Audi Quattro MEGA test: flat out in S1 Group B monster

We test the most iconic five-cylinder Audis in history, including Walter Rohl’s Group B rally car.
Read more at Auto Express:
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The saying goes that three is a magic number - yet for Audi, it’s five that holds a special place. This year marks 45 years of the German brand’s iconic five-cylinder engine configuration - and as a celebration to round off the year, we’ve gathered together some of the most famous models to be powered by the legendary five-pot motor. But 2022 also sees another anniversary, because earlier this year the company’s latest and greatest RS 3 landed in the UK, marking the final model in the brand’s history to feature five-cylinder power.
The story started with the Audi 100 C2. The second generation of the brand’s family saloon was the first to get a five-pot motor, producing a grand total of 134bhp from its 2.1-litre fuel-injected engine. However, it wasn’t until a few years later, in 1980, when Audi’s five-cylinder history became really interesting, with a greater focus on performance. This is where our man Sean Carson picks up the story - join him for a blast in the firm’s greatest ever five-cylinder models.
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[@bootneck401664]

I’m a Porsche and BMW guy but my god I can fully appreciate the beauty of these cars and that glorious 5 pot and that S1 is stunning, what a machine that must be to experience 🙏🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@stefanomarcellino6701]

Audi and Porsche share a lot of parts and platforms together especially RS Audi’s. The first RS car ever (RS2) was developed by Porsche with Audi. Edit: just watched the rest of the video didnt realize they explained it 😂

[@germanengineering204]

@@stefanomarcellino6701 🤣😂

[@mediocreman2]

If you're a Porsche guy, you can appreciate Audi just for saving Porsche, let alone their amazing heritage.

[@bootneck401664]

@@mediocreman2 I think you’ll find that it was Porsche helping both Audi and Mercedes with the RS2 and E500 back in the day that saved Porsche. VAG obviously own Porsche, yet Porsche own a majority stake in VAG. Anyway, the cars in the video are great.

[@bumfluffmcregor3730]

Your a Porsche and BMW guy I bet your American I'm a this guy I'm a that guy what does that even mean

[@ericfulton8725]

I love my RS3 pulling off and hearing that engine growl never ever gets old and puts a smile on my face every time I get on it!

[@HuckThis1971]

Only time I listened to the radio in my 1994 UrS4 was on the highway!😉

[@stefanvogel8255]

Me too

[@steverogers7473]

Thank you for one of the most honest and compelling test drives/reviews on the S1 Quattro! 😎

[@classiccarssp]

Love the sound of the Audis 5 cilinders 🙌

[@steviedee71]

When he drove the S1E2 there was nothing but pure joy.

[@Auditography]

Thank you for this awesome video. I've driven the S1 E2 myself and there is no better feeling ☺

[@willo300]

I used to love the group B rallying in the 80's. That Quattro S1 is a special car indeed, that 5cyl sound is incredible.

[@quattroTorsen]

wow, that looks scary fast in the S1 😃 Thanks for presenting this raw and analogue vehicle in a very honest way👍

[@JamesGadbury]

Indeed. I could watch and listen to hours of the onboard video 😅

[@EugVR6]

When these came out, we were all still driving Triumphs, Vivas, Avengers, Morris minors, Cortinas, Capris, escorts and minis. The Quattro must of felt like the millennium Falcon compared to what else was on the road at that time.

[@Fastvoice]

Guess why some journalists crashed some of the first Quattros on their test drives back then. 😁

[@EugVR6]

@@Fastvoice exactly..lol and they did like to understeer a fair bit when pushed, I've been lucky enough to drive a few quattros when I was younger and I can remember being blown away by the noise and performance.

[@hristohristov8787]

I can't express how I felt when I saw this exact S1 E2 in person at the 2020 London Classic Car Show when Audi celebrated 40 years of Quattro. It was mind blowing! Thank you Auto Express 👍

[@JakobRenz]

Please don't let this engine die, Audi! :')

[@ian7675]

That S1 looks like an incredible car to drive, I bet it’s a real experience.

[@Quattroowner]

Original works cars from Audi are sold at prices in excess of 1,000,000 euros. An S1E2 from a museum was sold for €1,750,000 last year.

[@mampe8898]

Juha kankkunen sold his s1 to usa.

