Tuesday 25th March 2014

Driving the Sport Quattro: PH Blog

Not a long drive, or a good one, but it was memorable. Matt recalls five minutes with a Sport Quattro

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There it lurked at the bottom of the 'cars available' list on the S1 launch; beneath the S3 Cabriolets (review on that soon), almost by mistake it seemed, was a solitary Audi Sport Quattro. Surely they wouldn't actually let us scuzzy journalists drive it? It must be a misprint.

Perhaps not its best angle...

It wasn't a misprint. They did let us drive the Quattro. And it was absolutely flippin brilliant.

With just two laps of a short test track and running on studded tyres, it wasn't exactly an in-depth Sport Quattro drive. In fact I probably spent as long in the car as Chris allocated to it in his Group B worship vid back in 2012. But it was enough to get me all giddy about Audi's most famous Quattro.

The interior is fabulous. After 113,000km and 30 years the Recaros have a bit of squidge to them but the bolsters still feel great around the thighs and shoulders. Gauges for pressures and temperatures sit at the top of the dash, and the boost gauge sits directly in the middle of the two dials. Not that I noticed that initially because the steering wheel diameter is gigantic. It doesn't adjust either so it manages to sit in your lap and still above the dials. It's a delightful reminder of why thin steering wheels just worked though.

Ah yes, that's better

That wheel gets worked a lot too, with what seems like loads of turns lock-to-lock on top of the understeer from those tyres on tarmac. It's a sharp contrast from the immediacy of the new S1.

But my goodness is it fast. Of course it's laggy, but that just proffers a couple of seconds to get properly excited about the imminent onslaught. Above 4,000rpm it absolutely flies, a sensation augmented by that thrilling five cylinder warble. Amazingly the Sport Quattro makes less torque than the S1 hatch (259lb ft v 272lb ft) but weighs less (1,298kg v 1,390kg). And with its peak power of 310hp made at 6,700rpm, it really is worth revving the Quattro and savouring that noise for just a little longer.

There are some funny angles to the Sport Quattro. Hacking so much out of the wheelbase leaves it with really strange rear overhang but viewed from dead straight on it's captivating. The smaller headlights, huge arches and bonnet vents give it a fantastic presence. Audi probably wasn't too pleased, but the assorted journos were swooning over the Quattro all day. The S3 may as well not have been there.

To have driven it is a great privilege though, one I'm hugely grateful to Audi for. And how much for my own one? 300,000 euros on suchenmobile, and it's not even red...

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Quick little onboard vid here, lots of inane grinning and poor driving for your pleasure.

 

 

[Stig]

Epic - but was it stuck in one gear?

[Howrare]

Might as well have driven around a supermarket car park. Worthy of an article?

[Dapster]

As I posted on the other Sport Quattro thread, this is what I'm getting when my numbers come in. The price is properly mental...







http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/audi-andere-o...

[em177]

Howrare said:

Might as well have driven around a supermarket car park. Worthy of an article?

This.

[Liquid Tuna]

Perhaps it was faster than it looked or sounded in that video? A bit odd to post that up though.

[s m]

Chunky as it looks and with all it's 4wd hardware and 5-pot engine, a Clio 197 weighs the same

[Matt Bird]

em177 said:

Howrare said:

Might as well have driven around a supermarket car park. Worthy of an article?

This.

It was all we were allowed unfortunately! It's quite clearly stated in the standfirst it was far from comprehensive as well. I thought something was better than nothing but there we go. Not sure video is ever great for conveying a sense of speed, of course not helped by the fact there were no sustained periods of acceleration, but it felt plenty rapid to me.

Of course, if anyone wishes to donate a Sport Quattro for a longer test period...


Matt

[NotNormal]

Managed to spend quite a bit of time in the passenger seat of one of these a good few years ago. Great car but like all limited edition homologation specials I think the understanding of being in such a special car out ways the actual nuts and bolts of the final product. Seeing the carbon weave under the paint on the panels was quite special and it was certainly a comfy and well put together place inside. As the article states it certainly does have some quirky looks from some angles. Didn't feel particularly fast in all honesty but was certainly capable and very smooth once on boost. One of the first LHD cars I went in so remember it felt strange sitting on the "wrong" side as it were. Must spend a bit of time and dig out the old pics I have buried away.

