Tested: 1987 Audi 5000S Quattro Spreads the AWD Gospel

From the October 1987 issue of Car and Driver.

The heat of public opinion burns like a laser, and no company understands that better than Audi. Who would have pre­dicted that this proud carmaker would fall from grace with a John De Lorean-like thud? Who would have guessed that Audi’s hard-earned reputation for techno­logical innovation would be skewered by the likes of “60 Minutes”? Is truth not stranger than fiction when a company that has produced such world-beating sedans as the 5000CS Turbo Quattro and the Coupe GT is ridiculed in America’s bed­rooms by Johnny Carson?

We published the findings of our inves­tigation into unintended acceleration last June (“Audi Agonistes”) and went public with our feelings about our long-term 5000CS Turbo Quattro the following month. From those stories, you know that we’re not ready to write Audi off by any means. The public is still holding its breath, however: Audi sales are off about 38 percent so far this year.

Nevertheless, Audi is prepared to hun­ker down for the long haul. “We plan to be in the U.S. market forever,” says prod­uct-strategy manager Bob Sharp. Con­cerning Audi’s current problems, Sharp is philosophical: “We look at this as dues paying. You just take your lumps.”

Sharp and his colleagues do not expect to restore Audi’s tarnished image to its previous luster overnight. “It’s going to take some time,” Sharp admits, “maybe longer than some people would like to think.” Two well-publicized programs aimed at shoring up the 5000’s reputa­tion—and at moving some units—have been in place for most of this year. First, Audi has recalled all 1978–’86 automatic-transmission 5000s for the installation of shifter-interlock devices. The interlock prevents shifting out of park unless the driver’s foot is planted firmly on the brake pedal. (The devices are factory-installed in new 5000s.) Second, Audi has been of­fering an eye-popping buyer-incentive plan: Current 5000 owners are entitled to $5000 discounts on new 5000s. This cost­ly program is working relatively well and seems to be keeping Audi’s dealer net­work afloat until better times arrive.

They may be here soon. This fall, Audi will replace the 4000 line with handsome, all-new models called by their German names: the 80 and 90. The 5000 line, after a minor face lift and a thorough interior redo in mid-1988, will assume its German monikers as well: 100 for the normally as­pirated 5000s and 200 for the Turbos. Audi hopes that the new names and the shifter interlocks will help the public for­get. Only time will tell.

Another part of the long-term plan is the new 5000S Quattro. Audi offers full­-time four-wheel drive on virtually all of its European models and intends to spread the faith in the U.S. as well. Until now, the only big Audi available with 4wd was the leather-lined, turbocharged 5000CS Tur­bo Quattro—the upper-crust model with the $32,430 price tag. Blessing the base 5000S sedan with Quattro tiger paws brings the cost of all-wheel driving down by more than twenty percent. Even so, we’re still talking major grickles­—$25,400, to be exact.

Any way you slice it, that’s a ton of money—but if you appreciate fine motor­cars, the 5000S Quattro’s tariff is almost reasonable. As you might expect, this car is thoroughly equipped, sharing most of its basic hardware with its more powerful brother. What you don’t get in the 5000S Quattro is the 162-hp five-cylinder turbo; in its place is a spunky 130-hp, 2.3-liter, normally aspirated five. The second major deletion is the Turbo’s leather upholstery. Other Turbo luxuries—like heated, power-operated front sport buckets—are also absent, but they’re hardly critical to driving happiness.

In fact, driving joy is what this car con­tinues to be all about—only now the joy­ousness unfolds a little more sedately than before. Once again, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The 5000S Quattro turns in no test-track perfor­mance numbers that hint at its inner har­mony or at its sure, confident responses to your commands. But when you couple its superb road manners to the slippery-road advantages of 4wd, the safety margin of its anti-lock brakes, its spaciousness, its com­fort, and its rust-resistant galvanized body, a different picture emerges.

Any company that can craft a car as deli­cious as this one surely deserves another chance.

Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com