To be a true motoring legend, you need
something innovative, original and exciting. Of course, Ferrari
did it with a bevy of beauties; Jaguar with the E-type; and AC
shoe-horned a Ford V8 into its Ace to produce the Cobra. Beetle
and 911 apart, a German manufacturer which has secured its
place in history - enter stage right the quattro.
Taking the rally scene by storm in the
'80s, the innovative four-wheel drive spawned a generation of
quattro nuts blatting around the country in road versions. With
230bhp at their command, drivers of the standard Ur-quattro had
plenty of power. But how does a road-racer compare the the
original rally charger, once raced by Hannu Mikkola? The lucky
owner of Mikkola's monster and this stunning blood-red quattro
is Aelred Smith. As partner in Audi quattro specialist, Dialynx
Performance, he's got the perfect pair to promote his
handiwork.
First to Hannu's ride - this tarmac
churner won the National Breakdown Rally and the Welsh in its
past, before the Group B machines were scrapped after a spate
of fatalities. The car was then swiftly prepared for the
Shelsley Walsh hill climb, where it set the saloon car record -
incredibly it's a title it still holds. Last year Aelred's name
appeared on the log book of this Group B racer: "I heard
there was a nice road-going Sport for sale, but was offered
this instead - and it wasn't silly money either."
Jumping into the original co-pilot's
bucket seat alongside Aelred, nothing had changed from Hannu's
time - the switches are still labelled in German, the stripped
interior's finished with alloy plate, while the drilled pedals
bore testimony to years of racer's footwear. Only the tacho's
been moved since its rally days - presumably for the owner to
judge when the turbo boost was going to pin him to his seat.
Blip the throttle and the car vibrates -
as you'd expect from engine mounts without rubber and a gearbox
suspended directly from the motor. This ain't no Sunday
afternoon cruiser! Moving away slowly to allow the 20v, five
cylinder engine and huge brakes to warm up, Aelred changed
rapidly through the short-geared 'box. At this point the
quattro growled along B-roads, making the most of its
bottom-end torque - then Aelred spied a clear piece of tarmac.
Foot to the floor, two hands firmly on the
Momo wheel, and all four tyres scrabbling to lay down the
furious 500-plus horsepower. This is unreal.
We soon hit 5000rpm, which means only one
thing - 2bar of boost kicks in and propels us along on the
fastest rollercoaster ride I've ever experienced. A quick
glance at the dials shows the needle sweep into three figure
speed, as Aelred wrestles with the steering through the
tightening lanes - all this with zero body roll, no wheel spin
and all four wheels firmly on the ground. "It's a real
animal - I don't feel I've got the complete hang of it
yet!" admitted Aelred.
Younger brother to Mikkola's monster is
the Dialynx Ur-quattro. With a full Audi Sport kit fabricated
by Dialynx themselves, this beauty's so stunning it almost
overshadows its rally cousin - and with over 300bhp, it's no
slouch either. As Aelred's private car, the '85 Ur-quattro
became a test-bed for customer's requirements. In its current
form, it's hard to see if it's possible or desirable to go any
further with a Ur-quattro. Flip the bonnet pins and an
immaculate bay with braided hosing and anodised clips presents
itself. But it's not all aesthetics. The Dialynx beauty runs a
massive Turbo Technics Garrett TO3.5 turbocharger, as well as
their own performance camshaft. The head's been ported and
polished, and a huge Mercedes V8 metering head added to
distribute the fuel. To round off the beefed-up unit is a
3" Scorpion stainless steel exhaust system slipped beneath
the bulging mass - although Aelred confessed it was a bit of a
pig to fit under the Sport's shortened chassis. Stopping power
comes courtesy of AP Racing four-pot callipers all round - with
massive 315mm Dialynx discs which are drilled at the front, and
268mm 20v quattro discs on the rear.
The huge 9.75x17" Fittipaldi's - shod
with 245/40 R17 Pirelli rubber - aren't just a fine set of
alloys, but were chosen specifically for the car: "The
angle of the blades match the quattro's body lines,"
reckons Aelred. With fully adjustable platforms for the H&R
springs, the car's dropped on its Italian rubber and damped by
Koni front inserts and Bilstein rears.
Converting your Ur-quattro into a Dialynx
Audi Sport special involves long evenings with an air chisel on
the bodywork. That's because the most drastic mod is to shorten
the car 320mm between the B and C pillars - as Audi did. The
man in charge of this delicate operation is Aelred's partner,
Keith Murray: "It's not just a case of cutting guillotine
fashion, but angling the cut so as not to weaken the
chassis," he explained. For the full Sport look, wider
wings front and rear from Audi's rally car are grafted on. Add
the complete Dialynx Sport front end, which comprises spoiler,
lights (sourced from an early Passat) and bonnet vents, and the
effect's complete. Oh, but don't forget the huge rear Sport
wing to give other motorists an eyeful - again sorted by the
boys at Dialynx.
No expense is spared on the interior
either. Rally-spec Sabelt harnesses are pinned to colour-coded
Corbeau buckets, a full alloy roll-cage nestles around you
giving the full racing effect, while a Zender ally gear knob
beckons to shift the alloy-mounted 'box. Slipping into the
rally-spec cockpit, feet resting on the shortened OMP pedals,
the Dialynx quattro felt every inch the balls-out rally racer
as the real thing. Although the road machine did not propel you
into hyper-space as the boost kicked in - like Mikkola's
machine did - with over 300 brake, there's plenty of power to
play with. And don't forget it's four-wheel drive, with huge
stopping power, and set-up to handle like a rally car (yet
somehow remain comfortable). Sorted. So what's next for the
boys at Dialynx? Well, with a staggering fifteen quattros
sitting in their workshop, there's plenty of scope to produce
many more stunners. We even heard rumours of an Audi RS2-spec
quattro that's soon to emerge from this piece of Ingolstadt in
deepest Swindon. Watch this space.
