Audi quattro Pikes Peak: History in Thoroughbred & Classic Cars

The September 2005 issue of Thoroughbred and Classic Cars has an article about Audi's history at Pikes Peak.

The piece begins with not only the history of the famous hillclimb, but also the history of the hill. It chronicles the Michele Mouton's win in '85 and Bobby Unser Sr's win in '86. In '87 Audi faced mounting competition. Rather than returning with what amounted effectively to Sport quattro rally cars as they had with Mouton and Unser, they brought out a purpose-built Sport quattro with insane aerodynamic wings to be driven by Walter Rohrl.

Here are some cool "little-known facts" that the Classic article divulged - little known facts that'd make Cliff Claven proud.

Audi's secret weapon was their 'Umluft-system', a component that kept the turbocharger spinning even when the throttle was lifted - effectively eliminating lag. The system wasn't functioning well ultimately until Rohrl's main run. However the crazy downforce combined with the potent engine had Peugeot worried enough to be air-lifting new aerodynamics in by the day during practice sessions.

Rohrl also shares that Audi Sport had an extra 700bhp engine as a spare that was "all or nothing." He was happier to be running their 600bhp engine as it was more progressive. Combined with the downforce and Rohrl's driving dexterity, Audi stole the hill record from Peugeot not more than 3-minutes after the French company broke it and the campaign was a fitting end to the competition career of the original quattros.

GermanCarBlog, Audi quattro

Source: Fourtitude's Audi News Blog

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