‘Audi’ and ‘Quattro’. Two words synonymous with each other, both on the road today and in Group B rallying during its heyday. Join the World Rally Championship as it celebrates one of its ‘greatest cars’
[Not a valid template]The best rally car of all time? You’re going to have quite a job arguing against Audi’s iconic Quattro. Even the World Rally Championship itself has put out this video about Ingolstadt’s monumental weapon, which completely changed the game on its release in 1980.
The Quattro was the first rally car with four-wheel drive, which gave it stupendous traction against its rear-wheel drive competitors. It had a turbocharger to maximise power from the engine. As it evolved over the years, it made more than 600bhp. Compare that to the puny sub-300bhp output from WRC cars of today – the Audi Quattro was an absolute monster.
In the words of rally stalwart Phil Short, “everything else was obsolete overnight”. It won more than 20 rallies, two world titles and the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb.
Oh, and it spawned some rather tasty Audi road cars now. To this day, any all-wheel drive Audi sports the Quattro badge. No wonder Sébastien Loeb, probably the greatest rally driver of all time, calls it “the most important car”. Is anyone likely to get as excited about the Citroen DS3 in 30 years’ time? We think not.
Source – FIA World Rally Championship
