Audi
Quattro System
There are a number of reasons for Audi's domination of the automotive
industry across numerous areas, but one of the company's most
outstanding contributions would have to be the Quattro system.
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The result of decades of research in front-wheel
drive technology, the Quattro system first broke ground
in the winter of 1976-77, when the first test drives of
vehicle using the system were conducted in Sweden. While
the 170 hp five-cylinder engines tested were still outperformed
by all-wheel drive vehicles at that time, they did show
remarkable potential for the future.
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What these and other test made apparent was that in order to
compete with the superior propulsive power, traction and corner
handling of four-wheel drive vehicles, a new model would have
to be developed, one that would feature an all-wheel drive design
and plenty of power under the hood. It was then that the Quattro
project got off the ground.
The system began to be developed in 1977 with three bright young
engineers at the helm: Dr. Ferdinand Piëch, who served as
Technical Director, Walter Treser as Project Manager, and Head
of the Chassis Testing, Jörg Bensinger.
The first model of the ramps was given the codename A1, and it
would later prove to be the first-generation Audi 80 in slightly
modified form. This incarnation of the 80 featured an elongated
wheelbase and a five-cylinder turbo engine that would later be
used in the Audi 200.
Subsequent tests and speed trials in Austria would show that
the new model offered superior traction, and along with other
factors, this would result in a go-signal being given to the project
by the Volkswagen Board of Management in 1978. The new model also
exhibited outstanding performance on a wet slope in subsequent
tests in Stammham.
One of the many innovative features introduced in the Quattro
system was the secondary shaft, which adopted a hollow design.
This shaft resulted in a light and easy to manage drive by way
of the four-wheel system. In fact, it was this simple design that
made the Quattro system suitable for everyday drive vehicles,
instead of being relegated only to trucks and slower vehicles
as it had been in the past.
Over the years, numerous other innovations were brought forth
in the Quattro line, but what remains constant is the company's
focus on providing a vehicle that placed capability and functionality
over good looks. It is this focus that Audi attributes to the
Quattro system's success. In fact, assertions that this system
would pave the way for all-wheel drive designs in passenger cars
in the future seem to be have come true.
Since then, the revolutionary Quattro Clubsport concept (pictured)
and the excellent performance of its resultant vehicles have cemented
Audi's reputation as an automotive force to contend with and numerous
innovative vehicles have come out as a result. While the company
has since moved on to bigger and better things, the Quattro system
is and will remain one of the company's most notable achievements.
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