in conjunction with the quattro driveline – again a most harmonious combination.
The most successful Audi models in terms of sales volume are the A4 and the A6, and this is also true of their quattro variants. If the preceding model versions are included, 37,572 Audi A4 cars with permanent all-wheel drive had been built by the end of 2004. The figure for the Audi A6 is 601,204, the proportion with the quattro driveline having risen recently to 42 % in the case of the saloon.
Since 1999 the compact A3, the TT Coupé and the TT Roadster have also been available with the quattro driveline option. Since they have a transverse engine, these models use an electronically controlled Haldex clutch as a centre differential instead of the Torsen unit. 58 % of all the TT Coupés and 42 % of all the TT Roadsters sold in 2004 were fitted with permanent all-wheel drive.
The allroad quattro enjoys a special status: with its variable ground clearance thanks to air suspension, this Avant has established itself as a dynamic all-rounder which is equally at home on the motorway as it is in highly challenging terrain. Around 90,000 of this model have been built to date.
From 1980 until the end of 2004, Audi had built 1,815,396 cars with permanent all-wheel drive. If this is related to a total production – excluding the A 2 model line – of 12,030,207 units, the all-wheel-drive variants account for 15.1 % during the period.
In recent years, the proportion of quattro-equipped cars was regularly higher than one quarter of the total, and indeed reached 26.7 % in 2004. Audi is the leading international manufacturer of passenger cars with permanent all-wheel drive in the premium segment of the market. The current model programme lists 74 model variants with the quattro driveline.
The quattro’s emotive appeal
A tyre track in the snow: an elderly Eskimo respectfully points it out to his grandson as “quattro�. The monsoon season in India: only the German ambassador in his Audi A4 quattro makes it along the flooded, muddy roads to the Maharajah’s gala dinner. The ski jump that the Audi 100 quattro climbs by its own efforts – in the past 25 years, Audi has commissioned a whole series of unforgettable TV commercials aimed at maintaining public awareness of the quattro mystique and the emotive appeal associated with it.
The idea behind the ski jump spot took shape in 1986 at the BBDO advertising agency in Düsseldorf, Germany. When tested on a glacier in the Tyrol, an Audi 100 quattro proved capable of climbing a 39-degree gradient. The ski jump that was eventually found in Kaipola, Finland, had a slope angle of 37.5 degrees – or to put it another way, a gradient of 80 percent – a scarcely less difficult challenge. A crane lifted the car onto the ski jump’s take-off platform, where it was carefully secured in three different ways: by a concealed steel cable, a forward-mounted braking system and a safety net under the take-off platform. In the event, professional rally driver Harald Demuth, who had driven the quattro during his active career, had no need of any of these safety devices. He drove the Audi effortlessly up the 78-metre long ski jump, despite having only a very restricted view of the proceedings, since the nose of the Audi was of course pointed steeply upwards towards the sky.
This commercial bathed the Audi advertising concept in a warm and approving light from which it still benefits today. The overall strategy was, and still is, concentrated with no frills on the actual products – an approach typical of the Audi brand.
Product credibility is communicated beyond any doubt, the more so since the quattro models’ motor sport successes have shaped the Audi brand image more strongly than advertising campaigns costing millions could ever have done.
Principles of brevity and implication in understated form prevail in Audi’s advertising and are typical of the way the cars are presented. The quattro variants differ very little from their counterparts with front-wheel drive – they are not exotic members of the model programme but an integral element in the driving force behind this high-tech brand. quattro thus stands not only for ‘traction’ but for more – emotion, driving safety and dynamism, accompanied by technical competence and a dynamic outlook on life.
The exclusive character of this specific Audi lifestyle is the governing factor behind quattro GmbH, which began trading in 1983. Since 1996, which saw the debut of the S6 plus, this Audi subsidiary company has operated as a vehicle manufacturer; last year it equipped more than 7,000 cars in accordance with the purchasers’ individual wishes. quattro GmbH has a staff of 300 and its own development and production facilities.
Another tool at Audi’s disposal when it comes to maintaining the fascination of the quattro is the creation of spectacular concept cars. In the autumn of 1991, the company presented two mid-engined sports cars with permanent all-wheel drive in quick succession at the international motor shows in Frankfurt and Tokyo. These were the quattro Spyder and the Avus quattro – the latter unforgettable for many reasons, one of them being its gleaming polished aluminium body.
The concept cars that attracted much attention four years later in Tokyo were closer to motoring reality. The TT quattro was not far from production readiness in Coupé and Roadster form. Then came the 2003 ‘show cars’, also with permanent all-wheel drive: the large Pikes Peak, the elegant Nuvolari Coupé and the Le Mans quattro supersports model.
ÂÂÂÂ
