While in the U.S. the S6 Avant got all of the Audi accolades in 1995, in Europe several fast Audi wagons had been offered for some time. First of the new 20 valve turbo generation was the 200 Avant, just like in the U.S.; after that, though, the lines diverged. With the start of the C4, Audi offered the S4 in two configurations, sedan which was shared with the U.S. market, and Avant form which never came here. Additionally, there were two engine configurations; you could also get the 4.2 V8 and a 6-speed manual in your S4. When it came to the renamed S6, Audi upped those options with the addition of an automatic and the hotter “S6 Plus” version of the V8 wagon. But there was also another wagon available; the B4 based S2 Avant. The S2 came in three variants; the Coupe which many are familiar with, the quite rare sedan version, and the slightly less familiar Avant which didn’t come to the U.S.. I say slightly less familiar, because the S2 Avant was the notable base for one of the greatest wagons the world has ever seen – the iconic Porsche-built RS2. The RS2 was a fitting replacement for the equally iconic Sport Quattro, but the RS2 offered better road manners, more versatility and if anything was a bit quicker overall. It should be no surprise that, like the Sport Quattro, the limited run RS2 spawned a series of imitators who mimicked everything from the motor to the outside styling:
Tag: RS2
A few weeks ago, our reader John sent me a listing on Craigslist for this car. I immediately laughed. It’s not that the car was modified to look like an RS2 in the front and resprayed. On the surface, that’s pretty common and overall it looks reasonably done. It’s not that the car didn’t get a matching engine transplant; the unappreciated 20 valve normally aspirated 7A inline-5 is still there. It’s not that they didn’t do a 5-bolt conversion with larger brakes. No, what made me laugh was the color – Sprint Blue Pearl. That’s a B7-spec color, and while to non-Audi nerds it may not matter, it’s the wrong color. Nogaro Blue, technically, would also be the wrong color, since the RS2 was oft-anointed in the special shade of RS Blue. Now, technically that color seems to be the same color as the later B5-chassis shade, but nevertheless the person who repainted this car in the spirit of the RS managed to be 3 generations off in color. It’s that kind of attention to detail that always worries me about modified cars:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1991 Audi Coupe quattro on eBay
3 CommentsIn the realm of German cars, Audi seems to be the unappreciated marque when you go back a few generations. But even then, amongst the leper colony of Audi products that no one wants, the Audi 80 quattro is close to King. I say close to King, because truth be told I think there are even less appreciated products from this time – the front drive Audi 100, for example. But go to 1991, and within Audi all enthusiasts are generally interested in is the 200 20V quattro, the Coupe quattro, and occasionally someone will mention the V8 quattro 5-speed. The 80 quattro, though, was one of the smartest options if you wanted a robust, small all-wheel drive sedan. True, the switch from B2 to B3 gained a fair amount of weight and not much more power from the NG 2.3 liter inline-5. It felt, if anything, a bit slower off the line than the 4000 quattro had been – a car not noted for it’s straight line dominance. But its unpopularity ironically made it quite popular as a tuning platform; after all, it does share some DNA with the much loved RS2. In this case, the builder of this car has thoroughly upgraded this B3 to new levels of power and performance:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1991 Audi 80 quattro on Classic-Audi.co.uk
1 CommentIn the high performance, exclusive world of Audi’s RS models, most enthusiasts believe they never got it quite as right as they did with the original model. Sure, the RS4s, RS6s, RS5s and TTRSs are impressive, fast and luxurious. They’ll all decimate the roads on the way to your destination, with little regard for supposedly faster marque’s badges. But there was something that was extra special and just a bit more magical about the original RS2; the first of the super wagons, the splashes of red and RS blue were like a poison dart frog – a warning to the rest of the big boys that this little wagon meant business. Packed with a special 311 horsepower Porsche-messaged version of the venerable 20 valve turbocharged inline-5, the RS2 was very special indeed. Power made it to the ground through all four wheels mated to a 6-speed manual transmission with Brembo brakes and Porsche wheels; the small chassis Audi could break 5 seconds in a 0-60 sprint and was good for over 160 m.p.h. making it one of the fastest road cars in the 1990s. About 3,000 of these cars were made, making them not quite as rare as one would expect given how infrequently we see them for sale – but there’s a stunning low mile example today on VW Vortex: