MOTOR

Just like the original

five-banger-wielding

Sport Quattro, the

RS2 aligns its engine

north-south

Audi planned 2200 RS2s but it was so

popular it built 2891 – 182 in right-drive

AUDI RS2

BODY 4-door, 5-seat estate

DRIVE all-wheel

ENGINE 2226cc inline-5, DOHC, 20v, turbo

BORE/STROKE 81.0 x 86.4mm

COMPRESSION 9.3:1

POWER 232kW @ 6500rpm

TORQUE 410Nm @ 3000rpm

POWER/WEIGHT 145kW/tonne

TRANSMISSION 6-speed manual

WEIGHT 1595kg

SUSPENSION struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar

(f); multi-links, coil springs, anti-roll bar

L/W/H 4496/1702/1397mm

WHEELBASE 2591mm

TRACKS 1448/1473mm (f/r)

STEERING hydraulically-assisted rack-and-pinion

BRAKES 322mm ventilated discs,

4-piston calipers (f); 299mm ventilated

discs, 4-piston calipers (r)

WHEELS 17 x 7.0-inch (f/r)

TYRES 245/40 R17 (f/r); Goodyear Eagle F1

Asymmetric

PRICE £39,500 (UK, 1994)

^ Head-pinning power delivery, grip,

cult status

% Body-roll, expensive during its time,

serious turbo lag

11113

nothing, nothing, nothing, then, at
3500rpm, wham! The bonnet lifts as the
RS2 squats hard into its rear suspension,
blasting anyone behind with five angry,
burbling cylinders. It sounds awesome.
It takes you by surprise as the turbo
comes on boost, almost violently, and
hauls strongly to its 7200rpm rev-cut.
We drove the RS2 in the wet and first
gear, full throttle, traction was immense.
It’s just as well every one of the RS2’s
tyres gets a share of the 232kW/410Nm,
because in the wet, as the RS2 comes
on boost, things would be seriously
interesting with one driven axle.

The RS2’s cracking five-cylinder

exhaust note is distinct – you need

to hear it to know it. And there’s no

doubting this thing has some oomph,

even by today’s standards.

Audi originally planned to produce

2200 RS2s but it was so popular, it built

a total of 2891 cars – 182 in right-hand-

drive, mostly for the UK, but a handful

reached New Zealand and South Africa.

But not Australia, sadly.

Audi importer Inchcape plotted to

bring 25 right-hand-drive RS2s to

Australia, at $145,000 each, but the plan

fell over. As far as MOTOR knows, there

is just one RS2 in Australia, imported

from New Zealand and registered in

Victoria. It was last for sale in 2012.

As for the RS2’s balance of oversteer

and understeer, MOTOR sadly can’t

comment as our drive was really a

brief few laps of a soaking wet German

industrial estate.

But it was enough to get an

appreciation of the machine – a highly

likeable, McLaren F1-frightening 1990s

supercar dressed up, hilariously, as an

Audi 80 wagon. And to truly realise that

cars like the RS4 and RS6 really do get

it from their parents. M

114 march 2015 motormag.com.au

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