Audi Quattro A2 and Sport Quattro
The idea of installing all-wheel drive in a car for regular use was not new: the British company Jensen had already had it with its 1966 FF, although it was a Gran Turismo instead of a sports car. Later came the Subaru Leone and, a year before Audi marketed the Quattro, AMC released an Eagle, a compact off-roader mass produced since 1979 and throughout the 1980s.
The Audi Quattro A2 came from the A1 that had already managed to win in the hands of the French company Mouton (in fact, with the original Quattro it achieved four victories and almost won the 1982 title). Originally the rally Quattro produced about 300 horsepower, but when it evolved into the A2 as Group B it already reached 350 horsepower thanks to its 5-cylinder turbo, which would become quite the calling card for its brutal howl. The A1 appeared in 1983 while the A2 was present in the second half of that same year as well as throughout 1984, in a brutal evolution race against Lancia (later arriving at the WRC Peugeot, Ford or MG, among other brands) . In 1983, after Mouton was runner-up the previous year, Hannu Mikkola would be champion with Audi, with Stig Blomqvist third and Mouton fifth.
In 1984 Audi released the Sport Quattro, first as a homologation street car to later make the Sport Quattro for rallies, a shorter car that was more manageable and agile (320 millimeters less wheelbase), in addition to being a little wider. . Like other homologation cars, few units were made (224) with a 300 horsepower engine and a light body made of carbon and Kevlar. In the case of the racing units, the power was around 444 horsepower.
The Quattro A2 had dominated the 1984 season in the hands of drivers such as Blomqvist, Mikkola and Walter Röhrl – the Swede would be champion that year and the Finn runner-up, while both Röhrl and Mouton raced part-time. Despite everything, the Sport Quattro was never so successful – especially due to the leap in quality of its rivals, which not only also had all-wheel drive, but also a better weight balance, in particular Peugeot with the mid-engine in its 205 T16, a car radically different from the 205 that ‘took thousands of families to the end of the world’ on conventional roads.
Do you want more? Here is the Sport Quattro S1 E2
The Sport Quattro only achieved two victories, the first of them in the S1 version with Blomqvist winning the 1984 Ivory Coast Rally, which had a similar appearance to the Sport Quattro but was a quite notable evolution under the hood, with changes in many elements to make it more competitive. However, Audi could evolve the car even further and did so with the Sport Quattro S1 E2. At first, its appearance was much more radical with a huge ‘blade’ that gave it more aerodynamic support to reduce the more than evident understeer, in addition to a new rear spoiler.
The Sport Quattro S1 E2 was the definitive version of the five-cylinder monster, evolving the same 2.1 engine to exceed 550 horsepower thanks to its three KKK turbos, redesigning both the intake and the exhaust system (already then, exhaust systems were used). recirculation to reduce turbo lag, very noticeable when exiting corners). This allowed it to accelerate from 0 to 100 in less than three seconds, reaching around 225 kilometers per hour, especially in rallies such as the 1,000 Lagos, one of the jewels of the WRC. The power of the official units at the end of 1986 reached close to 600 horsepower.
At first they fitted five-speed boxes, but a six-speed one came to be used. The most interesting thing about all this is that Audi, together with Porsche, came to design a semi-automatic sequential gearbox… called PDK, does it sound familiar to you? The legendary Walter Röhrl used this box in the 1985 RAC Rally. That same year, Röhrl managed to win at Sanremo, which would ultimately be Audi Sport’s last victory to date with the Quattro and in Group B. Another victory would come in the 1987 Safari with the 200 Quattro, but in subsequent years they were no longer 100% official efforts, at the same time that Lancia (and later Toyota) became the main forces in the WRC.
The point is that the Sport Quattro S1 was not the ideal rally car (nor was the E2) no matter how spectacular it was. He only managed to win one rally against the power of the mid-engined Lancia Delta S4 and Peugeot 205 T16, which were much more agile. The Audi, on the other hand, suffered from the fact that the engine, and consequently much of the weight of the assembly, was hanging in front of the front axle. This caused him to ‘sneer’ continuously, affecting him noticeably in curves compared to the French and Italians. The option of converting the car to a central engine was possible, but Audi executives refused to do so for marketing reasons, strongly defending and sword its concept.
So, secretly, a small group of engineers led by Roland Gumpert built a mid-engine prototype that immediately demonstrated that it could be as fast or faster than the Sport Quattro S1 known to the public. It was a secret test, with Röhrl at the wheel…but the police found out about the test only from the sound of the engine. Eventually, Audi found out about this and ordered everything that had been advanced in this project to be destroyed. Not everything was destroyed, surviving a unit that was destined to compete in Group S – an evolution of Group B that was scrapped before its appearance after the fateful 1986 Tour of Corsica that claimed the life of Henri Toivonen. This is the Audi Group S RS002, a prototype that has not been seen in public until a few years ago at events such as the Eiffel Rally Festival.
It is curious that one of the most remembered cars of the entire Group B era achieved only one victory (if we talk about the S1 E2), compared to the Delta S4 or the Peugeot 205 T16 that amassed so many victories between 1984 and 1986. However, It characterizes what motorsport fans really want, what they are truly passionate about. A beastly appearance, both in terms of bodywork, sound and brutality in its performance, the maximum expression of what was a category in which, compared to today, it seemed like a ‘Free Formula’. Of course, it depends on who you ask and their age, but for many, the Group B era featuring Audi, Lancia, Peugeot and Ford was the golden era of the World Rally Championship.
