Audi's quattro system is freaking five if maximum speed is what you want, well, you need quattro with torsen and the sport diff or an R8 if you got the cash. On the other hand, quattro Ultramay not be that rallyinspired quattro you want, but it does the job it was designed for. Saving money and fuel while still providing that sweet all-wheel drive stability.

It goes zero to 60 in 3.1 seconds. It goes 190 miles per hour, in a station wagon. That's **** cool, man. You got the kids in the back and they're screaming like, Dad, why are you going so fast? And he's like, I'm just trying to outrun my past. And they're like, well we're part of your past Dad. And you're like, get out the car, and then you toss them. Don't do that. Even though it can go fast in a straight line, the RS6 is all about grip when going around corners. And that is where quattro comes in.

Up front is a relatively normal open differential. Power delivery to the left and right wheels is managed by a brake-based system. We talked about these in our torque vector episode and I called them the 99 cent store torque vectoring. Now by itself, that's not all that special, but the way it works with the rest of the system is pretty clever.

At the rear is Audi's sport differential. That is a true torque vectoring system. It uses electronically actuated clutch packs on the left and right axle to distribute power independently to each wheel. That maximizes your grip, reduces your under steer, and improves cornering speeds. Now in the middle is a torsion or torque sensing center differential. That sends 60% of the power to the rear wheels, but it can go all the way up to 80% if it senses a loss in traction.

And the real heart that pumps and feeds Audi's all-wheel drive system is its all-wheel drive torque vectoring which integrates all three differentials, vehicle sensors, and the ECU to predictively manage power to all four wheels. It even has rear wheel steering to maximize cornering ability. Audi claims that by combining braking at the front diff, the torque vectoring rear diff, and the torsion center diff, the RSX can send a hundred percent of the power to the rear wheels.

But the pinnacle of quattro performance is in the R8 supercar. And guess what Audi fans? It's nothing like an Audi rally car. That's okay, it's the only car in the Audi lineup with a mid engine layout, so it needs its own quattro system. The R8 supercar quattro system can send a hundred percent of the power to the front or rear axles.

And under most circumstances that sends about 85% of the power to the rear wheels. But like all modern quattro, the exact distribution varies based on road conditions and how the car is being driven. So to get power to the front wheels R8 quattro has a multi plate clutch mounted at the front differential. That's pretty much transverse quattro, which we talked about at the very beginning of this episode.

With the axle switched, meaning the quattro that Audi fans love to hate is integral to the R8. We'd love to do more on the R8 quattro and maybe we'll do a whole episode after Audi sends me one. You can have a dream car when you're an adult, right? You're never too old for that. That, and a punch buggy. Beep beep.

So there it is. Audi quattro isn't just one system, it's freaking five. If maximum speed is what you want, well, you need quattro with torsen and the sport diff or an R8 if you got the cash. On the other hand, quattro Ultramay not be that rallyinspired quattro you want, but it does the job it was designed for. Saving money and fuel while still providing that sweet all-wheel drive stability.

Count how many times I say quattro in this **** episode. Count how many times I said quattro. If you got the correct number, leave it in the comments and I'll send you a shirt. Whatever shirt you want that's on the Donut website in your size, I'll find it, if you can name the number of times I say quattro. That includes the time I just said right now.

Thank you guys so much for watching this episode of B2B. We freaking love you. Thank you guys for watching us. Honestly, we really appreciate you guys. If you could hit that like and subscribe button. That helps us out so we can keep making this stuff entertaining you guys. And follow us on Instagram, @donutmedia. You can follow me on Instagram, @jeremiahburton

