There is not any manner that a 4,500 pound long-wheelbase diesel-powered luxurious sedan from a decade in the past might be any good at rallying, proper? It would be too large and heavy, plodding across the rally stage like a depressed elephant, although perhaps its aluminum-intensive building will give it an edge?
Would you be stunned if I instructed you that this 2014 Audi A8 L TDI–a automobile with the identical 3-liter diesel present in my Porsche Cayenne–was quicker on stage than a Porsche Cayman S, a Toyota GR Corolla, or a 700-horsepower Ram TRX? Put together to be stunned, and watch the video under from Group O’Neil for all the products.
Because it seems, the old-school Quattro mechanical all-wheel drive and Torsen differentials on this monster, paired with set of grippy winter tires, make all of the distinction.
Grip makes all of the distinction
We did not get the extra highly effective diesel V8s that Europe loved, with its 346 horsepower and a formidable 590 lb-ft, however the so-called Clear Diesel Quattros obtained the North America-approved 3.0-liter TDI V6 which made a not-insubstantial 247 horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque. That is sufficient to shift the massive sedan from 0-60 on dry floor in simply 6.2 seconds, so it might be a big machine, however it’ll nonetheless get somewhat boogie on.
A part of this automobile’s pace comes all the way down to Group O’Neil’s driving teacher and the man with the rally chops, Wyatt Knox. He may need been capable of stretch even somewhat bit extra pace out of it if he had been paddle shifting the automobile and anticipating the lag somewhat higher. Would possibly it have been capable of beat a Tuthill-built rally-spec Porsche? Perhaps if Wyatt ever modified out of his mountaineering boots.
“Turbo lag is an actual factor. It’s usually searching between gears and that type of stuff,” Knox mentioned. “However contemplating it was by no means actually designed with snow rally racing in thoughts I might say it did simply high quality.”
