Cars

The very first RS car was the Audi RS2 Avant.

In the early 1990s, Audi wanted to create a high-performance, everyday car that could compete with brands like BMW and Mercedes. But Audi was a little off with this project, because they had never done anything like this before, so the people in Ingolstadt called the people at Porsche and asked them for help.

Essentially, Audi built the chassis and body (which came from the plebeian Audi 80 sedan), then sent them to Porsche, who worked their magic. In fact, the Audi RS2 was almost as much Porsche as Audi, since the brakes, wheels and tires came from a Porsche 968 Clubsport. The Zuffenhausen-based brand then tuned the engine and added a six-speed manual transmission for optimal performance.

The engine in question was a 2.2-liter turbocharged five-cylinder, just like the original Quattro. However, Porsche installed a KKK turbocharger that gave the RS2 315 hp and 410 nm of torque. Although it suffered from some turbo lag, it was still capable of going from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.4 seconds. In fact, it was as fast as a Ferrari 456 at the time.

Back in the 90s, the Audi RS2 was a revelation, with its insane speed, insane grip on Quattro all-wheel drive and everyday practicality. However, if you drive it today, you will notice some strange things. The steering is a revelation today, as it shows the merits of a good old hydraulic steering rack, as it is much more communicative than today’s electric racks. The turbo lag would also be quite shocking, as modern sports cars are almost perfect at eliminating turbo lag, but the RS2 is not.