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(energetic music)- We here at Donutenjoy four-wheel drifts.We like rally pedigree and we lovestation wagons that canembarrass super cars.So that means we'rereally into Audi quattro,but more than one all-wheeldrive system bears that name,and those can be as differentas and Camrys and Koenigseggs.So today we're gonna lookat all the current versionsof quattro and figure out how they work.Quattro means four in Italian.I know two words in Italian.One of them's quattroand one of them's cincoand that last one's Spanish.Let's go.- Are you tired ofseeing so many junk cars?Then buy this shirt and wear it every dayso junk car owners know we buy junk cars.Hi, I'm junk car, Jimmy.I want you to gimme a call.Look at this car.Junk.Ooh, now that's junk.Yeah, best I can do is 50 bucks.So get it at DonutMedia.com today.I'm junk car Jimmy and we'll pay youa of money for that junk car,depending on the year, though.Nothing too new, nothing too old.It's gotta be just right.- Quattro is what Audicalls all-wheel drive.But that originated with a single carcalled the Quattro back in 1980.Now at the time all-wheel drive was commonin trucks and military vehicles.But the idea to put it in asports car was revolutionary.The Quattro, it dominatedthe World Rally Championshipand Pikes Peak Hill Climb,solidifying Audi's reputationfor all-wheel drive performance.So to commemorate that success,all of Audi's all-wheel drive systemsnow carry the Quattro name.but with a lower caseQ to distinguish themfrom the car that started at all.The current lineup includesfive different typesof all-wheel drive systems,and there's some pretty bigdifferences between them.The one that's mostdifferent from the restthat we're gonna talkabout is the quattro usedby fully electric vehicles,like the RS e-tron GT.We're not gonna get into itbut that system is designed to takeon the Tesla model Sand the Porsche Taycan.These systems are drastically differentfrom what's used with internal combustion.So that's a subject for its own episode.At least maybe, I don'tknow, you guys don'treally like EV stuff,but if you do leave a comment down belowand we'll do a whole episode on it.Now a more common systemis transverse quattro,often described using the originalmanufacturer's name, Haldex.That's for optionalall-wheel drive systemsin front wheel drivecars, where the engineis mounted perpendicular to the carlike in the Audi A3 NTT.It relies on a multi plate clutchmounted at the rear differential,instead of having a center differentiallike their original Audi Quattro.Because of that design,older Haldex systemscould only send halfthe power to the rear.So some critics saythis isn't real quattroand they even call it faux wheel drive.Oh, you clever, clever journalists.How funny with words you are.We just make YouTube videos.(recorded applause)But transverse systems are found in someserious performers like the TTRS and RS3,even if it's not what most people think ofwhen they hear quattro.Half of the Audis soldtoday use quattro Ultrapaired with a longitudinalengine like the original Quattro.Having the engine mountedparallel to the carkeeps things simplewhen using a drive shaftwhich is why it's also themost common configurationfor rear world drive cars.But to add power for the front wheels,most all-wheel drive systems use acenter differential to divide powerbetween the front and the rear.So in old Audis like the original Quattro.The center differential always sentsome power to both axles.That's permanent all-wheel drive.Ultra is different and Audi calls itpermanently available all-wheel drive,and that's not the same.Permanently available, huh?Oh.Oh, that's funny, look who's calling.Quattro Ultra spends most of its timesending power to just the front wheels,and when the system was first announcednot everyone was super happy about that.Remember what people saidabout their old Haldex systems?Well, pretty much thesame things were saidabout the front bias Ultra.It's not real quattro.Frickin' haters.But here's the thing, you may not actuallywant permanent all-wheel drive.Audi engineers discoveredsomething which wasa bit worrying for a company thatbuilt its reputation on all-wheel drive.During 90% of ordinary driving,all-wheel drive is not onlyunnecessary, it's wasteful.Sending power to all fourcorners consumes more fuelbecause the engine hasto rotate greater massthan if it only had to power two wheels.And don't I know that.I get like 12 miles tothe gallon in my GX 470.It's terrible.And I only go off roadlike once every month.That's like 90% of the time.(explosion sound)So Audi engineers designed anew version of quattrothat eliminates that wastebut retains all-wheel drive functionalityfor the 10% at the timewhen you actually need it.Pretty freaking smart.And of course, Audi isn't theonly company that knows this.A typical all-wheel drive crossoveror family sedan with all-wheel driveis engineered so that most of the timepower is only going to the front wheels.Power only gets sent to therear wheels when necessaryto make up for a loss oftraction, for example.That's accomplished by having a clutchat one end of the drive shafteither at the transmissionor rear differential.So when power needs to besent to the rear wheelsthe clutch engages and it disengageswhen it's no longer needed.But there is still a sourceof waste in that system.And that's the drive shaft itself.If the clutch is at the rear differentialthe drive shaft spins, even when it'snot powering the rear wheels.That consumes engine power and fuel.And if the clutch is at the transmission,well the drive shaft is still turnedby the rotation of the rear wheelseven when it's disengaged,and that extra rotatingmass of the drive shaft,even when it's disconnectedstill consumes power and fuel.It'd be the equivalent of having justextra heavy wheels in the rear end.So according to Audi,a spinning drive shaftdecreases driveline efficiency by 20%,stealing power and burning more fuel.So to avoid this, Ultra disconnectsthe drive shaft at both ends.