Audi Sport Quattro Concept Pays Tribute to 1980s Rally Legend [69 Photos]

What do we have here; is the Sports Quattro a concept meant to prepare us for a production car or a pure flight of fantasy to get the crowd coming in to Audi’s Frankfurt Motor Show stand?

Tough question, especially since Audi pulled the same stunt with the almost identical in philosophy and design, but mechanically different, Quattro Concept in 2010. It was supposed to be built but never was – and you know the saying, “once bitten, twice shy”…

Built to celebrate the 30th birthday of Audi’s 1980s rallying legend, the Ur-quattro, the concept comes with a plug-in hybrid drive pairing a twin-turbo V8 to an electric motor and a liquid-cooled lithium ion battery pack, with a system output of 691hp (700PS) and 800Nm (590 lb-ft) of peak torque. An eight-speed tiptronic transmission and a quattro all-wheel drive system put the power on the road.

At 4,602mm long, 1,964mm wide and 1,386mm high, with a wheelbase of 2,784mm, the concept is a big coupe that is very close in dimensions to the RS5 Coupe. It’s also fairly heavy for a sports car at 1,850 kilograms (4,079 lbs), despite the liberal use of lightweight materials in its construction.

Nevertheless, it’s performance numbers at top notch at 3.7 seconds for the standard sprint to 100km/h (62mph) and a 305km/h (190mph) top speed.

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