A look back at the 25th anniversary of the Audi Quattro

Legend has it that a long time ago in the frozen snow of northern Europe, Mr. Pierce found a way to run fast on the slippery road - using four legs instead of two legs, and taught his pet this running method" Quattro", making it a dashing ride, and thus began a quarter-century-long legend.

"Quattro" in Chinese can be pronounced as "exaggerated", which means "four" in Latin. The "Quattro" logo on the rear of Audi stands for "four-wheel drive", that is, all four wheels are It means power output.

About the origin of Quattro, let's talk about it before.

Inspiration from snow and ice

In the 1970s, Audi was only a development and production company under Volkswagen, and its influence in Germany, Europe and the world was negligible. Since August 1975, Audi director Ferdinand Pi?ch has been in charge of technical development. He racked his brains in order to improve the Audi brand and finally decided to try a technological innovation method.

By chance, he was impressed by an off-road vehicle named "Iltis", and some other more powerful test cars and prototypes were struggling on the frozen Finnish roads in the middle of winter. Test, but was left without a trace by this only 75 horsepower guy. The excellent grip and handling capabilities of the four-wheel drive immediately attracted Professor Pierce. Why not install such an outstanding system on the car?

Immediately, chassis engineer Joerke Bensinger, along with Walter Treisel, then head of development, suggested that Pierce start preliminary trials with the Audi 80. So Iltis parts were quickly transplanted to a red two-door Audi 80, which was the first Quattro in Audi history.

After continuous improvement, at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1980, the Audi 80 Coupe equipped with the Quattro full-time four-wheel drive system was officially unveiled, and the name was Audi Quattro. This car is an epoch-making product with two full-time four-wheel drive systems as its biggest selling point.

Dr. Ferdinand Pierce praised his horse: "This car has written a new chapter in the field of automotive engineering, and its appearance is the real birth of a full-time four-wheel drive sedan.

Evolution of Quattro Technology

After several twists and turns, Audi Quattro's safety and performance selling points finally won the approval of Volkswagen executives, and Audi began to vigorously develop Quattro. New cars equipped with the Quattro system have been introduced from generation to generation, such as the Audi Coupe, Audi 80/90 and Audi 100/200, and the Audi 200 has launched the Avant Touring model. In 1988, Quattro launched a top-level V8 model with 250 horsepower; in 1994, Audi equipped the flagship A8 with the Quattro system, and at the same time, it launched a sports version due to the success of Quattro on the track.

Meanwhile, Quattro four-wheel drive technology itself is constantly evolving. The early Quattro system was simply equipped with three traditional differentials, front, middle and rear. It also faced a very embarrassing situation - as long as one wheel slipped and idled, all the power would be lost from this wheel, and the vehicle would be lost. Will not move. Audi immediately researched countermeasures and finally came up with a method to install differential locks on the middle and rear differentials. Once slippage occurs, the differential is manually locked to ensure that at least three wheels can obtain power output.

The second generation of Quattro technology evolved when Audi technical department replaced the manual differential lock with an advanced Torsen self-locking worm gear differential. The biggest improvement of the Torsen differential is that its differential locking process has evolved from manual to automatic. Once the machine senses that a wheel is about to lose its grip, it will automatically lock the wheels on both sides of the differential to make it run at the same speed.

The Quattro system has since evolved again, introducing EDL electronic differential locks in the front and rear differentials, while the center differential continues to use the Torsen differential. With the continuous improvement of the automotive electronic system, the Quattro system only retains the Torsen components on the central differential, and the front and rear wheels are monitored by the ESP electronic stability program, thereby replacing various heavy structures. Differential lock mechanism.

The various new Audi cars with Quattro function that we are driving now are the latest four-wheel drive system with Torsen differential and ESP structure.

The pros and cons of Ouattro

Audi's Quattro four-wheel drive is a purely mechanical structure, it has the advantages of reliable performance and direct response, but because it is purely mechanical, it is inevitable There is structural weight, which is generally about 70kg more than the two-wheel drive of the same level of Audi.

In addition, the Quattro mechanism has a large rotational inertia during operation, so the fuel consumption of the Quattro model will be 1-1.5/km higher than that of similar models, and the response of the accelerator is relatively less direct and brisk.

Due to the constraints of the manufacturing process in the early stage of development, the Quattro still has the drawbacks of large internal friction and obvious power loss, but with the progress of industrial manufacturing, these problems no longer exist. Mentioning the Quattro these days only leaves the impression of superb handling and superior safety in rain and snow.

Invincible on the battlefield

The development history of Quattro can almost be said to be the Legacy of Audi Motorsport, because the Quattro series of racing cars has a brilliant record and won the honor for Audi in the field of racing.

During the 1981 WRC Group B season, the Audi Quattro showed its incomparable advantages in its first entry. Finland's Hannu Mikkola won two races in the Audi Quattro and placed third in the drivers' ranking. In the Sam Remo race, Audi's French driver Michele Mouton became the first woman in the history of the Global Rally Championship.

In the next two years, the Audi team has reported many good news in the WRC competition. In order to further dominate the rally competition, Audi developed the Sport Quattro model on the basis of the Quattro in 1984.

A variety of Audi cars equipped with the Quattro system subsequently won numerous world competitions, including the Audi 200 Quattro in the American TransAm series, the Audi 90 Quattro in the IMSA GTO series, and the German Touring Car Championship. Flagship model V8 Quattro, etc.

Notably, the A4 Quattro Supertouring, with its 300-hp 2.0L four-cylinder engine, has competed in seven national championships -- Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Belgium, South Africa and Australia -- and Winning championships.

Actually, Quattro-equipped Audis don't have any advantage on the straights. The secret to winning is in the corners. Audi drivers are always faster than their opponents thanks to the greater grip provided by all-wheel drive. The speed of cornering, the performance is naturally unmatched. However, due to the constant limitation of the racing calendar, the Audi car factory gradually reduced its investment in the competition, and the Quattro series cars gradually faded out of the racing stage since 1992.

Brand Peugeot

From 1980 to the end of 2004, Audi has produced 1,815,396 vehicles with full-time four-wheel drive, accounting for 15.1% of the total production. At present, there are 75 Audi models equipped with Quattro full-time four-wheel drive system. Especially in the luxury car class in recent years, Audi models equipped with Quattro full-time four-wheel drive system have exceeded a quarter of the total production of luxury cars. In 2004, it reached 26.7%.

In Europe and the world, Audi's brand appeal is still under the same country's Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Adopting advanced technology is a major means for Audi's product lineup to compete with Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Quattro is one of Audi's killers. For example, on the A8 model, the successful cooperation of the ASF all-aluminum body and the Quattro four-wheel drive system has directly increased its value to a position that can compete with the S-Class and the 7 Series.

Quattro has a profound significance for Audi's development in recent years. Now it has become one of Audi's iconic technologies, and it is an obvious feature that distinguishes Audi from other brands.

Looking ahead, Audi has finally launched its first SUV model, the Q7, using Quattro four-wheel drive technology, and officially released it at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show. 07 is equipped with 4.2L engine and Quattro four-wheel drive system. It is currently undergoing comprehensive and brutal testing in all corners of the world, aiming to be a blockbuster when it is launched. Quattro technology is taken from off-road vehicles, and today it's back in off-road vehicles. Its glorious history will also turn a new page.

1987 Audi Sport Quattro S1 Rally Edition race car.

The 198_9 Audi 90 Quattro takes over the street version.

A 1994 Audi 80 Quattro Street Edition race car.

Audi A8 6.0 Quattro.

2003 Quattro Le Mans concept car.

Audi cold SUV model Q7, in Frankfurt in 2005.