Rally racing is one of the most exhilarating motorsport iterations to watch, it combines the elements of speed and danger—and if you think modern-day WRC is crazy, you clearly haven't heard of the Group B World Rally Championship before. This racing scene only existed for about 4 years between 1982 and 1986, it was inevitably canceled due to the endless amount of crashes and lives lost in the process—drivers and spectators alike.

There's one key fact that set Group B cars apart from anything else on earth, and that's the fact that their brands didn't need to produce a tremendous amount of production cars based on their rally cars to abide by homologation standards—in fact only 200 homologation vehicles had to be built, which was minuscule compared to the other divisions like Group A. The cherry on top, however, as they weren't strictly limited to power figures either, crazy cars like the Ford RS200 and the Peugeot 205 T16 spawned, as well as today's hero car, the Audi Sport Quattro S1. Let's dive into what made it so special.

10 It Walked So Others Could Run

Audi-Sport-Quattro-S1-E1-Rear-1
Via: WallpaperAccess

Contrary to popular belief, Audi wasn't the first company to incorporate all-wheel-drive into a road car, but they were the first to successfully implement it into a rally car. Most cars at the time used a rear-wheel-drive layout, but once Audi's Quattro hit the playing field, it showed everyone how superior an all-wheel-drive system is.

Lancia Delta S4 Group B
via Garage Dreams

As a result, it decimated the competition early on, but unfortunately, it didn't remain unstoppable, since other brands took inspiration from Audi and added similar drivetrains on their rally cars. Evidently, this caused brands like Lancia to conceive the Delta S4 which ultimately beat the Quattro in Group B.

Related: 10 Most Iconic Rally Cars Of All Time

9 Two Rally Generations, One More Ludicrous Than The Other

Audi Sport Quattro S1 E1
Via: Rally Group B Shrine

Let's start with the basics, what was this Audi? As we said in our introduction, the Audi Sport Quattro S1 was a Group B rally racer, and it had two different variants, the Evolution 1 (E1)—illustrated above, and the Evolution 2 (E2)—illustrated down below.

Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2
Via: Rally Group B Shrine

Both cars had similar all-aluminum 2.1-liter turbocharged five-cylinder engines strapped underneath their hoods, but with vastly different power outputs, and visual appearances. Of course, both iterations were fitted with Audi's Quattro all-wheel-drive system, but the E2's wheelbase was even shorter than the original E1 coming in at just 86.8 inches (2.2 meters) to reduce the amount of understeer experienced with the initial S1.

Related: Ahead Of Its Time: Legendary Audi Quattro S1 E2 Rally Car

8 If Overpowered Were A Car, This Would Be It

Audi Sport Quattro S1 Engine Bay
Via: Girardo & Co.

There comes a point in a time when we have to ask ourselves, what is too much power? Audi didn't fit their Sport Quattro rally car with any ordinary turbo-five, it produced way too much power if you ask us, even when compared to today's RS models. The first generation's powertrain produced up to a whopping 444 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque, but when the second generation arrived, it received a slightly tuned inline-five, and a completely redesigned turbocharger which allowed the engine to pump out almost 600 hp in its most vivid state.

Audi Sport Quattro S1 Sand Drift
Via: Audi MediaCenter

Not only was it powerful, but it was light too. The Sport Quattro's body was fabricated out of a mix of carbon fiber and kevlar to ensure it was light, but also rigid. Somehow, even when the big bodysuit was added, this Group B Audi only weighed 2,400 lbs (1,100 kg). Best of all? It could reach 60 mph from a stop in just... more on that later.

Audi Sport Quattro front third quarter view
Via: Bringatrailer.com

As we've previously said, Group B rally cars couldn't compete in races, unless they followed the homologation rules, therefore Audi created a road-legal variant often called the Ur-Quattro in 1980—the "Ur" being German for "original". It too made use of various engines, and exterior appearances, the first Euro-specced cars being fitted with a 2.1-liter turbo-five that generated 197 hp and 210 lb-ft of torque

Audi Sport Quattro rear third quarter view
Via: Bringatrailer.com

North America on the other hand received roughly the same powertrain, but its power was watered down to 160 hp. It's not quite clear how many Audi Quattro cars were built, but it vastly exceeded the needed amount of 200 units, and all of them, of course, came fitted with Audi's Quattro all-wheel-drive system, as well as a 5-speed manual gearbox.

