Audi Quattro: The Rally Car That Changed AWD Forever

Introduction

I remember seeing my first Audi. My neighbor bought an Audi 5000. I thought that the car had a face that only a blind mother could love. Then you look at it from the backside…. let’s just say we’re not channeling Sir-Mix-a-Lot and Baby Got Back. So, I was dismissive of these wannabe-BMW sedans that were just really quirky overpriced Volkswagens.

Then I started watching a rally here and there. I was enthralled. My first thought was, “People really get paid to drive like that? How AWESOME?!!!” I noticed that Audi was a very serious contender. They also made a car that looked really nice. The Audi Quattro has a face that anyone could love! I had to have one, even if it was a scale model.

Why This car Matters

There is something about this car that has stirred my soul. I am not sure what it is, but this car is a product of a little rebellion and corporate dollars. One might look at it and say so it has AWD? So what! There are cars, SUVs, and all sorts of vehicles that have come and gone with AWD. So, how is this car a little bit rebellious?

This car was a happy accident, a brainchild of Audi/VW. It was inspired by a contract to build a military jeep called the Iltis. The prototype produced 75HP and was able to easily “Finnish” their test course (Yes, pun intended) ahead of the Audi test cars in Finland. Clearly, these are unexpected results. The problem is not more horsepower, but solving the problem of getting the horsepower to the ground.

This was puzzling because the cars had more horsepower, looked better than their Iltis, but could not keep up with a slower, heavier, and less powerful vehicle. Clearly, something was lacking in the car that needed work. Somehow, they had to mate the car to the Iltis, but how?

You can thank Ferdinand Piëch for finding the answer to that question. He is the grandson of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche. Piëch pushed for the project to somehow combine the Audi with a Jeep. He funded it with questionable approval from Audi. This is why I love the Group B rally. It seems the deeper you dig, the better stories you find. Group B are the rock stars of auto racing.

Jörg Bensinger is also involved in this project. He oversaw the testing in the late 1970s. Lastly, Roland Gumpert, who built and is building some cool stuff at Gumpert Apollo. These are the men that you can thank for the Subaru WRX, the Mitsubishi Evo, and AWD today. These maverick men with a crazy idea proved that a four wheel drive car is possible, it can be built without a bulky transfer case, and it can dominate!

Normally, the Germans over-engineer things. They make things heavy and very strong. The Germans want the system to back up a system. They want the backup system to fix the system that might break. I am pretty sure they keep a spare driver in the truck to back up their current driver. They could not solve this traction problem by over-engineering.

Audi had to figure out how to engineer this car to be four wheel drive despite the challenge. They knew that mating the Audi with the Jeep chassis was the answer. However, other cars have used traditional four wheel drive using a transfer case. The problem is that the car would sit high, the 4WD would not handle rally speeds, and the car would be insanely heavy even by German standards. So, the car would have traction, but it would not win the race.

So, they came up with the Quattro. This car is to rally what the Model T is to automobiles. They took the concept of four wheel drive and then reconsidered the system. Audi figured out how to build a system without a transfer case.

Audi engineered a brilliantly compact two-shaft system inside the transmission. A solid inner shaft runs forward from the center differential to drive the front differential, while a hollow outer shaft surrounds it and carries power rearward to the rear driveshaft. In this design, the front output shaft runs inside the hollow sleeve used for the rear drive, allowing both outputs to occupy the same space.

Running the shafts side-by-side would have made the transmission too wide, while stacking them vertically would have increased height and compromised ground clearance. By arranging the shafts concentrically, Audi created a compact, lightweight solution without a transfer case.

This was the Goldilocks solution for rally racing. It was strong enough for punishment, but light enough for speed. The best part is it was compact enough to fit where no traditional four-wheel-drive system could.

Audi was able to keep the dimensions of a rear wheel drive car, but with an extra shaft output to drive the front wheels. So, one transmission, one center differential, decent ground clearance, and NO transfer case. You keep the exact dimensions of the rear wheel drive car, but you get the drive to the front wheels as well. BRILLIANT! The benefits of the Iltis without the bulky transfer case.

The driver could lock the center differential and the rear differential. This way, the car could have the traction in the really muddy/snowy/nasty stuff. However, the driver could unlock the differentials to keep things from binding up with the differentials doing their things. You know, allowing the outer wheel to spin faster than the inner wheel.

This car has won multiple rally stages and really kicked butt in Finland, which is known for tough courses. I love the innovation and contribution that this car brings to rally and the automobile industry.

The Tamiya TT-02

So, what does this have to do with my RC addiction? I bought the TT-02 Chassis with the Celica 165 body. I loved that car as well when it came out. It is not the “cheater” Celica 185, but still a great car.

I had a problem with a lot of overspray when I did the Celica body, and so I wanted something that looked better for pictures. I saw the Audi body on A Main and had to have it.

Next week, I will cover more of the “how to” on the body. I will say that I went for the “good enough” standard, because I experimented with the airbrush and still had overspray. So, I decided to cover the mistakes with the decals. The car looks pretty good. Tamiya does a nice job with the decals. This is not a shelf queen, but it will look good on camera.

I built this car to be a driver. I have enough experience with this hobby to nail the body. I mean, you get all the details right. Then you drive the car…. crash the car… and cry. Now, I just cried after doing some of the decals and came to grips that this was not going to be a shelf queen.

I think I want to do another one of these bodies, but make it 100% shelf queen. I love how Tamiya even gave us the lights. I am pretty sure that if a sticker adds 5HP then clearly Rally lights have to add about 10HP minimally. So, the lights alone increase the Audi’s horsepower by 60. Then you look at all the stickers and sponsors. I mean, the car barely needs a turbo.

Whatcha Learn?

• Perseverance is king. I wanted to scrap the whole project when I saw the overspray. I thought all was lost. However, decals can hide a lot of mistakes. So, don’t give up!

• Learn from your mistakes. I will cover this more next week. I will show the gory details where I messed up the decals. I learned the importance of the Windex trick. More on that next week. I relearned the importance of just taking your time. I learned impatience is not a virtue.

• See problems and mistakes as an opportunity to be creative. I messed up the front of the car. I have a black vinyl decal, so I put the decal on the windshield. It is not how the Audi was, but it covers the mistake. It is also fun to see if people are as big of rally nerds as they claim to be. So, I think of it as a test….Yeah, that’s it….I’m only testing people’s observation skills.

I put the black vinyl across the windshield. I stuck the windshield decal over the black vinyl.

Conclusion

Seriously, if you are looking to get some rally history, this is a great body. I started by thinking that Audi was just a poor BMW knockoff. However, they are so much more. They really have changed the car industry.

I am sure there are some who can acquire a Quattro, but for mere mortals, this is a great way to have one. Yes, building it does take time. It is a pain to decal without the directions. However, I just kept studying the pictures and slowly figured out where the decals needed to go. Next week, I will walk through how I did the body. This is a great build if you want a piece of rally history. You might find yourself making some rev limiter noises as you look at the car…. try to resist the urge.

If you want to experience a rally car on a budget significantly less than a rally team’s, this is a great model. You can also bore your friends with details about Audi’s contribution to motor sports. Thank you for reading. Remember to use social media to be social.

Updated 2/3/2026