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Fire up the quattro. Again.

New Audi quattro concept car takes centre stage at Paris Motor Show

Audi is looking to the future with a new high-performance design study at the Paris Motor Show this month – and it is inspired by a blast from the past. Making its world public debut, and commemorating 30 years of quattro all-wheel-drive, is a car that pays homage to the revered Sport quattro of 1984.

Taking the V8-powered RS 5 Coupe as its basis, but configured to evoke the spirit of the 306PS performance legend, the new study combines an inline five-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine developing 408PS with a lightweight body, shortened wheelbase and latest generation quattro drive.

The Audi quattro concept uses the latest evolutionary stage of the quattro permanent all-wheel drive system to deliver its power to the road. The key innovation – the crown-gear centre differential – is compact, lightweight, and enables the quattro drive system to react within milliseconds to coax the maximum of fun and safety out of every last bit of torque.

As a complement to the new drivetrain, the Audi quattro show car also features the sport differential, which actively distributes torque between the rear wheels. When turning into or accelerating in a bend, most of the torque flows to the outside wheel and pushes the car into the bend, quelling the tendency to oversteer or understeer.

High-performance five-cylinder petrol engines enjoy a long tradition at Audi, powering cars like the Ur-quattro to the head of the pack. Audi resurrected this line in 2009 with the 340PS, turbocharged FSI engine in the TT RS. The further developed engine in the quattro concept extracts even more potential from this new, state-of-the-art foundation – including a substantial power increase to 408PS, a top speed of 186mph, acceleration from 0 to 60mph in just under 4 seconds, and up to 33.2 miles per gallon.

A true sports car is always a light car, and the Audi quattro concept shines in this discipline as well, and it tips the scales at just 1,300 kilograms. The key factors are the choice of material and the design. Rather than mostly steel as in the Audi RS 5, the body comprises lightweight aluminium components assembled using Audi Space Frame ASF technology. The power-to-weight ratio of 314PS per tonne is impressively close to the 525 hp Audi R8 V10, a veritable supercar.