The Sport quattro “short” with the chassis number 905 001 was built in February 1984 and was the first of the 214 small series vehicles. And it was exactly this car that I was able to sell to the "Land of quattro - Alps Tour 2013”Drive through the Alps. Curtain up for a legend of rally sport:

Audi legend: Sport quattro short - dangers!

The first impression:

Our cars have grown enormously in the last 30 years, which is the first thing you notice when you spot the “short” quattro in a parking lot between its successors. He looks angular. Aerodynamics played no role for the base car of the Group B rally quattro, it was all about power, agility and traction.

It has power - 306 hp from a 2.1 liter five-cylinder. Agile thanks to an ultra-short wheelbase of just 2.2 meters and traction thanks to permanent all-wheel drive. The Sport-Quattro stands on 15 inch rims, which look cute small by today's standards.

The hood is riddled with cooling air openings, a first indication of the violence that lies hidden beneath it. But 306 PS are nothing left today, which makes one reverentially migrate to church to be there to prepare for the sacrament of achievement.

Meaningful would then rather the confession, if one does not have the genes of Walter Röhrls and now wants to do a Group B memory rally over the Alpine passes. Even if “the short one” was blessed with ABS, ESP was still the abbreviation for a School subject in the GDR. The short wheelbase, the all-wheel drive with its high limit range and the 306 hp that hit an unladen weight of 1.300 kilograms are certainly able to impress even today. Only different than back then, because of the pure erotic numbers of 5 cylinders, 1 turbo, 20 valves and 4 driven wheels.

So he drives:

The charged five-cylinder turbo starts completely unspectacularly. But in your mind you don't just put on your seatbelt, you prepare for the special stage at the Col de Turini. You can see the incredible number of fans in your mind's eye, you remember the sound of the factory rally car. If you open your eyes they say "Eighties“Sober hello. The interior design of the short was drawn with a ruler and set square, as was the outer shell, which is partly made of aramid fiber and carbon-kevlar. In the center console sits a radio with a cassette. Probably the most pointless extra at the time. Anyone who opted for one of the 214 Sport Quattro cars did not drive to the bakery, but looked for a lonely mountain road to have the Sunday prayer sung by the brilliant sound of the five-cylinder engine. 

203.850 DM cost the short sports quattro at that time. However, knowing this is still hard on my ego at the beginning of the journey in St. Moritz. But the Ofenpass is waiting for me and mine Co-pilot Camillo, Time to sort the gears and experience the traction advantage of the quattro.

Where are the 306 PS?

In addition to the 306 PS, the five-cylinder also brings 350 Nm to the mountain stage, but spoiled by the opulent power delivery of modern turbo engines waiting behind the wheel of the legend a little longer on the delivery of the force. adjust - back to the early days of the first sports engines with turbo. You can count on the throttle with confidence, check the seat of the belt, enjoy the landscape, quickly send a WhatsApp message but then it's time to take the steering wheel firmly in your hand. 21, 22, 23, nothing and then - the needle of the rev counter reaches the four-thousand mark and suddenly the whole herd of horses is on hand and overwhelms you. He pushes you into the Recaro seats with the manually adjustable cheeks and prompts you to focus on the rev counter immediately. While enjoying the boost pressure like a fresh air shower on Mt.Everest, the needle jerks at lightning speed to the 6.500 revolutions. At 6.700, the 306 hp are said to be present.

Turn!

The game starts from the beginning. More impressive than the power is the traction of the Sport Quattro. Despite the rather small sized wheels can be the Sport Quattro Seduce absurd cornering speeds on the pass routes. However, this only works as long as you are able to forget the value of the good piece. You don't drive a test car out of many - it is one of the last remaining and this is number 1. The Tornadorote Sport Quattro with the license plate IN-NW 30 is actually retired.

That will not be forgotten:

The memories that the Sport-Quattro has awakened to me.

The “short one” is a legend in rallying and the hunt through the Alps no longer does justice to the quattro sport today. Modern mass-produced sports cars, for example the RS7, can do everything better. They are faster, they are more comfortable, they are safer - but if you put them next to the “short ones” they pale in the sheen of the success stories that this can tell.

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