Audi is working on an engineering plan that will allow it to turn its spectacular Paris show-stopping Quattro Concept into a production vehicle.
A dedicated team of engineers at Audi’s headquarters in Ingolstadt is advancing plans that, if approved, will see the evocatively styled coupé assembled in limited numbers on a dedicated line at the company’s newly acquired sister firm, ItalDesign, near Milan.
See all the pics of the Audi Quattro concept
Describing the new two-door as more than just a one-off show car, Stefan Reil, head of development at Audi’s Quattro Gmbh division, confirmed plans for a limited production run were fairly advanced. “We are rethinking standard processes to make it possible,” he said. “We know how to engineer it already.”
Although ItalDesign has no existing assembly operations, the Italian design house has a background in low-volume production, as it was responsible for the assembly of the BMW M1. It is also used regularly by Audi’s parent company, Volkswagen, to construct various concept cars, including the still-born Nardo supercar and Tarek off-roader.
Read more on the Audi Quattro concept
Conceived to embody the rally-bred spirit and technological flair of Audi’s iconic Sport Quattro launched in 1984, the modern-day version is clothed in a uniquely styled aluminium and carbonfibre body. This sits on a modified steel floorpan and four-wheel drive underpinnings from the RS5.
The combination is claimed to provide it with an impressively low 1300kg kerb weight, roughly the same as that of the original Sport Quattro used to homologate Audi’s storming Group B rally cars. Outlining plans for the Quattro’s possible production, Reil said, “We need feedback to see if it is possible. Audi has no heritage in building 200-500 cars that are really exotic. But it won’t be over €100,000 [£86,000].”
Hinting about a technical tie-up with sister firm Lamborghini, whose expertise in carbonfibre is set to play a big role in the Quattro’s lightweight body, Reil told Autocar, “This car and Lamborghini are in the same exotic corner.”
Read the full A-Z review of the Paris motor show
While Audi remains tight-lipped on the Quattro’s longitudinally mounted, turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine, Reil suggests it will be tuned beyond the level used in the TT RS. “A really good turbocharged petrol engine has around 140bhp [per litre]. We’re a little under that now. But with a larger turbocharger something around 350bhp is possible.”
The use of a five-pot engine harks back to the Sport Quattro that took on rivals from Peugeot and Lancia at the height of the Group B era. It featured a 2.1-litre turbo in-line five that developed 306bhp in road trim and up to 444bhp in competition guise.
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Re: Audi to build reborn Quattro
"Whatever happened to finesse - of styling, of handling, even of intention?"
One of the reasons manugacturs have done this is that the press aren't critical and don't take strong stands that makers make their cars better.
A common example of this is how Autocar never admitted that the new 911 turbos were actually poorer drivers cars than the 996 versions. In fact only now many years later would chief tester Sutty write on a blog that the best drivers 911 turbo was the 996, but never did the magaine put these ideas ever in print. J
Re: Audi to build reborn Quattro
Another depressingly aggressive, get-out-of-my-way German ubermachine that exists for no good reason. Pretty much the bluntest of blunt instruments. Whatever happened to finesse - of styling, of handling, even of intention?
Re: Audi to build reborn Quattro
Lambo vs sti right here bro...
http://www.evo.co.uk/videos/planetevovideos/216963/impreza_sti_v_gallard...
The sti's the safer more exploitable road car, and the video is very well done- except the audio. j