Enjoying the best of both worlds, Audi's quattro (all-wheel) drive offers the user enhanced stability and more precised handling.
While front-wheel drive (FWD) and rear-wheel drive (RWD) vehicles have their own strengths, Audi's quattro provides drive to both front and rear axles, which gives better traction and grip under all road conditions.
Drive to the different axles can also be varied depending on road conditions, all of which are done electro-mechanically, in mere hundredths of a second each time.
Translated to the end user, it means increased safety, especially in adverse road conditions.
In the winter of 1976/77, Audi tested a 200hp five-cylinder engine in Scandinavia, mounted in a front-wheel drive vehicle.
However, a 75hp vehicle with higher ground clearance and a selectable four-wheel drive system ran rings around the more powerful Audis on the snow. This was the Volkswagen Iltis, a military vehicle developed by Audi as a successor to the DKW Munga.
Thus was born the idea of incorporating permanent all-wheel drive on all Audi cars with high performance engines.
The project started in the spring of 1977, pioneered by then chief development officer Ferdinand Piech with Walter Treser as project manager and Jorg Bensinger as head of chassis testing.
The prototype was based on a first-generation Audi 80 with a stretched wheelbase, implanted with a turbo-charged five-cylinder engine planned for the future Audi 200 model. A modified McPherson front axle was installed upside down to serve as the rear axle.
In March 1980, the new Audi Urquattro (derived from the Audi 80 coupe) debuted at the Geneva International Motor Show.
The Rallye quattro version used the same five-cylinder turbo as the production car. The two-valve 2.1-litre displacement with 1.6-bar boost pressure produced a stable 310hp. Lightweight components to the body kept the weight to 1,200kg, about 100kg less than the production car.
The Rallye quattro, depending on the axle ratio, could accelerate from zero to 100km/h in approximately 5.2 seconds on a dry track. In its World Cup debut at the Monte Carlo Rally, the quattro proved its clear superiority from its first time out.
In the following Swedish Rally, the Audi Rallye quattro took its first victory. French woman Michele Mouton won in San Remo, becoming the first female to ever win a world championship race.
In 1982, the Audi was virtually unbeatable - the superiority of the quattro took Audi to seven outright wins and the constructors’ title for the year.
From 1988, the Audi 200 quattro made its mark in the United States Trans-Am Series, winning eight out of 13 races.
Again, from 1990 to 1996, quattro cars won touring titles in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Britain, Italy, Spain and South Africa.
Quattro was so successful that the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) had to completely ban all-wheel drive systems from touring car races.
Today, the permanent all-wheel drive system is used in all of the Audi model series, with 148 quattro models currently available. Audi has produced more than 5 million all-wheel drive cars to date.
Euromobil Sdn Bhd (Euromobil), a subsidiary of DRB-Hicom Berhad (DRB-Hicom) and the sole distributor of Audi in Malaysia, has now activated the Audi quattro driving experience as part of an overall global brand message to promote the marque's all-wheel drive system.
In conjunction with the “Malaysia. Land of quattro” campaign, Euromobil is organising four quattro driving experience events.
In the first event last weekend, 20 motoring journalists were taken for a drive from Euromobil’s Audi Damansara to Port Dickson before heading back, with a stop-over at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) for on-road and off-road activities to put the all-wheel drive system to the test and experience Audi's Vorsprung durch Technik (Advancement through Technology).
Euromobil lined up 10 Audi models for the quattro challenge made up of sedans – the newly launched Audi A5 Sportback 2.0 TFSI, Audi A6 3.0 TFSI, Audi A7 Sportback 3.0 TFSI and the flagship Audi A8 3.0 TFSI. Complementing the range were the SUV models, namely the Audi Q3 2.0 TFSI, Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI and the Audi Q7 3.0 TFSI.
The route covered a total distance of 230km with long straights on the highway, twisting trunks and B-roads to experience the technological supremacy of quattro over the conventional drive systems.
During the drive to Port Dickson and back to Kuala Lumpur, the Audi Q7 and A8 we were in demonstrated their traction and grip superiority, whilst the sporty drive system enabled dynamic cornering. The combination of high traction and high lateral stability made the drive a pleasant and comfortable one.
During a stop-over, the on-road exercises at SIC simulated demanding driving situations to test the handling and performance of the quattro drive system. These included simulations of emergency situations whereby participants were given the opportunity to test accident avoidance manoeuvres in wet and slippery road conditions in the Audi sedans.
In the off-road exercises exclusive to the SUVs due to their higher ground clearance, participants were given the opportunity to put the Audi SUVs to even more rigorous tests. Torrential downpours made the grounds extremely slippery, but the quattro all-wheel drive system managed to tackle the adverse weather conditions at ease, even with on-road tyres.
All in, the Audi quattro with its impressive driving dynamics and precised handling qualities gave us an engaging and composed experience.
As Kenny Foo, Eurobil's head of operation at Audi Centre Glenmarie, put it: "Utmost safety is assured with Audi's quattro."
Users can log onto www.landofquattro.com.my to take part in the "Malaysia. Land of quattro" online challenge. 40 winners will automatically secure spots in the quattro driving experience whilst the grand prize winner will enjoy the opportunity to push quattro to the limits in the Audi R8 driving experience at Dubai Autodrome. The contest closes tomorrow (December 6) with winners to be announced on December 9.