When Audi invented the Quattro back in 1984, it changed everything: rallying, road-car dynamics and Audi’s reputation. Thirty years on they’ve done it again – and we’ve got the only drive
Innsbruck, Austria. High above the town, on a remarkable road featuring steep gradients, tight corners and long straights, the brand-new Audi Sport Quattro steps out in the footsteps of its illustrious ancestor, the Ur Quattro, the car that started it all. I feel both excited and privileged to be at the wheel. Not only is this a Car magazine exclusive, but it feels as if I’m experiencing evolution at first hand. The effect is heightened by the presence of a mint version of the 1984 Sport Quattro, which we’ve brought along to make the comparison real.
Although the 2013 car is a one-off concept for now, it doesn’t disappoint. The intake rumble, the part-throttle splutter, the lift-off blat-blat and the exhaust note – which varies from a restrained rasp to a rich roar – fuses into a riveting soundtrack which makes my eyes water every time I stab the loud pedal. Although the car normally takes off in the second gear, the transmission will kick down as soon as accelerator travel and speed instruct it to do so. Back off, and the black box will instantly whip in a higher ratio. Since the shift paddles aren’t yet working, I quickly learn to change gears by throttle order. Even though I only scratch the surface of this impressive petrol-hybrid power pack, the claimed combined output of 700 PS and 800 Nm from the twin-turbo V8 and electric motor mated to the gearbox feels perfectly credible. I’m confident that the new Quattro will be more than fit to wear the badge; which is just as well, because, after four stillborn concepts in a row, this is the one they’re actually going to build.
In the history of the motor car, 30 years are an eternity. The rate of progress is particularly evident when you compare what is high-tech today with what was high-tech three decades ago. Although the short-wheelbase Sport Quattro was a very special piece of kit when a certain Ferdinand Piëch kicked off the project in 1981, it put its emphasis almost exclusively on performance. The body clad with kevlar panels weighs a wiry 1,300 kg, the single-turbo 2.1-liter five-cylinder engine develops an ambitious 310 PS, four-wheel-drive trickeries include a switchable ABS (for gravel stages) and two manually activated sequential diff locks. This total traction approach is complemented by faster-than-lightning handling owed to the chopped 2,204 mm wheelbase. Add to this super-quick steering, a fixed 50:50 torque split and a set of sticky 15-inch Pirelli P Zero Assimetrico tires, and you can probably imagine why each and every one of the 220 Sport Quattros built felt as if it could turn on a dime. Unlike a modern RS5, which is so easy to drive fast, the Ur Quattro could be a bitch at the limit: twitchy, capricious and gyratory. But it was a small car, and the new one is not. At 4,602 mm the 2013 Sport Quattro is almost half a meter longer than the original. The two wheelbases are a similar distance apart, although, interestingly, the first Quattro is fractionally lower than the new one. The most striking difference is weight. Old car: 1,300 kg. New: 1,850 kg.
The 2013 concept is based on a shortened RS7 platform, and is much further down the road to production than the PRs would have us believe. Our sources tell us that a cautious evolution of the car – codenamed F13 – will indeed go into low-volume production in late 2016. Although the bean counters have yet to sign off the business case, there is talk of 2,000 to 3,000 units being assembled over two years.
The car I’m driving is the Frankfurt show car, which, they told me, was meant to be limited to 32 km/h, but the only governor today is the splendid Kai from R&D, who doesn’t seem to mind us putting his baby to a proper test. Since the instrument display is a virtual reality video show only, I can’t actually verify the claimed 3.7-second 0-100 km/h time, and the actual speed is only ever recorded by the hard disc inside my head. Let’s just say we successfully went proper quick.
