quattro®
Why only use two wheels when a car has four?
quattro permanent four-wheel drive.
Audi is a pioneer of four-wheel drive in high-quality cars. Cutting-edge quattro technology offers dynamism and safety while delivering a unique and exclusive level of driving pleasure. An Audi with quattro drive moves ahead safely and smoothly, even in conditions where two-wheel-drive vehicles lose traction – for instance on slippery or unpaved roads.
quattro® is a permanent four-wheel drive system
If the wheels of one axle lose grip and threaten to spin, the drive torque is redirected to the other axle – automatically and continuously distributed through the centre differential. The basic distribution is 40:60 – with 40% of the power going to the front axle and 60% to the rear. The advantage: more grip when accelerating and greater safety thanks to the exceptional roadholding. So much for the technology. But what makes quattro unique is really the driving feel. “It’s like you’re stuck to the road,” some customers say. We put it this way: quattro gives you a better feel for the road and thus more safety.
If the wheels of one axle lose grip and threaten to spin, the drive torque is redirected to the other axle – automatically and continuously distributed through the centre differential. The basic distribution is 40:60 – with 40% of the power going to the front axle and 60% to the rear. The advantage: more grip when accelerating and greater safety thanks to the exceptional roadholding. So much for the technology. But what makes quattro unique is really the driving feel. “It’s like you’re stuck to the road,” some customers say. We put it this way: quattro gives you a better feel for the road and thus more safety.
quattro® with sport differential reinforces the inimitable quattro feeling
Vehicles tend to understeer when turning into and moving through bends. This is a normal physical process: a moving body resists a change in direction. The elastic tyres and the suspension mounts tense up until the vehicle adopts the new direction. When accelerating into a bend, the load on the front axle is reduced and it can therefore transfers less lateral force to the tyres – the vehicle understeers. This tendency is largely counteracted with the sport differential on the rear axle. This is because a superposition unit with two gear stages has been added to the quattro rear-axle differential on the left and right. These ensure that the individual wheels on the rear axle receive different levels of drive torque. The effect: the propulsive power “forces” the car into the bend so that it follows the angle of the front wheels.
Vehicles tend to understeer when turning into and moving through bends. This is a normal physical process: a moving body resists a change in direction. The elastic tyres and the suspension mounts tense up until the vehicle adopts the new direction. When accelerating into a bend, the load on the front axle is reduced and it can therefore transfers less lateral force to the tyres – the vehicle understeers. This tendency is largely counteracted with the sport differential on the rear axle. This is because a superposition unit with two gear stages has been added to the quattro rear-axle differential on the left and right. These ensure that the individual wheels on the rear axle receive different levels of drive torque. The effect: the propulsive power “forces” the car into the bend so that it follows the angle of the front wheels.
Drive technologies