GENERATION GAME

For more than four decades, Audi Sport has forged a legacy of exceptional petrol and electric driver's cars

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1. Ur-quattro With a pioneering four-wheel-drive powertrain and deft penwork by Martin Smith, the Ur-quattro swiftly achieved icon status. In both its original (1980) 2.1-litre 10-valve and later (1987) 2.2-litre 20-valve forms, it dominated rally stages and public roads alike. The 20V quattro in particular was a match for any supercar point-to-point, using its all-wheel-drive system to maximise the advantage of its turbocharged five-cylinder engine. It’s as desirable today as it was groundbreaking when new.

2. Avant RS2 Estate cars were never cool. Practical, yes, but cool? No, that was never their objective. Then Audi made a phone call to Porsche and before you could say ‘fast dog-carrier’ the RS2 redefined the term ‘practical performance’. Retaining Audi Sport’s core DNA — a quattro drivetrain and a five-cylinder, turbocharged engine - and leaning on Porsche's expertise, the result, which launched in 1994, was a family estate car that could outrun Porsche's own 911 in all weathers.

3. TT You wouldn't know the TT wasn’t the result of Audi Sport's design and engineering prowess, such were its arresting looks and abilities that delivered far beyond anyone's expectations. In top-line 225 quattro guise (1998) the TT was primed to tackle rival premium marques head on, its 2-litre four-cylinder engine featuring five valves per cylinder and its quattro four-wheel-drive system employing Haldex technology. In 2005 the 225 would form the basis for the Audi Sport-developed TT quattro Sport special edition - the Mk1's final hoorah, with 237bhp and a 75kg weight saving - while S and RS variants would be regular fixtures throughout the TT’s two subsequent generations.