Audi Winter Test 2022: Not All Quattro Systems Are Created Equal
Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci, QC - At Audi Canada's invitation, we recently took advantage of a cold, snowy day at the Mécaglisse racetrack north of Montreal in Quebec to hone our skills on the ice and put the company's various Quattro all-wheel drive systems to the test.Three models were available on site. For the occasions, Audi Canada had sent over no fewer than six Audi RS6 wagons, equipped with a 591-horsepower 4.0-litre V8.
Of the three models on site, the RS6 was the fastest to adapt to a situation. On the other hand, its weight and sheer power posed a challenge. Once mastered, though, we could handle it well on the skid ring, and the sound of the engine at high revs was an added, chilling bonus.
Since this is an electric vehicle, there’s obviously no mechanical link between the wheels and the motor. Instead, electronic impulses continuously adjust and maintain the ideal torque distribution between the two axles in a fully variable manner, in fractions of a second. This is made possible by a motor on the front axle and two electric motors in a single housing on the rear axle. This means that each axle has two motors, the interaction of which results in the electric Quattro.