[@tiguanman1170]

We never owned a Quattro but had several 5-cylinder VW & Audi cars and they were all completely reliable over a total of 400k miles. I've always fancied a 2.3 litre Audi 90 Quattro but maybe it's too late now.

[@JamesGadbury]

Go for it! Still wonderful cars 👍

[@rjhandley556]

Got goosebumps watching this. Amazing!

[@paultaylor5502]

The pinnacle of Audi 5 cyl was the 720ps in the IMSA 90q

[@cuatrokoop32v]

Or the Talladega 5000/200 Exclusiv, which ran a 25v 5cyl turbo. The TransAm 200 was the pinnacle of the 10vt engine though.

[@paultaylor5502]

@@cuatrokoop32v @Eric Ferguson the 25v engine had serious overheating issues with little power benefit and was quickly dismissed, the Group 44 TransAm 10 valves peaked at 550ps

[@cuatrokoop32v]

@@paultaylor5502 yes, I know, but in terms of design the TransAm 10vt was the culmination of a decade of design and motorsports for the 2v head. The 25v engine broke records on the track. They couldn't use the 25vt in IMSA from what I know because it wasn't production based. The 20vt was. At least I got to actually watch both the TransAm and IMSA cars run in person in 1988 & 1989, and meet HH and HJS.

[@paultaylor5502]

@@cuatrokoop32v that's good to know, we ran the UK cars for Audi Germany in 82, 83 (winning the RAC), 84 and 85 before VAG pulled the plug. Obviously very familiar with the 5cyl through Terry Hoyle and Schmidt MS who built the motors including both American series

[@paultaylor5502]

@@cuatrokoop32v the 25v had huge reliability issues with very little gain in power/torque over the 20v. You correct it couldn't (and wouldn't) have ran in IMSA for the reasons you mention

[@ManxAndy]

Hearing those S1 E2 Quattro”s at night on the Manx International Rally , and seeing them shooing flames as they approached…..still sticks in my mind……great days 👍🇮🇲

[@waynesimpson2074]

Agreed, i was one of those stupid 'touchers' who tried to get as close as possible, without dying, to one of those Quattros in the forest, this video brings those memories right back into focus with a giddy intensity. The yowl of the 5 cylinder was intoxicating and addictive.The presenter here has communicated exactly what us spectators thought was going on when we observed the spectacle of a quattro go by i.e a male human trying to tame an rampaging T-Rex Audi fueled by steroids.. with a hot poker up its a55. The crowds were mad but the drivers must have been madder.

[@waynesimpson2074]

Male human? Apologies to Michelle Mouton

[@ManxAndy]

@@waynesimpson2074 not quite sure what you mean..?

[@waynesimpson2074]

@@ManxAndy I foolishly forgot the French Audi driver Michelle Mouton, she was just as fearless as her male team mates .

[@ManxAndy]

@@waynesimpson2074 ahh got you now…..yes , she was, and still is, a very good driver👍

[@Flatmat]

Don’t forget about the girls… Mouton drove the SWB cars too in period.

[@VidiSLTU]

Best engine sound is 5 cylinder sound ! Great cars :)

[@kristjanveski]

Absolutely love the exotic 5 cylinder sound and rally heritage in this special group of Audi cars.. so I bought one! I'll definitely being holding onto mine, and will be thinking of picking up another if they are truly discontinuing.

[@paulmoor595]

It was seeing one of these sport quattros with that sound in Kielder forest which made me buy a Quattro in 1988!!.. I had it 30 years and loved it. There isn't a car on the road which sounds as good as a SWB rally quattro. Damn you were lucky to drive that!. Great video,in which you really get the feeling how brutal they were to drive!

[@paultaylor5502]

The heritage E2 here is running around 390/400 PS to prolong the motor for events such as this

[@Yankijs24]

I think the peak of those 5 cylinders were after group B with the insane IMSA series Audis. Absolutely love the 5cyl engines

[@rustystuff]

What a beautiful machine, lovin’ your reaction. Amazing!!!

[@jokersweet]

I have a 1994 Audi UR-S4 Quattro that shares the same engine 2.2T 5 pot engine (230bhp) standard absolute beast. I have a project on going building momentum to 800bhp.

