Audi back in World Rally? Here's my theory... (long)

Audi has been absent from the World Rally Championship for quite some time now. The last title that they won was back in 1983 (if I remember correcly) with the Quattro Coupe. Since those days, they have competed in a number of series with different cars. However, rallyes are what made the Quattro and ultimately allowed Audi to sell their cars. I believe that Audi needs to get back into rallying. They have proven themselves in the touring car series. In Germany, England, Italy, and in Australia, their cars have been champions. Now, Audi wants to assault Le Mans with full force, and I am going to be a rabid supporter next June at the Sarthe circuit. But think of the possibilities that could arise from WRC wins! Up until a few months ago I did not even think about Audi going back into rallying. The A4 is much too big for a rally car. Too heavy and not enough power. Sure the engine can be boosted to well over 400 bhp, but that still would not be enough. It wasn't untill I saw a number of A3s while in England, that I began thinking about this. The current trend in World Rally has been the reduction of car size. By next year, the Subaru Impreza and the Mitsubishi Lancer will be considered to be 'big cars' compared to the competition. It seems that most manufacturers are graduating their Formula 2 cars into the WRC class. The dominant cars will be four wheel drive, turbo-charged, two door hatchbacks. The Toyota Corolla (a specific version that is not sold in North America), Ford Focus, SEAT, Peugeot, Skoda, are cars that fit that model. So, where am I going with this...the A3 1.8Tq would fill that model quite well. Proven all wheel drive in the Quattro and an excellent engine could possibly be a formula for success. I know that for now this is just a pipe dream. However, with the amount of publicity that Rallying provides Audi could sell a lot more cars. People recognise all the cars in the WRC circuit. The Le Mans prototype may be a fantastic piece of engineering, but you can't buy one and drive it every day! So, maybe let Audi know that they should be rallying the A3! And hope that they do! Marcin R. --- '98.5 A4 1.8Tqms

And with the upcoming S3 as the base what a fantastic base car Audi would have.

Sadly for now I think a rumour is all it will remain.

Graham

That Skoda (SEAT?) that is based on the A4 is being run, but not so successfully yet. Audi left rallying because Group B was so dangerous, but also because they had dominated it for so long. They wanted new challenges, but most importantly they needed to prove that quattro is better on pavement as well. Maybe they'll go back to rallys someday, but I don't see it being a priority for them. I also wouldn't be surprised if they're out of the BTCC for good. The whole point was to prove quattro and 5-valve technology. I think that LeMans and Daytona are much more appropriate for the hi-tech luxury Brand Image that they are trying to create.

Todd W

rco

If you're referring to the Seat Ibiza run in F2, it's based on the previous generation VW A3 platform (like the previous gen Golf/GTI), not the Audi A4 platform.

Rob O

I saw it on speedvision last week, but missed most of the explanation. It is a restyled A4 (4doors, etc.) that I have seen pictures of from some car show. As I understood it is the 1.8T awd, but hasn't done well - needs more development. I didn't catch what class it is running in, but it was right after a clip on Collin McRae. They showed Golfs later, one with Collin's brother driving.

The Skoda WRC is based on the A4.
It has not competed yet, the 2wd version captured the
European rally champ this year in F2. The Awd version should be pretty
good the AWD system was build and designed by PRODRIVE the people that build
the cars for SUBARU. So not much Audi stuff just the engine and the shell.

-george

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