How One Engineer's Idea Built The Perfect Rally Car

Rally racing is rarely for the faint-hearted; the lack of paved roads and control over turbocharged vehicles makes it one of the most intense forms of motorsport. Add in open regulations that encourage teams to break the rules and it becomes obvious why only about half of the participants. The competitors even managed to reach the finish line. Clearly,

rally

racing is no stranger to extreme highs and lows, but even by these standards, one Series in the 1980s managed to achieve something so spectacular that it would immediately make its way like Cannonball into the history books. Seriously, this series was the motorsport equivalent of your favorite TV show which released an entire season of final episodes between 1982 and 1986.

The FIA ​​sanctioned a series of

rally

championships the infamous Group B through this set of regulations the governing body gave manufacturers scope to experiment with technology it also placed little limitation on weight and displacement creating a recipe for Pure Racing Mayhem, the cost of developing the cars was kept incredibly high, ensuring that only the most renowned manufacturers with the best drivers and

engineer

s could afford to enter into the result some of the most powerful and sophisticated racing cars in the world. The world had never seen and what enthusiasts would call the Golden Era of Group B racing would not be where it was without its drivers with names like Walter Roral Hanu McAlla and Michelle Mutan inserting themselves into the annals of racing history, but among the Many people who helped make this series legendary was a German automotive chassis

engineer

who remained firmly behind the scenes.

George Bensinger. This is the story of how Bensinger's spark of an

idea

became the most revolutionary rally car the world had ever seen: the Audi Quattro in 1968. He joined the R&D department of Audi, a subsidiary of the German giant. VW group, a few years later he was testing a Volkswagen illus, a four-wheel drive military off-road vehicle, together with fellow engineer Roland Gumper on an ice and snow covered road in Scandinavia impressed. From the way the ILST had made its way through the challenging terrain, Bensinger thought it would be possible to replicate the four-wheel drive concept in a conventional road car.

Through the smell of greasy fuel and burning rubber, Bensinger perceived a faint whiff of something else, the smell of victory, he was sure this

idea

could propel Audi to greatness in rally racing. He wasted no time in conveying this thought to Audi's R&D director at the time. Ferdinand Peach Peach was and remains a legend in automotive circles. He was a grandson. Ferdinand Porsche, the founder of Porsche, was also the visionary and engineer behind the Porsche 9917, the most decorated racing car that Porsche ever

built

for the context in the 1970s, this car gave Porsche its first victory in Lal and swept nine out of 10 races in the World Sports Car Championship later in his career, Peach would become CEO of the Volkswagen group and help steer the VW ship back to greatness, but that's a story for another day;

It is also credited with making it one of the largest automakers in the world, but arguably one of Peach's most iconic decisions dates back to the 1970s, when Bensinger first approached her. It took Peach very little time to realize what his engineer was up to, being a motorsports visionary himself, after all, he immediately gave Bensinger the go-ahead to test the Audi 80, a run-of-the-mill car with a four-wheel drive system. wheels and no center differential, he also recommended developing a rally prototype to properly showcase the technology, so in 1977, in a remote corner of Germany, Audi began testing its new technology to raise the What is at stake is that this Testing was not carried out on a normal road, rather the location was an abandoned quarry filled with rocks, aggregate and gravel through displaced debris and rising smoke.

The team immediately confirmed their initial theory: the four-wheel system gave the car incredible amounts of grip; this increase in traction and stability allowed it to take tight corners on loose surfaces much faster and more reliably than any other model in VW's Arsenal. The smell of success intensified when engineers realized they were about to build the

perfect

rally car. In 1978, in a boardroom in Germany, the Audi Sports Department was created to pave this path to success. They began work on the Audi Quattro, a four-wheel drive car that would outperform any other vehicle in the snow and offer exceptional grip on trips, but before it could be launched competitively. the C there was a minor obstacle to overcome and by minor, of course, we mean absolutely devastating.

The FIA ​​that governs motorsport is not known for its brevity. Its list of regulations could make a set of encyclopedias seem like light reading hidden on a page of The regulation was a small rule with big consequences for Audi. Four-wheel drive cars were not allowed in rallies. The good thing is that in racing lobbying is not only allowed but encouraged. A year later, Audi sent a representative to an FIA meeting to get the law. knocked down, this seemingly innocent representative played his cards to

perfect

ion as the governing body was concluding its meeting, the representative tactically asked in passing if it was necessary to have a rule on four wheel drive, since the transmission was up to that point associated with much larger vehicles. vehicles, the FIA ​​had no problem with this, other manufacturers did not object either, assuming that anyone who wanted to put four-wheel technology in a rally car had probably inhaled too much exhaust fumes, so the FIA ​​repealed the rule within a year following. way for Audi to continue its plans to dominate rallying in March 1980 the Audi Quattro was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show the first appearance of the car was at the 1980 event in Raleigh in Austria there was nothing special about its appearance Its bodywork was similar to its road model, but hidden away was an engine that had approximately 300 BHP.

Paris lasting more than 20 days. of what was to come in 1981, the success of the Audi Quattro had begun to accelerate to coincide with its imminent success. Audi Sport announced a new head of sports and special developments, Roland Gumpert. That's right, the same gumper who had tried the first with Bensinger in 1977 armed with a wrench, a thick beard and immense knowledge of a technology he had helped, Pioneer Gumpert changed the fortunes of Audi Sport, the team that did not Having been very successful in WRCs of the past, it suddenly emerged as a force to be reckoned with.

In the 1981 WRC, the Quattro started strong. Finnish driver Hanu Mika surprised the rest of the field by winning his second race with the car. The race was held in Sweden, a notoriously snow-covered track. Singer Bens' vision seemed to have finally begun to take shape. It doesn't end there, it's cool, it also won the RAC rally in Great Britain showing that the car was fast on dirt and asphalt and then took the podium in its home race, the 1000 Lakes rally in Finland, which really grabbed the headlines that year. However, it was a victory courtesy of the most successful female driver in motorsport history.

