Audi 80 quattro 2.5 DTM Prototype (B4, 1993)

·November 6, 1992

What: 1993 Audi 80 quattro 2.5 DTM Prototype
Series: Deutsche Tourenwagen-Meisterschaft (DTM)
Class: Class 1
Era: Audi Sport Competition Cars R Era
Model Family: 80
Market / Zone: Germany
Constructed: 1992
Intended Season: 1993
Model / Generation Code(s): Type 8C
Chassis / Matrix: B4

OVERVIEW

Audi Sport developed the Audi 80 quattro 2.5 DTM as the successor to the V8 quattro for the 1993 German touring car season. The change in regulations prompted Audi to consider a shift in platform and engine. They moved to the smaller B4 Audi 80 sedan and replaced the V8 with a 2.5-liter V6 that reached peak power at 10,500 rpm. Permanent quattro all-wheel drive carried over as a defining feature of the program.

Audi Sport built a single prototype in 1992–93. It never started a race, but the completed car survives in Audi Tradition’s collection. The 1993 date refers to the season for which it was developed.

END OF THE V8 QUATTRO ERA

Hans-Joachim Stuck won the DTM drivers’ title in the Audi V8 quattro in 1990, and Frank Biela repeated the result in 1991. At the time, the DTM allowed cars with different engine displacements to race against one another, using assigned minimum weights to balance performance. Audi Tradition’s museum placard describes recurring disputes over those allowances during the V8 quattro program. Audi withdrew the V8 from competition during the 1992 season.

The new Class 1 formula standardized displacement at 2.5 liters for 1993. Audi Sport used the opportunity to develop a new touring car around the B4 Audi 80, with a V6 designed for the new displacement limit.

POWERTRAIN

The Audi Tradition placard lists a 2,499 cc V6 with four valves per cylinder. It produced 285 kW (388 PS, approximately 382 hp) at 10,500 rpm and 270 Nm (199 lb-ft) at 9,000 rpm. An Audi six-speed competition gearbox transmitted power through permanent quattro all-wheel drive.

Specification	Audi Tradition museum placard
Engine	2,499 cc V6, four valves per cylinder
Power	285 kW (388 PS) at 10,500 rpm
Torque	270 Nm at 9,000 rpm
Transmission	Audi six-speed competition gearbox
Drive	Permanent quattro all-wheel drive
Wheelbase	2,597 mm
Length	4,457 mm
Width	1,750 mm
Height	1,268 mm
Regulatory minimum weight	1,040 kg (2,293 lb)

WHY IT NEVER RACED

The Class 1 rules were intended to give manufacturers more certainty over the terms of competition. Germany’s national motorsport authority, the Oberste Nationale Sportbehörde (ONS), nevertheless reserved the right to impose additional weight if one manufacturer gained a competitive advantage. According to Audi Tradition, that discretion reopened the issue the new formula was intended to settle. Audi withdrew and stopped development of the V6 prototype before it could compete.

LEGACY

Audi Sport redirected its touring car effort to the two-liter class. In 1993, Biela won the French Supertourisme championship in a separate, four-cylinder Audi 80 quattro. That program preceded the B5 A4 quattro’s international Super Touring campaigns, which brought Audi seven national touring car titles in 1996.

The surviving Audi 80 records a different direction Audi Sport considered after the V8 quattro. Like the proposed 2017 R18 RP7, it was intended to succeed a championship-winning factory car and lost its program before making a race start. The Audi 80 reached full-size prototype form, while the RP7 is documented by its surviving scale and wind tunnel models.

SOURCES

Audi Tradition museum placard, photographed by George Achorn. Primary source for the technical specifications. The placard gives 1,040 kg as the ONS minimum weight.
Audi’s account of the Class 1 prototype and the shift to two-liter touring cars. Audi Tradition, Anniversary Dates 2018, pp. 49–50
Background on the V8 quattro’s 1990 and 1991 titles. Audi MediaCenter, Comeback in Europe’s Most Popular Touring Car Series
Identifies the Techno Classica exhibit as the sole prototype and gives the 1992–93 build period. Auto-Medienportal, Audi Tradition at Techno Classica 2011
Uses 1992 in its headline and gives a 1992–93 build period in the text. The power figure in this entry follows the museum placard’s 388 PS. Supercars.net, 1992 Audi 80 quattro 2.5 DTM