Audi is celebrating the special milestone of 8 millionth Audi with quattro drive that was rolled off the production line at the new plant in San José Chiapa. The milestone car is a garnet red Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI quattro. The quattro technology made its debut in 1980, and is currently available in more than 100 model versions. The quattro all-wheel drive system is standard in the Audi Q7, the Audi A4 allroad quattro, the Audi A6 allroad quattro, the Audi A8, the Audi R8 and all S models and RS models, and it is available as an option in all other model series.
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In 2015, 44 percent of all Audi customers worldwide chose models equipped with quattro drive. The Audi Q5 topped the list with about 262,000 units. The quattro models generated particularly strong sales in the United States, Canada, Russia and in the markets of the Middle East. In Germany quattro sales totaled 122,048 cars.
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The latest phase of development from Audi is the quattro drive with ultra technology. It is likewise designed for models with a longitudinally positioned engine. Here, an actively controlled multi-plate clutch at the end of the transmission distributes the torque variably between the drive axles in all-wheel drive operation. A decoupler in the rear axle differential can additionally open the connection to the rear wheels. Both clutches are opened in driving situations where the all-wheel drive doesn’t offer any advantage. This way, the parts of the rear drivetrain responsible for drag are not engaged.
The system’s control unit uses a multitude of data to produce a model of the vehicle’s status projecting about half a second into the future. If the system detects, for instance, that the inside wheel is about to lose grip, it switches predictively to all-wheel drive. As a result, the all-wheel drive is always ready when it is needed. The new concept considerably boosts efficiency without diminishing traction or driving dynamics.