Wagon fans have reason to believe!
Audi’s RS family of fast family cars have always been popular with American
consumers, albeit mostly as crossovers. However, there has always been a gaping
hole in the hearts of enthusiasts who pine for the mythical RS wagons Audi
offers to European customers. Well, following
the reveal of the RS5 Sportback at the 2018 New
York International Auto Show, Audi says it’s not ruling out the possibility of
selling RS Avants in America.
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“We always look at potential new opportunities in the market. It’s a niche to
explore,” Filip Brabec, vice president of product management for Audi of America
told
MotorTrend. “We keep holding discussions. Keep
writing us letters.” Nothing is imminent as the market for wagons in America,
let alone hot-rod all-wheel-drive wagons, is The once AWD kings need to find its mojo again.
Before Audi became Audi as we know it today, it went by the name of Auto
Union – an amalgamation of four German automakers that was founded in 1932.
Along with Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union enjoyed huge success in motorsport –
particularly in Grand Prix racing. It’s widely known that Mercedes’ racers were
referred to as the
Silver Arrows, but it was a title bestowed upon the silver
Auto Union racers too – due to their joint dominance of the sport along with
their Mercedes-Benz counterparts.
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Building The Behemoth
Audi’s Rise to AWD Glory Fast forward to 1980, and Audi would once again
dominate motorsport, albeit one of a different kind entirely. The Quattro was a
turbocharged all-wheel drive machine, and it became one of the
most dominant rally cars of all time – redefining
the sport and introducing the world to the performance benefits of all-wheel
drive, taking 22 wins between 1981 and 1984. It wasn’t without the help of some
talented drivers though – including the likes of Walter Rohrl and Stig
Blomqvist. The Quattro was of significant importance for Audi, as it would set
the course for Audi’s road going cars for the next 4 decades.
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Not only would the Quattro be homologated for road use, but all-wheel drive –
touted as ‘quattro’ – would become a signature trait of not just Audi’s
performance models, but even their everyday drivers; making them synonymous with
being the perfect all-road, all-weather machines. Its performance cars took
quattro to a new level – starting with the 1994 Audi RS2; the first RS model.
The RS2 was a joint development between Audi and Porsche – combining signature
elements for Audi such as the Avant station wagon body, all-wheel drive, and a
turbocharged 5 cylinder engine.
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Its 311 horsepower gave it immense performance, cracking the 0-62 mph sprint
in 4.8 seconds on its way to a top speed electronically limited to 162.8 mph.
Performance off the line was so immense, that it was tested running 0-30 mph
quicker than a McLaren F1 could. The RS2 paved the way for the B5 RS4 Avant – it
followed a similar recipe to the RS2, but with a twin-turbo V6 engine. More Audi
RS models followed, including the first RS6, RS3, TT RS, and an RS5. At the core
of every Audi RS model, the basic recipe was the same; one endearing engine – be
it a turbo inline-5, V6, V8, or V10 – and all-wheel drive.
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The highpoint of this formula, many will argue, occurred with the B7 RS4;
powered by a 4.2-liter naturally aspirated FSI V8 with a 6-speed manual
transmission, the 60:40 RWD torque split made it razor-sharp, while the
flat-plane V8 sang a glorious tune that few could resist. While the
current generation Audi RS3 may live up to
similar standards of dominance – and of course soulfulness with the 2.5-liter
5-cylinder – Audi has largely fallen from grace.
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Oh How The Mighty Fall
Where once it dominated motorsport, Audi is no longer pertinent in the world
of rally, withdrawing completely from the World Endurance Championship it
dominated for so long. Audi’s have now become sterile, inert things to drive –
and innovations such as adaptive steering have been widely criticized for the
lack of linearity, predictability, and overall ability to involve a driver as
they should. Admittedly even the likes of BMW have lost the plot when it comes
to steering feel – only
Alfa Romeo’s Giulia Quadrifoglio can really boast
an involving steer – but it’s one of many issues plaguing Audis of late.
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The biggest blow to Audi’s dominance and ego has come in the form of
all-wheel drive. Audi, once kings of the AWD drivetrain, have now resorted to
front-biased systems that place efficiency over efficacy in their regular model
ranges. Since 2010, Audi has used the same ‘Generation V’ quattro in its
performance models – albeit a system that pioneered the torque vectoring rear
differential – but whilst Audi’s systems have stayed pretty much the same, the
rest of the motoring world has developed newer, more innovative systems.
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The likes of GKN Driveline have engineered rear-biased systems such as those
found on Jaguar’s F-Type SVR, and they’ve engineered front-biased systems with
unique rear clutch packs to provide active torque vectoring unlike anything seen
on AWD before – systems we see in action in the new
Buick Regal Sportback and Regal GS. More
importantly, this same system has been utilized to give the
Ford Focus RS a damn ‘drift mode’ by sending
extra power to the outside rear tire. Audi? Well it uses Haldex drive in the RS3
and TT – just like always, with a maximum 50% rear bias and brake based torque
vectoring.
