Michele Mouton/Fabrizia Pons. Audi Quattro Sport.
Chatsworth House, 1984 RAC Rally, UK.
Photo by Cliveh55 (flickr). Licenced under CC BY 2.0

Racing success first came during the 1930s with the Type A, a 4.4 litre V16 capable of topping 170mph, that won its first Grand Prix in 1934. Fierce rivalry with homeland competitor, Mercedes saw the two companies pushing each other to ever further technological advancements, including top speeds over 180mph and a land speed record of 250mph. The two companies utterly dominated the world of motor sport in the 1930s. The following decades focused on war supplies and subsequent company rebuilding and restructuring. And then came the Audi Quattro...

The legendary Audi Quattro was not, in fact, a commercially available model but was a specialist racing car, with a string of brilliant rally championship performances to its name and a reputation for representing the pinnacle of car handling and drivetrain systems.

The Quattro took advantage of new regulations in rally racing that allowed all-wheel drive cars in an arena where they were previously unknown. Critics were harsh, questioning the point of such a system in racing but were quickly silenced by repeated triumphs and the Quattro went on to dominate the sport in the following years.

An updated Quattro system is now used in a number of mainstream Audi cars, with the brand having carved itself a niche in the market for all wheel drive cars. Other brands have expended fortunes in development but have not been able to match Audi in this area, with only Subaru coming even close to a rival.

2008 Audi R10 TDI.
Photo by Exfordy (flickr). Licenced under CC BY 2.0

If the eighties were all about the Quattro, the nineties shone a light on touring and super touring, leading on to sports car racing in the new century, with the R8's three consecutive wins in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2000, 2001 and 2002. 2004's Le Mans saw Audi R8s take all three podium positions, whilst 2005 returned first and third places. Audi's 2006 Le Mans replacement, the R10, triumphed on its debut outing, whilst more recently the R18 has been adding metal to Audi's trophy cabinet in 2011 and 2012, including historic wins for a racing hybrid. As the most successful motor sport company since the turn of the century, dealerships happily extol the exemplary racing pedigree of their cars.

Audi make a point of incorporating the education and technologies they develop in motor sport into their road cars. This has led to their position as a leading provider of luxury cars for drivers requiring the ultimate in comfort matched with outstanding performance.