Audi Sport Quattro Concept. Celebrating 30 years at Frankfurt

Audi unveils a conceptual tribute to the legendary Sport Quattro, the Audi Sport Quattro Concept due to make its international debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Hard to believe the legendary Audi Sport quattro has been with us for 30 years. In a six-year Group B rallying career, the legendary machine notched up two driver’s championships, two manufacturer’s crowns and 23 rally wins. Now, as part of its Frankfurt Motor Show roll-out, Audi will unveil the new, almost devastatingly good looking Audi Sport Quattro Concept as a tribute to the original Ur-Quattro.

We realise laptop keyboards can fast get glooped with drool, so we’ll keep this brief. Based on the Quattro concept study that made its debut in 2010, the new model (naturally) follows the ever-increasing green motoring rules of today’s automotive industry and thus boasts hybrid technology alongside its 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8. The latter in itself should quash beyond doubt thoughts that this new hybrid is a green motorist’s dream, as should the overall 700hp power output, 560hp of which comes from the V8 and the remainder from a 110kW electric motor.

As well as sizeable grunt, the Audi Sport Quattro Concept combines ultra high-strength steel panels with a cast aluminium structure and carbon fibre reinforced polymer to keep the weight down. As such, and also thanks to 516lb ft of torque (295lb ft of which comes from the electric motor), the concept punches from 0-100kph in 3.7 seconds and will hit a 304kph top speed.

And in the racing-styled cabin, and we quote, ‘a line running below the windscreen encircles both the driver and passenger and integrates all ergonomic functions such as the door openers’. Now we have no idea what that means, but given the images supplied, we’re now wondering if Tron as well as the World Rally Championship has influenced the design of the new concept.

– Shots courtesy of Audi