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But OK, that’s the realm of front-drive based hatchery – what about their
full size sedans like the RS4 and RS6/7? Audi’s recent performance all-wheel
drive systems have been quite advanced – the active sport differential provided
genuine mechanical torque vectoring before it was cool, since its introduction
in the S4 sedan of 2008. But you need only cast your eyes towards Munich or
Stuttgart to see what BMW and Mercedes-AMG think of quattro – they’ve wiped it
aside in one fell swoop, equipping the M5 and E63 with trick all-wheel drive
systems that out-accelerate the Audi RS6/7 twins, and yet at the press of a
button, they resort to their historically hooliganistic selves as rear-wheel
drive only sports sedans.
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All-wheel drive was once Audi territory; and they’d done a pretty spectacular
job of it. Yet in the space of a single generation Mercedes-AMG and BMW M have
come along to not only match it by copying the torque vectoring, but create
systems that arguably best the latest performance iterations of quattro.
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Fall Down Seven Times, Stand Up Eight
Audi can get back to the summit though. Just as it once revolutionized the
world of performance, it can do so again – albeit with a slightly different
train of thought. Audi must cast aside its aspirations of ‘easy speed’ at the
expense of driver involvement and it needs to embrace the thrill of driving, the
adrenaline rush that was once synonymous with the brand’s racing exploits.
There’s a glimmer of hope for them with the
Audi R8 RWS (Rear Wheel Series) – a sign that
they’re trying to make their cars more exciting.
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But if Audi are to succeed, it’ll need to make more than just an exciting
halo car –it will also need to appeal to the man on the street. How then? As
Audi did once before, it’ll need to link up with Porsche – but this time instead
of launching a potent wagon, it needs to launch something sportier. At the
expense of its own TT – sometimes casualties are necessary. Audi needs to
engineer a mid-engined, rear wheel drive sports car to inject a dose of
adrenaline into a dying performance brand. Porsche already has the 718 Cayman
and Boxster, so Audi need only borrow the platform and drop its 2.0-liter TFSI
motors into the mix; or better yet, the 2.5-liter 5-pot!
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Style it like the Audi quattro concept from the 2010 Paris Motor Show, and
sell it with a flashy name like the ‘R5’ or ‘Neu Quattro’ (Ur Quattro refers to
the ‘Original Quattro’) and inject a bit of spice where the brand has frozen
over. A rear-wheel driven Audi for the layman – who would’ve thought it
possible? But its ‘daily’ models aren’t exempt from the overhaul. No, the
all-wheel drive versions would need a newfangled system – likely one engineered
by GKN rather than Haldex – and the Audi engineers would need to learn to have
fun again. They’ve become sterile and inert.
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But if Audi can pursue driver enjoyment first and foremost, imbued with its
current ability to produce comfortable, superbly built premium vehicles, it’ll
capitalize on the buyers that have been stranded by BMW’s recent departure from
‘sheer driving pleasure.' Audi has to reinvent themselves, not just with a mere
makeover and a change of clothes, but with a change in lifestyle. It needs to
cast aside the accountant-like demeanor and hit the gym, go mountain climbing
and bike riding. It needs to become the motoring equivalent of the modern man –
one as intelligent as he is physically capable. It’s simply not enough to be a
one-trick pony anymore – Audi needs to become an apex predator.
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thin compared to Europe. “The
RS 6 and RS 4 Avants are well accepted in Europe,” quipped Michael Renz, the new
head of Audi Sport worldwide to the magazine. “In the US, it might be a
different situation.”
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Audi hears the cries of Avant aficionados in America, and certainly won’t
rule out the possibility of one day potentially importing the Avants as weird RS
flagships, but the company won’t commit to anything either. Once upon a time,
from 2006 to 2008, Audi offered American's the B7 RS4 in sedan form, but decided
to skip North America with the next generation B8 RS4, which was only offered as
an Avant. For now, Audi Sport is quite focused on selling the RS5 Sportback,
which the company views as the most expressive type of sedan that speaks to a
totally different breed of buyer.
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“The Sportback is not a weird hatchback,” Renz said. “It adds to a sedan, as
a beautiful layer on top of that. It’s for sedan buyers who want to be a bit
more expressive. The Sportback offers more image than the Avant. There is a
clear hierarchy. The Sportback is for young families who are looking for a
sporty, fashion-oriented car with functionality that they can put the kids in.
The Avant customer is a little bit older, more entrepreneurial.” Regardless, you
heard the man, start writing those letters sports fans.
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