Audi isquattro and quattrois Audi. For more than 40 years, the permanent quattro all-wheel drive has been oneof Audi’s key technologies. Outstanding traction, high driving safety and enormous driving dynamics characterize Audi’s permanent all-wheel drive. This makes quattroa trump card for the brand. Audi quattrois fascination, quattrois emotion. But technically speaking, not all quattros are the same. Learn more about this in our Audi TechTalk.
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1978 Audi entered the world of rallying asa works team in 1978, initially running front-wheel drive cars. Barely a year had passed since the original quattrowas 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 toa 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 ofhis 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 useof 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.