Audi Sport Quattro Concept

Audi Sport Quattro Concept

Looks to kill and 700 horsepower. (Feel free to ignore the word "hybrid.") Had author Thomas Wolfe lived until the 1980s, he may have been inclined to write a sequel to his classic novel “You Can’t Go Home Again” called “You Can’t Go Group B Again.” It could have served as a story with a moral for automakers like Renault, Peugeot, and Audi, who frequently evoke the imagery of rally racing’s exhilaratingly deranged Group B era.



As a car, the Audi is nothing short of spectacular. The coupe’s looks are stunning, with a simple fascia that exists mostly to suck in air, and exposed LED headlights that require air cooling to offset their intense heat. DNA from the Audi R8 is evident in the back, with flat, upward-angled taillights wrapping across the Sport Quattro’s rear. And who couldn’t love aluminum fender flares that look like Jean-Claude Van Damme’s arms before he began peddling Coors Light? Although the doors are also aluminum, Audi went with carbon fiber for the roof, the hood, and the rear hatch.



But the real show-stopping details are under the hood, where Audi’s twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 pairs with an electric motor to deliver a total of 700 horsepower. The gasoline engine contributes 560 of those, as well as 516 lb-ft of torque, while the electric motor is rated for nearly 150 horsepower and 295 lb-ft. Instead of a dual-clutch transmission, Audi has fitted the Sport Quattro concept with a version of its ZF-supplied eight-speed automatic; the powertrain features a sport differential in the rear. Top speed is estimated at more than 190 mph, and the Euro-standard 0-to-62 run is pegged at 3.7 seconds.



Now for the discomfort of reality. The V-8 features cylinder deactivation and an engine stop-start system for fuel savings. A lithium-ion battery stores enough juice for a fully charged Sport Quattro to operate in electric mode for up to 31 miles, but the driver can choose when and for how long to operate under electric power alone. With the battery pack and electric motor adding to the Sport Quattro’s mass, Audi says the total weight stands at 4079 pounds.



Was it necessary to build the Sport Quattro as a plug-in hybrid? Audi would say that the Sport Quattro concept stays true to the philosophy of the original Sport Quattro S1, the psycho rally car. That car used the most advanced technology available at the time—some of it relatively unproven—to deliver the highest performance possible. So what’s the problem?



This car is explicitly cast as a roadgoing successor to the S1, some 30 years later. Traditionalists who love original tend to be, well, traditionalists. Being high-tech is perhaps something of a tradition, but a new Audi being like the original seems more aligned to their tastes. For that crowd, Audi seemed more on track with the Quattro concept it showed at Paris three years ago. Even though it looked similar, the Paris car had a turbocharged five-cylinder engine and a wicked exhaust note—just like the S1.