French driver Michelle Mutan won the Sano rally in 1981, becoming the first and only woman to win a WRC event. Their victory really cemented Audi's reputation as an excellent rally competitor in late 1981. Audi could only manage fifth place in the manufacturers' title, but the individual successes and promise the car had shown would prepare them well for the 1982 championship the first year of the infamous group b regulations in 1982 the Audi Quattro a1 car was launched the power of the turbocharged engine The inline 5 cylinder engine rose to approximately 350 horsepower in simple terms. I guess you could say this car wasn't kidding.

Three of the Audi drivers, Michelle Mutan, Hanu Mika and Stig Bloomquist, did an exceptional job driving it and won seven races. That season. and achieved several other podiums, it is fair to say that they became very good at spraying champagne by the end of the year, the drivers would barely lose the drivers' championship title to a dominant Walter Roral, who put together some incredible runs. but Muton Mika and Bloomquist finished second, third and fourth in the standings, earning Audi its first WRC manufacturers' title just a few years after its technology was tested in a derelict Cory.

The Quattro was already threatening to tear down the legacy of the world's best-designed supercars. The following year, the Audi Quattro A2 was introduced, even as the A1 showed the world that using all four wheels was better than just two between these two cars. The Audi drivers won five races and Hanu Mola managed to take the drivers' championship; however, the team finished second. in the title of the manufacturer behind Lan there is also a story here, at that time Lancia was curiously one of the only teams that had not yet developed a four-wheel drive, although this would change in the following years, in 1983 it ended up giving them a slight advantage, as they did not suffer as many mechanical problems as their four-wheel drive competitors.

Some clever tricks also helped before the Monte Carlo race, for example members of the Lantia team walked around the track spreading salt to melt snow and ice. and ensuring that the four-wheel drive Audi Quattro did not have a significant lead, also a sign of what it would take for a two-wheel drive car to win the WC. Again in 1984, Audi had made two-wheel drive a relic of the past. Walter Rural had left Lancia and moved to Audi, joining a line-up that already included Mika Mutan and STI Bloomquist. The manufacturer also presented a smaller version of the Quattro, the S1, this model had an all-aluminum alloy body and produced around 400 units. 50 BHP with this intimidating driver line-up and a car like a rocket, there was no turning back, the Quattro dominated almost every race that year, rain, snow, gravel, you name it, the Quattro was leading the way it swept in six of the first eight events in a comfortably secured.

Manufacturers' championship runner-up Stig Bloomquist claimed the In Style drivers' title using all four wheels of the Quattro to sweep away the competition in 1985, however, a new competitor arrived on the scene: the Pujo, which had been quietly surging throughout the race. previous season, he won the manufacturers' championship. title Audi could only achieve second place with a single victory, courtesy of Walter Roral the reason for pau's success the 205 t16 another four-wheel drive car by now the impact of Ben Singer's idea had clearly left its mark in rally racing, even if it was Not only Audi benefited in 1986. Audi made a final update and introduced the Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2.

This monster of a car featured an inline 5-cylinder engine displacing 2,110 cc and officially producing 476 horsepower, although many estimates suggest the actual figure had over 500 hp, the car had more downforce, weighed much less, 1 .90 kg and could go from 0 to 100 km per hour in 3.1 seconds. This car was truly the pinnacle of everything that the group B regulations stood for, unfortunately in 1986 the S1 The E2 did not get the chance to shine at this point, all the cars in the group were reaching absolutely crazy speeds; However, along with a general lack of safety for drivers and spectators, this was a disaster waiting to happen at the Portugal rally, the first of two tragedies. crashed during the race a Ford driven by Joakim Santos left the track in those days crowd control was very limited Spectators often jumped onto the track hoping to get a better view of their favorite vehicle Les in action that fateful day everyone's greatest fear came true Ford crashed into a crowd of onlookers, injuring 31 and killing three others.

The race was called off, but events continued as planned, until a few races later, when once again the dark side of motorsport reared its ugly head at the Corsica rally in France. Piloted by the championship leader, Hre Toyen went off the road and fell down a hill. Two Toyin men and his co-driver Sergio Presto died instantly a few hours later, the FIA ​​announced that group B cars would no longer be allowed. Audi withdrew from the event, after arally of 23 championships, wins two manufacturer titles, two driver titles and a large fan base. The team decided to leave it as a parting gift.

The 750-horsepower Quattro S1 broke a final record in 1987. Walter Rural covered the 14.42 Mi of the Pikes Peak International hill climb in under 11 minutes breaking the previous record by a solid 22 seconds, but although 1986 marked the end of Audi's WRC career, it wouldn't be the last time we would see the Quattro in later years, the car dominated. paved circuits in the Trans Am series, the German Touring Car Championship and the IMSA GT championship between 1980 and 1991 Audi produced more than 11,000 examples of the Quattro despite initially only planning to build 400, although 1991 would mean the end of the original Quattro. The technology still lives on in motorsports today.

The Quattro system helped Audi dominate in Lal, winning 13 times since the early 2000s. In production cars it became the branding term used to refer to all Audi vehicles that have a four-wheel drive system in 2020 Audi had sold more than 11 million vehicles with the Quattro badge more than 80% of the models it launched that year had at least one Quattro variant in recent years Audi had also launched a Quattro version of its electric SUV rron to ensure the system continues to make its mark, even in the Electric Car Revolution, it is safe to say that it was that glorious race in the WRC and a simple idea that made Audi stop being an inferior VW and granted it the status it holds today.