[@jspoons6619]

Seeing an S1 E1 been driven on the edge is something that no one forgets and lets not forget the S1 E1 only rallied a few time's near the back end of 1985 in the WRC events out that none championship rounds like Ireland and the Manx rallies. Only one driver really mastered the incredible Walter Röhrl with his win at that San Remo Rally were he set such a pace that the Peugeot 205 t16 stripped the treads off their tire's trying to keep up. I was lucky to see them at that years Lombard RAC Rally in what was a short event for them both Cars suffering incidents in that years event. Röhrl almost won the Monti Rally but for a crew error putting the wrong spare wheels in the car and then having to do a stage on the wrong tires. then the horrors accident in the following rounds saw Audi pull out of Rallying for 1986 and Group B was gone forever. Audi Quattro's still ran in both the WRC and British rally Championship's with the Big Audi 200 in Group A in the WRC and with the Audi Coupe none Turbo Quattro in the British Championship. But I can honestly say none in Group B sounded like a Quattro this is a car that you could hear coming from a distance with all those bangs and pops echoing through the woods just coming closer and closer until it exploded into view and blasted past you just as quickly and was gone off into the distance again, all the Group B cars were special but out of all of them the Quattro had it all the look the crazy power and that sound. For someone from those 40 years ago now I can not imagine what is is like for some one not born then , but it is also enjoyable that even getting on for half a century passing these cars still impress modern drivers when they get to drive these cars. that was a really enjoyable video thanks.

[@Eduardolo1964]

Audi has developed glorious engines over the last 40 years, 5 cylinder, 8 cylinder and 10 cylinder high revving engines and now the era is really coming to an end. I will stick to it and in the future just drive used.

[@abeautifulhaze]

So so good. Thanks for this video

[@paultaylor5502]

And to think Hannu and Walter had another 150hp for the 85 RAC and 86 Monte.

[@MotorsportCentral]

Great video! Some lovely cars!

[@jep1912]

Had two C5 RS6s and a B5 RS4.... my god it was the greatest time of my life.

[@brendapotter4660]

That S1 is a great looking car and love the engine sounds of these V5’s! What a great video to watch!

[@utuber200985]

There's no such thing as V5, its an I5

[@mattlangley657]

@@utuber200985 there are actually V5’s, quite interesting motors. VW also had the VR5 which is a very similar thing, in the golf

[@fujiuser1968]

@@mattlangley657 I think you may need to do a little research ;-)

[@TheVerraton]

This is the best video I've seen in a while.🥰

[@slats1987]

Awesome, I got my Rs3 on the basis that just like you said it'll be the last 5cyl before the hybridisation and emission rules tighten. One last hurrah

[@germanengineering204]

Just curious if the car has anything stand out that you don't like about it? I know you bought one, and I was curious because I ordered one myself!

[@elzrinja365]

Who knows maybe the people win against those evil and lieing ideas... LongLive ICE!!!

[@germanengineering204]

Thanks

[@mokisan]

Well arent you a lucky lad. Such an iconic car!

[@Mouse2113]

Great video, my dad has the new RS3 and it's pretty mega

[@lancegallant3647]

Great video Love Audi ❤️! Have owned 2 S4,s and now B7 rs4 love How they drive great cars!

[@KeliK1]

Great film. Flawless!!!

[@mediocreman2]

No pictures or reference to the C4 S4/S6?

[@sparkplug964]

An engine that defined a car and a genaration.

[@MOTLUFC]

Absolute scenes! I’d be the same in the group B ! So so envious

[@gilesmorozow4417]

Shame you didn’t take the RS2 out my old man had one a few years back, loved that car

[@slineboy]

Great video ❤❤

[@alexmaddox2255]

The boost gauge is 😍

[@HuckThis1971]

My dream car right there!

[@trisrush9155]

Had an original ur Quattro, 1980 lhd, oldest in the uk, a beast, heavy but yeah, a beast.

[@Schuey_M]

Looks like you're at Bicester Heritage?

[@jamest5149]

Yep, simply 😍

[@nodtripRS]

The holy grail of how an engine ought too sound. Wonderful noise.

[@peterbennpan7288]

Is it the same 5 cylinder engine across all these cars or are they different improved variants on Audis 5 cylinder?

[@Quattroowner]

The engines differ only slightly in displacement, but the components are extremely different. Also, an S1E2 engine wasn't meant to run hundreds of thousands of miles - like road-going engines can do if you take care of them, the recirculation system in the S1E2 literally ate up parts of the engine, which is why it's disconnected on all original S1E2s today.