Related: These Are The 10 Coolest Touring Car Homologation Specials

6 One Of The Most Valuable Audis To Exist

Audi Sport Quattro S1
Via Bring A Trailer

As you could have guessed since the Audi Sport Quattro is such a rare being and has a rich racing history attached to its name, it's worth a monumental amount of money. But just how much? To find out we need to look at both the rally car and the road-going version.

Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 Showcase
Via: WallpaperAccess

The most recent auctioned-off Audi Sport Quattro S1 was an '88 model which sold in early 2021 on Artcurial Motorcars for an astounding €2,016,600 ($2,066,188), while road-legal counterparts sell for much less. The most expensive Audi Ur-Quattro that has ever sold was auctioned off last year at the Silverstone Auction where it fetched an incredible £163,125 ($196,131).

5 Mind Boggling Acceleration

Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 Wallpaper
Via: WallpaperSafari

We've thrown out some staggering performance figures there, as well as curb weight readings, so it's time to see how all of this performed in the real world. Let's start with the tamest Quattro, the normal road-legal Quattro. This '80s legend had some tough competition, like the BMW E30 3-Series, but it was no match for Audi's all-wheel-drive acceleration which allowed it to reach 60 mph from a stop in just 7.1 seconds.

Audi Sport Quattro S1 E1 Gravel
Via: Rally Group B Shrine

The Quattro Sport S1 was a whole other being... Even in today's day and age, the S1 rivals, if not beats supercars. This insane Group B rally car zooms from 0-60 in an unbelievable 3.2 seconds—that's quicker than a Nissan GT-R.

4 Was The Pikes Peak Champion Once Upon A Time

DB2018AL00800_large
Via: Volkswagen AG

When it comes to iconic tracks in the world, there are usually three ones that overshadow the rest. In terms of road-going cars, the Nurburgring is where debates are settled, if you want all eyes on you, no matter the legal requirements, the Goodwood Festival of Speed is where you'll thrive, and if you want to show off a car's acceleration and ability to effortless run through a scenic route, Pikes Peak is the place to be.

michele-mouton-audi-quattro-s1-group-b-pikes-peak-1985
Via: Audi AG

After Group B was canceled Audi wasn't quite done with their Quattro S1, so they revamped its ergonomics, put it on a diet, and reengineered it to achieve a perfect 50/50 weight distribution. According to Walter Röhrl, the man behind the wheel, its engine produced a whopping 750 hp, and with that much power at its disposal, Röhrl was bound to break the record around Pikes Peak. He didn't just set a new record in 1987, but he was also the first person to set a sub-11-minute time of 10:47.85

3 Extravagant Visual Modifications That Weren't Just For Intimidation

Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 On The Move
Via: YouTube @NM2255 Car HD Videos

As you would have noticed throughout this article, the Quattro S1 was fitted was some lavish exterior modifications, especially in the Evolution 2, but it all wasn't for show. Its double-decker wing, wide fenders, as well as its gargantuan fixed front splitter, made an immense amount of downforce.

Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 Wing
Via: WRCWings

Not just downforce, but it allowed air to travel into the engine bay keeping that high-output five-cylinder engine cool enough, and its extended fenders allowed meatier wheels to be fitted, as well as air to flow through its body. Sometimes looking cool can contribute to performance too.

Related: These Were The Most Insane Group B Rally Cars

2 The First-Ever Proper Automatic Transmission

Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 Interior
Via: Girardo & Co.

The road-going version of the Sport Quattro was fitted with a stickshift, most of the Group B rally cars as well, but some of the E2 models had a revolutionary power shifted gearbox which paved the road for modern auto boxes found in high-end sports cars.

BMW DCT Transmission
Via: BMW Blog

It was the precursor to modern transmissions like Porsche's PDK and BMW's DCT gearboxes which are essentially automatic gearboxes that you can manually switch between gears allowing for blisteringly quick upshifts and downshifts.

1 Its Legendary Name Still Lives On Today

Audi Sport Quattro S1 Front
via ArtStation

The Quattro name is still seen in many cars today built by Audi, although they're not solemnly attached to a name, it's basically a way of saying that a specific model uses Audi's impeccable four-wheel-drive drivetrain.

Audi TT RS 40 Years Of Quattro
Audi MediaCenter

One noteworthy fact, however, is that since the original Quattro S1, no Audis have ever had their Quattro badges spelled with a capital letter, instead, they're all spelled with a lower case letter paying homage to the superior Sport Quattro. The image you see above is the Audi TT RS 40 Years of Quattro, it was an anniversary gift Audi gave to itself in celebration of—well the name speaks for itself.