Certainly all these years later I appreciate what a rare opportunity that day actually was.

[UltimaCH]

Where was the ice? I was looking forward seeing some frozen lake action

[rob.e]

I'd love one of these.

Strangely i have absolutely no interest in the s1.. is it just nostalgia?

[tyrrell]

Fantastic car, bit lame video though

[4v6]

Even as a confirmed quattro nutter its a little strange to see people still so obviously captivated by a car design thats so out of date.
Technologies moved on way beyond what the quattro carries under the skin, electronics, brakes etc are all so good nowadays, theres many cars are way faster, handle better or stop better, but still these cars catch the attention.
There was an audi delearship someplace that had a customers Ur (long wheelbase 2.1 turbo) parked alongside their newest models in the showroom for an open day iirc and again most people seemed more interested in the oold warhorse than the new sonic the hedgehog stuff.

I wish audi had built a slightly scaled up the ur/sport and packed in as much modern tech as possible whilst keeping the basic shell shape, I'm sure theyd sell like hot cakes, maybe I'm just biased...yep I know I am.

[Turbobanana]

To all those comparing BHP or PWR with Clios etc: Surely how well it goes out of the box is irrelevant: it's 30 years old and was built for one purpose only - to win rallies. To do that Audi needed a base car to homologate. Then the fun begins: the works cars had c550bhp (IIRC), full aero packages and were well on the pace of the opposition, albeit more of a handful and ultimately less successful in terms of wins than the 205 T16, Delta S4 etc. I know which I'd rather hear blatting through Clocaenog at 3am...

For the record - I think it looks great and it would definitely be in my Lottery win garage.

[astrsxi77]

4v6 said:

Even as a confirmed quattro nutter its a little strange to see people still so obviously captivated by a car design thats so out of date.
Technologies moved on way beyond what the quattro carries under the skin, electronics, brakes etc are all so good nowadays, theres many cars are way faster, handle better or stop better, but still these cars catch the attention.
There was an audi delearship someplace that had a customers Ur (long wheelbase 2.1 turbo) parked alongside their newest models in the showroom for an open day iirc and again most people seemed more interested in the oold warhorse than the new sonic the hedgehog stuff.

I wish audi had built a slightly scaled up the ur/sport and packed in as much modern tech as possible whilst keeping the basic shell shape, I'm sure theyd sell like hot cakes, maybe I'm just biased...yep I know I am.

Captivation only derived from modernity?

I suspect that people now appreciate that they are looking at something of a bygone era and seldom seen nowadays, hence the interest shown over and above the modern LED'd Tupperware. Being a historical product, it is also free of the cynical marketing aura that surrounds the current cars.

Sonic the Hedgehog is more than twenty years old, by the way.

[Vladimir]

I loved Quattros in the 80s; my dad had three uR ones, the last one a Treser version.

But for some reason, they don't do a lot for me now. It might be because the image has been dragged down by endless fast but dull cars. Or because I'm getting old.

[Pelo]

That last picture, with the two rally cars - pic of the week please!

[strummerville]

4v6 said:

I wish audi had built a slightly scaled up the ur/sport and packed in as much modern tech as possible whilst keeping the basic shell shape, I'm sure theyd sell like hot cakes, maybe I'm just biased...yep I know I am.

Audi had their chance; got us all excited then did a u-turn and produced a corpulent hybrid. 2.1 five pot turbo with a manual box? Nope. Overweight cack with a stack of milk float batteries up its arse.

[DP33]

[quote=Dapster]As I posted on the other Sport Quattro thread, this is what I'm getting when my numbers come in. The price is properly mental...







http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/audi-andere-o...

Always loved those leather and alcanatara Recaros! As an aside when did grey interiors stop being cool? For the life of me I can't remember when that particular switch was flicked

[PunterCam]

Howrare said:

Might as well have driven around a supermarket car park. Worthy of an article?

A video of a sport being driven around a supermarket car park is worthy of a full website.