[@OkamiMZ]

I love my RSQ3 Sportback and also my Audi Quattro from 1984

[@joshriles84]

Yay, love my rs3

[@erikerin2016]

I'd be tempted to trade my mid 80's 911 straight up for a short wheel base sport Quattro...although I think I would have to trade two 911's with the pricing now...such a cool car. Good Video...nicely done!

[@thedrvn]

Well he'll defo be chasing that rush for the rest of his life!

[@GarryMcGovern]

Hmmm, not exactly an accurate comparison when stating its power is no more than an Audi Q3: this weighs less than 1300kg, whereas an average modern Q3 is closer to 1800kg....... not far off 50% heavier!!! 😳

[@dieselscartalk4146]

Whoever this guy is he's pretty good

[@Wonginism]

Yea I hope for a rear biased 5cyl Quattro wagon like the RS2 for the next RS4 perhaps. One can dream though

[@ruisearts]

Now I’ll always think Ken Block. KB43VER

[@Simon-du7yx]

Sean Lock has been reincarnated 😂

[@corone2018]

Hey why did the RSQ3 get no love ???

[@JamesGadbury]

Because it's ridiculous

[@PaganiZondaF650hp]

No RS2 driving impressions? 😢

[@alexhiggins7307]

Nothing about the 5 cylinder Audi that blitzed that touring car championship in America..

[@PhantomMark]

RS Torque splitter - in short finally an Audi that doesn't understeer like a train.

[@derekcable]

Just change the rear ARB then it's fully sorted 💯

[@luciussander8217]

You've never driven an R8 then? Thought not.

[@PhantomMark]

@@luciussander8217 And there you would be wrong, good try tho, the R8 is lovely, but hardly a "normal" Audi, the bias on the R8 4wd system is the exception and not the norm in Audi cars.

[@TrophySPOCHTde]

trains are not able to understeer...

[@ivansmilic3225]

RS3 is nice, but, i didnot hear you scream in it, like in S1 😀 Living the dream, driving the UrS4

[@zelcpavle5494]

Audi 🔥💪🔥🔥🔥🔥💪💪💪

[@billisdewillis5]

Would love a Golf R 7.5 with the RS3 drivetrain…or at least the wagon/hatch version of RS3 here in Canada…instead, we no longer get the RS3 at all. Sad…

[@j11ssr]

I think going forward they should put the 5 cylinder into RS4/5 and possibly even into the RS6/7 with Battery assistance, once the V8 is killed off, just to keep the 5 Cyl alive as perhaps the last engine Audi make

[@PaganiZondaF650hp]

They should really, but probably they will again share a V6 drivetrain with Porsche. But the full electric era is anyways probably gonna take over for the next rs models

[@evo5349]

Was that where the battle of Britain film was made.

[@hp24756]

1-2-4-5-3 and Quattro. What else?❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@sharperprospecting6980]

I don't have and s or even Rs. But I do have a quattro and damn it's good

[@Amidat]

Classic cars!! More mechanical meant more fun. Less weight meant more fun! Yes some things about cars have improved... But they are not as fun.

[@superllesques]

That face while driving the S1...

[@mampe8898]

Hannu mikkola said that s1 was incredible car to drive with almost 600hp.

[@michaelstrongbow2336]

When your active traction control goes out on a Haldex AWD system, I bet that old school S1 feels like that. Just raw hp crudely blasted to four wheels spinning, no computer to break the wheels or rear diff that can torque vector. Scary! 😳lol

[@Quattroowner]

This separates the guys who can BUY a car from those who can DRIVE a car. When you ride it it depends on YOUR ability to glide, not how well programmed it is. And that's good .

[@cyrilmatthew2995]

It's a pity that be golf never r, never came with a 5 cylinder ... It's always 4 cylinder - the old focus rs annihilated it ... Gone are even the 5 cylinder volvos

[@JamesGadbury]

I've got a 2003 Golf V5. 2.3L 20v 170hp. It's not quite as nice as a straight 5, though!

[@cyrilmatthew2995]

@@JamesGadbury I didn't know much about the engine line up ...but Iam so obsessed with the vr6 AWD golfs

[@backseatdriver8902]

I am so glad and lucky I got an 8y RS3!!!

[@tt-rs1457]

Yes, comparing to an VR5 or VR6, the engine sound is really disapointing........

