Jul 23, 2019 Audi, RS, 25 years, Audi Sport GmbH
Audi Sport Is Celebrating 25 years of the Audi RS Models
25 years ago, the first Audi RS model was launched on the market in the form of the Audi RS 2 Avant. With their proximity to motor racing and their exclusiveness, the Audi RS models hold a particular fascination. To date, Audi Sport GmbH, formerly quattro GmbH, has presented a total of 25 RS models. In 2019, six further product innovations are being presented, of which two are completely new RS models.
South Africans can experience the local derivatives to the Audi RS range at the upcoming 2019 Festival of Motoring, taking place from 22- 25 August in Johannesburg.
At Audi, the designation “RS” stands for a philosophy that is driven by a quest for top performance and perfection. “Every RS model expresses the passion that we put into developing our high-performance cars,” said Oliver Hoffmann, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH. “For 25 years, our customers have been experiencing the RS models as masterful companions for everyday life that convey pure emotion and maximum driving enjoyment.”
The RS models stand for performance, prestige and exclusiveness at the limit of what is technically feasible without any loss of everyday usability. Many of them are pioneers in their market segments and trailblazers for technical innovations – that applied to the Audi RS 4 Avant with its biturbo V6 19 years ago and it applies just as much to the TT RS and its multi-award-winning, forceful five cylinder in its latest evolutionary stage.
The RS models have been making a splash for a quarter of a century – five milestones merit particular mention. In 1994, the Audi RS 2 Avant with its four-valve, five-cylinder 232 kW engine. The quattro drive with its self-locking centre differential that had proven itself in motor racing and rallying made it possible to masterfully transfer this high performance to the road.
In 1999, the Audi RS 4 Avant based on the S4 of the time introduced a new dimension in terms of power to the medium-size class. Under the hood, a 2.7l V6 engine, with five valves per cylinder and bi-turbo charging developing maximum power of 280 kW.
The second generation of the RS 4 followed in 2005. Numerous innovations, many of which originated in motorsports, characterize this generation. A standout among these was the V8 engine with 309 kW. It was the first time that a manufacturer had relied on the combination of gasoline direct injection and a high-rev concept that allowed up to 8,250 rpm. In the R8, which enjoyed success at Le Mans, the FSI technology had already proven its performance in impressive style. In 2007, the engine was also used in the first generation of the Audi R8.
2008 saw the arrival of the RS 6 Avant, a sports car in the form of an unobtrusive business station wagon. With a completely newly developed V10 engine, with FSI direct injection, bi-turbo charging, dry sump lubrication like in motorsports as well as the quattro permanent all-wheel drive, the impressive V10 force complete with 426 kW and 650 Nm of torque, the RS 6 Avant was the most powerful series production Audi to date.
In 2011, RS 3 Sportback had a five-cylinder 250 kW engine, brought the RS philosophy to the compact class. In 2013, the RS Q3 opened up another market segment as the first compact SUV. It was powered by the transversely installed 2.5l five-cylinder engine, as used in the TT RS and RS 3. Initially, it produced 228 kW but this increased to 250 kW from late 2014. The RS Q3 performance that followed in 2016 even reached 270 kW.
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