REVIEW: TURN BACK THE CLOCKS! 1982 Audi Quattro Coupe. One Of Audi's All Time Greats Or Not Ready For Prime Time?

Without question one of the most interesting cars of it's time. At at the same times makes us second guess the entire 80's decade.

Enjoy this old review of this 82. I'm convinced. I think 4wd is a better deal for everyone, up to and including your aunt, the part-time crazy lady. You just have to learn that 4wd is meant for foul-weather driving, not off-roading. It makes your car safer because it makes it easier to take advantage of whatever emergency maneuvering power your car might have. And now that Audi is claiming that 4wd can improve a car's fuel efficiency and permit more civilized suspension rates, the real question is why not apply it to every car—a question that Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Peugeot, and Honda are all asking themselves.

Even so, I still stumble over the high-performance issue. Is 4wd the answer for going fast? I've decided that wrangling over whether a Quattro or a Porsche 911 is easier to recover once you overstep the bounds of good sense is best left to scholars of the SAE scrolls. For me, 4wd gets me there sooner.



Read Article

mre30 - 5/23/2020 6:45:59 AM

0 Boost

I have always been curious about why the Ur Quattro has really never gained much collector traction (no pun intended).

Logically, you could argue its the 'car that started it all' - predecessor to the M3, MB's AMG line, etc. Heck the competing BMW at the time was that bad 320i (1976 to 1984).

The Ur saw such limited production, it was such an iconic performer of the time, it won rallies, and really (along with the AMC Eagle station wagon believe it or not) launched the whole - "I need AWD" movement.

I had an Audi of this vintage when I was in college (used 1982 Audi 5000 Turbo - which shares the architecture with the Ur) and it was a good for the time, though unreliable car. Remember that the Audi 5000 was also the vehicle that launched (again no pun intended) the whole unintended acceleration debacle (i.e. distracted suburban drivers hitting the accelerator instead of the brakes as they shifted into 'Drive' and launching their car thru the garage wall and into their pool (this happened a lot in 1984).

Why is the Ur Quattro not more collectible?

MDarringer - 5/23/2020 9:31:21 AM

+1 Boost

The Quattro was the car that put Audi on the map but Audi never channeled that aura in any way. They were much more concerned about becoming the German Oldsmobile.

PUGPROUD - 5/23/2020 10:40:44 AM

+1 Boost

Iconic but they did loose the plot along the way.

ricks0me - 5/23/2020 5:04:05 PM

0 Boost

Several years ago there was a "retro" version making the round on the internet. I am not sure if it was a photoshop or a real car. It did look good but Audi did not make it because it would not look like an A4 / A6 / A8.

qwertyfla1 - 5/25/2020 9:37:18 AM

0 Boost

I loved the original Quattro and Scirocco of the same vintage of which I am guessing were chassis cousins?

MDarringer - 5/25/2020 10:45:13 AM

0 Boost

NOPE! Scirocco was a transverse engine placement and the Quattro was longitudinal. The Scirocco/Golf chassis would have been the better one--for balance--when going AWD.

Quattro was a bandaid for Audi. With so much weight ahead of the front wheels, Audi plowed where BMWs carved. Quattro was a tack on to close the handling gap rather than designing a better platform

The irony is that by going transverse, Audi would have markedly improved its FWD handling and at that time, Audis were nearly all FWD as people were not quick to clamor for quattro.