Re: Trans-am quattro?

[ti@amb.org (Ti Kan)]

Jeryd writes:
> does anybody have info on the Trans-am quattro?  I just learned about it and
> I want to tease my friend.  He thought that only American cars where the
> only good ones at the Trains-am.

Audi entered the SCCA Trans Am series in 1988 with the 200 turbo quattro
sedan race car.  It is a unusual in that it is production unit-body based,
with extensive bracing.  This is unlike most other Trans Am cars which
have full fledged tube frame chassis.  The 200q cars were powered by
the race version of the 2.1 liter I5 10V engine putting out 510hp.  It
is down in power and heavier than its competition, however the quattro
system gave it the advantage in the corners.

The cars were driven by Hans Stuck, Hurley Haywood and Walter Rohrl.
Despite challenges from competitors and several rule changes in
Audi's disfavor (smaller turbo restrictors and added minimum weight),
the season ended with 8 Audi wins and also winning both the final
manufacturer's title and the driver's title.

After that season, SCCA promptly changed the rules and essentially
outlawed all-wheel drive race cars from the Trans Am series.

Audi basically went on the next year to repeat the same feat in the 1989
IMSA GTO series with the Audi 90 turbo quattro racing sedan, again with
Hans Stuck, Hurley Haywood, and Walter Rohrl.  This time
it is a full tube frame race car with the 20V I5 turbo making some
720hp.  Audi had 7 wins, missing the overall title only because it
missed the first two events while it was still testing the cars.

There is a video called "quattro Racing in the USA" that you can buy
from various sources that captures the excitement of the 1988 Trans Am
cars and the 1989 IMSA GTO cars.  A must-have for any Audi enthusiast.

What do these cars look like?

	http://metalab.unc.edu/tkan/audi/mh99/mh99.html

Look at pic #47.  The first car on the left is the IMSA GTO 90TQ.
The next car is the SCCA Trans Am 200TQ.  Mike Veglia's web site
has some nice pics of these cars on the track in action:

	http://motorsportvisions.com/Audi/audi.htm

A long winded reply, but even after 10 years I can hardly contain
my enthusiasm for these fantastic machines.

-Ti
96 A4 2.8 quattro
84 5000S 2.1 turbo
80 4000 2.0
-- 
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
   ///   AMB Research Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
  ///    ti@amb.org
 //////  http://metalab.unc.edu/tkan/
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