It all started with the DKW-Mungo. He was virtually the successor of the VW 'bucket' (from the Second World War) in the German army and was also due to be replaced because ofhis two-stroke engine. So a development order was issued to the companies Volkswagen and Daimler Benz to develop a new SUV. Mercedes, of course, acted on the assumption of a front engine rear wheel drive and VW/Audi of a longitudinally front-wheel drive. Finally came out of the Iltis (polecat). But why not technology use for the civilian sector? And was it then not possible to get more output?
To make it short, 1980 comes out the Audi (original) quattro, a 4.4 m long Audi Coupe with a 2,2 liter five-cylinder inline engine, which with turbocharger and intercooling to about 150 kW (200 hp) came. He was not only strong, but for a four-wheel vehicle extremely light. With 1300 kg, it weighed just even 75 kg more by the additional drive of the rear axle. If you want to learn about the structure of the transmission or the drive of the axes, click here. However, the quattro still has the ability to lock the center differential. From a Torsen differential, as it is today used at Audi, was at that time no talk. By the way, as rear axle simply the front rear axle is taken.Despite these saving measures, the first still just hand-made exemplars were not cheap. For € 25,000 you could buy a really good upper class model with more than five cylinders back then.For that time the car was sensational. All-wheel-drive competitors had much more weight, ground clearance and sluggishness. It was just the first car, which was good for everyday and the extreme leisure time and also for the rally sport. It had been from the beginning of Audi thought like this. It was no wonder that in the subsequent period up to the development of appropriate opponents stirred up the whole competition ...