Of the many vehicles developed by Audi throughout its history, few have the aura of legend that still retains the legendary Quattro, a sports car created by and for competition that shone with its light in the 80s thanks to the disappeared Group B, a category populated by high-powered, featherweight beasts that ended up being banned for their dangerousness.
The Audi Quattro is remembered both for being the first four-wheel-drive car to participate in the World Rally Championship and for its many victories in competition: thanks to its efficiency, Audi took the World Championship for Brands in 1982 and 1984, as well as with the World Drivers’ Championship in 1983 and 1984.
The Audi Quattro originally raced in Group 4, but with the arrival of Group B, its wild evolutions emerged: Quattro A1, Quattro A2, Sport Quattro, and Sport Quattro S1. Now, Audi has decided to pay tribute to its long-awaited creation with the S1 e-Tron Quattro Hoonitron prototype, a model that, as its name suggests, is 100% electric.
The Audi e-Tron Quattro S1 Hoonitron has been created specifically for the next Gymkhana Ken Block, the popular rally driver known for his stunts at the controls of vehicles cross. At the moment there is no technical data for the car, although it would not be surprising if it exceeded 1,000 hp (in his previous Gymkhana, Block used a 1,400 hp Mustang Hoonicorn).
The Audi S1 e-Tron Quattro Hoonitron is inspired by the Pikes Peak version of the original Quattro
This new “Audi Quattro” is made of carbon fiber and has an electric motor on each axis. Developed from scratch by Audi Sport, its design was completed in just four weeks and complies with FIA safety regulations. Its aesthetic is inspired by the wild 1987 Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 Pikes Peak.
“The S1 Hoonitron combines much of what made Audi famous in the 1980s,” explains Block. “I am familiar with a wide variety of cars that use internal combustion engines, but here I had to learn a lot of new things. Making a ‘donut’ at 150 km / h directly from a standstill, just using the right foot, has been a completely new experience for me «.
The S1 e-Tron Quattro Hoonitron is a beautiful tribute to the brand’s past, as well as living proof that racing cars will also gradually become electrified in the years to come. However, could there be something else behind this prototype? Audi confirmed at the time that the TT will be transformed into an electric sports car, and since models like the A5 Coupé are destined to disappear, it would not be unreasonable to think of a new Quattro straddling the two to replace them at a stroke.
This is not the first time that Audi flirts with the idea of relaunching the Quattro (as well attested prototype e-Tron Detroit Concept 2010, Quattro Concept 2010 Sport Quattro Concept 2013, and Sport Quattro Laserlight Concept 2014); in fact, such as the interest in its return that a company outside Audi (E-Legend) has announced the launch of its own electric remake of the model, which has been dubbed EL1.
