Morning Symphony: The Magic Of Audi’s Turbocharged Five Cylinder


Morning Symphony: The Magic Of Audi’s Turbocharged Five Cylinder

Would you believe that the Audi Quattro exists purely because of the Volkswagen Thing? It’s true: in the late 1960s the German military had been trying to create a vehicle to replace many of the small all-terrain vehicles in use by several governments that were assisting in the program. Known as the “Europa Jeep”, it was supposed to be in production quickly, but it didn’t happen quick enough. When the German military asked for a cheap vehicle to fill the void until the Europa Jeep arrived, the Volkswagen Type 181, a.k.a. “Thing”, was whipped up. By 1979, the Europa Jeep plan was in the trashcan. But by this time Volkswagen had scored all of the Auto Union marques and had consolidated them into the Audi brand, and one very interesting vehicle that they saw with potential was the DKW Munga, a two-stroke all-wheel-drive machine that desperately needed to be updated. The resulting vehicle was dubbed the Volkswagen “Iltis” (polecat), whose most interesting party trick involved out-performing just about anything in the snow, regardless of power level. Audi chassis engineer Jörg Bensinger saw the potential in an Audi 80 that could put that same all-wheel-drive system to use, hence, the quattro all wheel drive system and the Quattro, the psychotic rally car that followed.

Regardless what version of the wicked little coupe you are seeing, regardless of how mellow or mental it is, the exhaust note is what grabs your attention. That is one of three different inline-five cylinder engines, ranging from the 2.1L 10-valve unit that ran from 1980 to 1987, all the way up to the 2.2L 20-valve setup used in 1989, 1990 and 1991. And that’s for the street cars. It’s believed that the Sport Quattro S1 E2, the radical version of the Group B rally special, was good for nearly six hundred horsepower in 1986.


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One thought on “Morning Symphony: The Magic Of Audi’s Turbocharged Five Cylinder

  1. Dan

    As for symphonies, I know there’s a whole generation of gear heads loving the whooshing and popping of turbo engines; and I must admit I make a good part of my living thanks to turbo cars… I love what they are capable of from a sheer technical standpoint, and if I were racing and serious about winning, it’s what I would have. But there’s nothing better than the sound of a normally aspirated engine.
    Never mind that though, and look at what it takes to be a rally driver. Check out the screen shot preceding the video and tell me if that’s where you think you should be in a corner. You are about to wreck, dude! Then watch it in the video from 3:00 to 3:08 and it all makes sense. I will always bow to the rally. To me it is the epitome of precision driving, and it’s the best kind of insanity.

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