[@backseatdriver8902]

@@tt-rs1457 Don't worry, I have a VR6 in the garage too!

[@tt-rs1457]

@@backseatdriver8902 You re lucky

[@backseatdriver8902]

@@tt-rs1457 For sure I am, it was my goal to have both engines! The best VW and Audi has to offer IMO.

[@Joe-eg7ml]

Should of dragged the S1 rally car and new RS3

[@duracell9194]

5cylinder43ever

[@rivenator4654]

Where is the urs4?

[@andyplage6590]

The question is Did Audi Heritage Fix the RS2 as when Matt Watson used it in qauttro drag race it was the slowest of all suspect Turbo Failure

[@Strah1981]

How on earth linear is fun?

[@raftonpounder6696]

Good to see Audis from the days when their drivers weren’t complete knobs.

[@mikemiller244]

yeahhh sure like hell they would let you "flat out" a museum s1

[@timoroggensack5813]

Den S1 am Limit auf Schotter, Schnee und Matsch zu bewegen bei schlechter Sicht und Dämmerung… das kann man so gut wie nicht verstehen, was Herr Röhrl und Blomquist mit Ihren Teams damals geleistet haben. Die müssen besessen gewesen sein😂

[@Stanimir2909]

please, put somebody that can drive a bit further away from the discounter nearby... ;)

[@pietrasikchthc]

😍

[@soty391]

I am simply man...I need just one big garage and these 5 audi ...

[@denischomarat4315]

Can you speak and sensation and motor sound higher !

[@Manu-Official]

That RS3 won't be the last 5 cylinder. Audi is about to release a last celebratory batch of hot TTs.

[@samcas707]

Had both the iron block and alu block rs3’s…. Suffice to say make the 5 banger iron again. The alu block just doesn’t have the same raw character, and now you add the eu mandated opf and you might as well just buy a 4 pot

[@fzr1000981]

What the heck does an iron block have to do with exhaust sound, are you on drugs?

[@germanengineering204]

Whatever you say lol!

[@Quattroowner]

That's nonsense, the characteristics of an engine have nothing to do with the material from which the block is made - and just as a hint: in the Audi works cars ONLY aluminum blocks are installed from group B onwards...

[@jep1912]

That nose though!!!! 🤣🤣🤣

[@ltougiannidis]

My dad used to drive a 5-cylinder Audi 90, good looking car but quite boring to drive

[@JamesGadbury]

The 10v one? I've got a 90 20v (fwd) which is fun. Not in a wild, rwd, sideways way but it's light, chuckable, handles well and sounds great up to 7k rpm.

[@richie6921]

This car sounds better than Ferraris

[@paullacey2999]

Well in the decades to come we wont be celebrating electric Audis like this...

[@jamesbowen2105]

Audi is just a Porsche targets at BMW/MB niche, but built and designed by commercial vehicle and Formula 1 builders...

[@jwmurphyccsis]

Pity you did not drive the most powerful and best of them all namely the TTRS. Disappointing

[@luciussander8217]

I had a 2019 TTRS for 3 years, now have the new RS3. The RS3 is a step up. The TTRS had crap brakes, vague steering and didn't handle, the RS3 not so and it's faster/better to drive.

[@cesarfurtado7541]

The “but” guy is back. He simply can’t avoid saying “but” every 15s.

[@sylvaind.6786]

6:39 Audi understeer genesis... I am so unimpressed

[@adamkhan5274]

Dont think I ever saw a quattro rally car understeering. Its how you drive them.

[@D0wNhiLL]

@@adamkhan5274 nah there is a lot of footage available. The S1 was notorious for understeering and despite the monster that it was, it took hell of a skill and prediction as well as luck to keep it on the road.

[@byronmills5952]

@@D0wNhiLL Yep - not particularly well loved by the drivers - they much preferred the standard wheelbased cars. People always bang on about the S1 - but in reality it was a pig - great in a straight line but in every other respect completely outclassed by the opposition.

[@freddofrosch1]

Walter Röhrl not Rohl. FFS

[@rogermoore2365]

A volvo 850 t5r should be in this video

[@davidhayes4814]

It is not an Audi ….?

[@glenbuck56]

😂

[@Zermattquattro]

Said no one ever. Shall we put a ur quattro in a KZbin video about the 850 ikea wagon......no. Not the same thing at all.

[@kenneth61]

Suck it in, the future is electric :(