Monster Audi 80 Quattro Build Packs 610 Horses of S2 Thunder!
Bought for around $775 USD in 2014, Audi 80 combines quattro with turbocharged S2 lightning to light up England’s motorways like no other.
The second-gen Audi 80, built between 1978 and 1986, received the quattro system in 1983. Though it didn’t have the ur-Quattro’s power or the 100’s lower price, it did hold the road as well as its Group B siblings. It also helped cement Audi’s place in the public eye through the parts bin, and its quattro-enhanced abilities.
The Audi 80 also makes for a perfect foundation to build madness upon. One such example lives at Paul’s Classic Car Restorations in Mansfield, England, and is the personal car of the shop’s owner. Ricky of LivingLifeFast paid a visit to Paul’s shop to check out this monster in sheep’s clothing.
“Early 80 Audi Quattro. Built 1983, brought to U.K. ’84, registered ’84,” said Paul. “I bought it in 2014 completely rotten. Engine wouldn’t turn over. First idea, we had the original engine rebuilt. Drove that for a bit and got bored.”
The $775 USD (in 2014 dollars) Audi 80 soon woke up, though, thanks to Paul’s friend, Brian Thomsey, turning him on to S2 engines. Upon purchasing one from said friend, the old Audi slowly turned into the 610-horsepower beast it is now. Linking the S2 to the corners is a five-speed gearbox from a U.S. Audi 200, one left completely stock.
“You gotta understand the power-to-weight,” said Ricky. “I mean, 610 horsepower is ridiculous. But, it’s [2,200 pounds], you understand this?”
With the light body and the S2’s big power, Paul says his Audi 80 has the same power-to-weight ratio as a Pagani Zonda. In a 37-year-old car! As Paul demonstrates on the motorways and roads around Mansfield, this boxy boy don’t mess around, sliding across lanes with all wheels engaged, its turbo popping with every gear shift.
“This is what the new cars are trying to emulate,” said Ricky. “These newer cars – I’m not anti-new car. I love new cars, by the way, for anything thinking that I’m some hater. But when you jump into some of these new, all-wheel drive cars, it’s like completing a game overnight. It’s so easy to extract its performance.”
Meanwhile, the Audi 80 build isn’t wanting for anything. All anyone needs is a strong grip on the wheel, and bravery to ride the lightning to Valhalla.
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