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AUDI 200 QUATTRO
| WHEN WE TESTED AND AUDI V8 QUATTRO for our November 1989
issue, we found that its straightline performance was "good...but not overwhelming."
Its performance is fine for a luxury sedan, but for those who want both
luxury and performance, the market choices have been slim. * Enter the
Audi 200 Quattro. The 200 Quattro is built on the V8 chassis, and
shares its high build quality. It is superbly finished of the finest
materials inside and out, and can hold its own against the new Japanese
competition. As in the V8, a cellular telephone is standard.
Supportive, adjustable sport seats are also standard, while "comfort seats"
are a no-cost option. Occupants have a high seating position which,
combined with a large, glassy greenhouse, gives a comanding view of the
road. The interior has a clean, high-tech, no-nonsense look.
Switches and levers have a crisp, precise look and feel, as if a machinist
had carved them from solid aluminum and anodized them black. The
air conditioning controls still need some design help; there are only two
manual blower speeds, low and high, and the display still looks and feels
like a dechromed GM unit -- not in keeping with the rest of the controls.
The 200 Quattro comes fully equipped; the only option is a pearl white
metalic paint job.
The most obvious outward differences to the V8 Quattro are a square grille, altered hood, and bumpers. The 200 Quattro has typical German sports sedan styling cues, and looks conservatively aggressive. While some attempts at German performance come off like Helmut Kohl wearing combat fatigues, think of the Audi 200 Quattro as Arnold Schwartzenegger wearing a Hugo Boss suit. The 200 is powered by a turbo-charged and intercooled 2.23 liter five cylinder with four valves per cylinder. Turbocharging has made startling advances in driveability recently. Today, there are a number of good turbo designs out there in which the boost does not come on with a bang. That sudden turbo boost is fun at first, but gets wearying if you have to live with a car for a long time under everyday conditions. Three excellent turbo applications are the Ford Probe/Mazda MX-6, the Saab 9000 Turbo 2.3, and the new Porche 911 Turbo. To that I add the Audi five cylinder turbo. This engine has gotten entirely away from the sudden-kick-at-high-revs phenomenon. The factory claims maximum torque at an incredibly low 1950 rpm. That would do credit to a big V8, would be remarkable on a 2.2 liter normally aspirated inline five, and is utterly astonishing on a turbo version of the same. The Audi turbo is a truly amazing engine. You absolutely cannot feel the turbo come on. While there is the harmonic hum we've found with other Audi five cylinder engines, it's pleasant rather than objectionable. There is no turbine whine. And if you haven't set the multi-function digital readout to display boost, you will never know. To check the factory torque claim, we set our test equipment to record acceleration forces, and found that maximum forward push came at about 2,000 rpm. Full boost of about 10 psi is available by then. But this is not just a low-reving tractor engine. It smoothly and happily revs to its 7,000 rpm redline and beyond; our flexibility numbers indicate a non-turbo-like, relatively flat torque curve all the way. The numbers show the opposite of typical turbo character in third gear; the car is quicker from 30 to 50 than from 50 to 70 because it is already past the torque peak at 30 mph. On the freeway, it still provides a strong push at 70 mph in fourth. The engine drives through all four wheels by means of a Torsen center differential. The purely mechanical limited slip function of the Torsen normally splits engine output evenly between each end of the car, but can shift the balance to 25/75 either way if wheelspin occurs. The rear differential can be locked by a driver-activated push button for getting underway in slippery conditions. The rear differential lock disengages above 15 mph. The transmission has relatively short first and second gears, but tall gearing in third, fourth and fifth for high speed. The shifter is precise, perhaps a little on the notchy side. There isn't much room between the knob and center console, so demon shifts will often find knuckles brushing against the radio. Okay, so you learn not to do that. On the dragstrip, the Audi 200 Quattro is one of the fastest accelerating luxury cars we have yet put through our track test regime. Only the BMW M5 beats it, and it may be argued that the BMW is realy a sport sedan heavier on the "sport" than the "sedan". Clutch slip seems to be the limiting factor, as the revs can be heard to climb, but the tires stay firmly hooked up. We launched at 4,500 rpm with the rear differential locked. The resulting 0-60 time of 6.13 seconds beats many a sports car, including the Nissan 300ZX, Pontiac Firebird Formula/GTA/Chevy Camaro 1LE, Eagle Talon TSi AWD, Ford Probe GT, Taurus SHO, Thunderbird SC, Mazda RX-7, Toyota MR2 Turbo, and the Porsche 8\944 S2. In such company, it handidly beats the Lexus LS400, Infinity Q45, and Jaguar XJ6. The 200 Quattro beats the automatic-equipped Audi V8 we tested, despite that car's larger 3.6 liter engine. In fairness, we should point out that the manual transmission now also available in the V8, with 240 bhp and 245 lbs. ft at 4,000, should make up some of the difference. The V8 remains, however, nearly 300 pounds heavier, and that will tell. We measured a top speed of 148 mph in complete comfort. Wind noise was still absent at that speed, and conversations could be carried on at a normal level. A lot of effort has been spent on sound-proofing, from flush glass to small details like a thick seal at the leading edge of the hood. At 148 mph, the steering requires no more attention than when going down the freeway at 70, and the suspension does a very effective job of soaking up bumps and dips at top speed. Overall, the suspension is excellent from a luxury car standpoint, but we did find a few flaws. The tires, Goodyear Eagle GAs, are very sensitive to road roughness. On smooth, fresh asphalt, the car is silent at 75 mph; occupants can converse in whispers. But when the surface roughens, such as on older freeways worn by years of truck traffic, it's as if somebody did an instant tire swap; there is a markedly higher noise level. We also noticed piching and thumping from the chassis on road sections known for California's famed freeway hop. This is an unusual condition, and apparently found nowhere else, but probably would be annoying to a Californian who has just bought a $40,000-plus car. We didn't test skidpad performance. The last time we had Goodyear Eagle GA tires, on the Lexus LS400, we had cord showing after only two laps. Like the Lexus, the Audi also has a soft suspension, and we feared that chassis roll would do the same to these GAs. The Audi might work the front tires a little less than the slightly heavier Lexus, but the 200 was never intended to be a skidpad screamer. That can be fixed. If this were our personal car, we would seek out some suspension bits like springs, shocks, anti-roll bars, and bushings to give it better cornering and tune out the California freeway hop. The turning circle is tight, but the mechanically boosted steering is relatively slow at 3.5 turns. And while isolation is fine for luxury buyers, we would like a little more steering sensitivity and feel on-center. Braking is on the long side for an ABS-equipped car (132 feet from 60, 228 from 80) and may be due to relatively little tire under such a large, heavy car. How about a performance tire in 225/60 or 235/55 on the existing rims, or 225/50x16? There may be clearance problems, as the stock tires seem to fill the wheel opening pretty well. We should also note that the 200 Quattro is also available as a wagon. With this powertrain, the result would be a wagon that hauls in both senses of the word. There are several German tuners that specialie in hot Audis. The tuning potential of the 200 Quattro is substantial; hopefully some of that equipment will become available on these shores. With some suspension work, the 200 Quattro could become an uncommon, fast, fine-handling car built to the highest quality standards. Even without such a full tuner package, the Audi 200 Quattro is a sport sedan worthy of careful consideration. SCI |
DATA
VEHICLE TYPE: FRONT ENGINE, ALL-WHEEL DRIVE, FIVE-PASSENGER, FOUR-DOOR SEDAN BODY/CHASSIS: STEEL UNIT BODY, FULLY GALVANIZED PRICES
ENGINE
TRANSMISSION
FINAL DRIVE: 4.11; TORSEN CENTER DIFFERENTIAL, LOCKABLE REAR DIFFERENTIAL DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
STEERING, SUSPENSION, BRAKES
PERFORMANCE
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