(man makes popping sound)So on the back end of the transmissionUltra uses a clutch packlike you'd find in a motorcyclethat sends power only when neededand disengages so the drive shaftcan float when it's not.At the rear, a second clutch is usedto fully disengage all-wheel drive,but it's not where you'd expect.The right rear axle is split in half,and the second clutch isbetween those two halves.That's a dog clutch, which uses twogear-like plates that mesh togetherinstead of pressure plates.So when the front and rearclutches are both openthe drive shaft isdisconnected from the wheelsand the engine, and it doesn't spin.To switch from front-wheeldrive to all-wheel drive,the front clutch pack engagesto spin up the drive shaft.The drive shaft is always connected tothe rear diff, but becausethat's an open diffand power follows thepath of least resistanceall of that rotation is going to thedisconnected half axle onthe right, not to the wheels.Once that dog clutch on the axle engages,the drive shaft's rotation is transmittedto both wheels and you'vegot all-wheel drive, baby.And if you wanna know more about howan open differential makes that possiblewe explained how these work in our episodewe did on torque vectoring.Click right here.It'll be somewhere.Is it up here?So by using two clutches, the process ofengaging all-wheel driveis incredibly smoothand it happens in 200 milliseconds.But to make Ultra workperfectly for most driversand in most situations,Audi engineers pairedthe mechanical systemwith sophisticated programming.Ultra works with onboard sensors,the ECU, and three different criteriato engage all-wheel drive.Proactive, predictive and reactive, PPR.Oh, I have another PPR.P P really big.(bell dings)Proactive engagement uses vehicle sensorsto make predictions aboutwhat is going to happen.But Ultra uses sensorsin other clever ways,like checking the temperature and engagingall-wheel drive if it's cold andyou're more likely to encounter ice.Predictive engagement takesinto account the driver.The ECU builds up aprofile on how you drive.So if you drive your car a lot harder,all-wheel drive will engage more often.It adapts to make sure you have thepower delivery best suitedto your driving style.Reactive and engagement is response todetected changes in traction.Ultra transfers power when itdetects a wheel has lost grip.The same thing that'sdone by traction controlor limited slip diff.Quattro Ultra is engineered to be theall-wheel drive solutionfor the majority of drivers.The rear wheels are onlyengaged when necessaryand they aren't a leech on the systemthe rest of the time.Because it's designed aroundlongitudinal power trainsin a center differential,it's an evolution ofearlier quattro systems,but it acts a lot like transverse quattroand the system found inkind of boring crossoversavailable for many other companies.That's turned out tobe a bit of a problem,because to a lot of people,Ultra doesn't seem very Audi-like.Audi built a reputationfor high performanceall-wheel drive on their roots and rally.Because it's notpermanent all world drive,the Ultra system isn't very rally.It isn't very sporty at all actually,and some fans have expresseddisappointment about that.Ultra isn't meant tooffer maximum performance.It's engineered for how most peopleuse their car most of the time.For the truly thrilling stuff they makeTorsen based quattrowith sport differential,and that is what you'll find inmost of the S and RScars, like the RS6 Avant.Avant is a fancy word and it just meansstation wagon for British people.And the RS6 Avant is the tippy-toppinnacle of station wagons.It's got 591 horsepower.It goes zero to 60 in 3.1 seconds.It goes 190 miles perhour, in a station wagon.That's **** cool, man.You got the kids in the back and they'rescreaming like, Dad, whyare you going so fast?And he's like, I'm justtrying to outrun my past.And they're like, wellwe're part of your past Dad.And you're like, get out the car,and then you toss them.Don't do that.Even though it can gofast in a straight line,the RS6 is all about gripwhen going around corners.And that is where quattro comes in.Up front is a relativelynormal open differential.Power delivery to theleft and right wheelsis managed by a brake-based system.We talked about these inour torque vector episodeand I called them the 99cent store torque vectoring.Now by itself, that'snot all that special,but the way it works withthe rest of the systemis pretty clever.At the rear is Audi's sport differential.That is a true torque vectoring system.It uses electronicallyactuated clutch packson the left and right axlesto distribute powerindependently to each wheel.That maximizes your grip,it reduces your under steerand it improves cornering speeds.Now in the middle is a torsionor torque sensing center differential.That sends 60% of thepower to the rear wheels,but it can go all the way up to 80%if it senses a loss in traction.And the real heart that pumps and feedsAudi's all-wheel drive systemis its all-wheel drive torque vectoringwhich integrates all three differentials,vehicle sensors andthe ECU to predictivelymanage power to all four wheels.It even has rear wheel steering tomaximize cornering ability.Audi claims that by combiningbraking at the front diff,the torque vectoring rear diff and thetorsion center diff, the RSX can senda hundred percent of thepower to the rear wheels.But the pinnacle of quattro performanceis in the R8 supercar.And guess what Audi fans?It's nothing like an Audi rally car.(upbeat music)That's okay, it's the only carin the Audi lineup witha mid engine layout,so it needs its own quattro system.The R8 supercar quattro system can senda hundred percent of the powerto the front or rear axles.And it does that firstthrough a trans axlemounted to the rear of the engine.That combines the gear box, the rear diff,the rear axles and the centerdiff into one complete unit.And under most circumstances that sendsabout 85% of the power to the rear wheels.But like all modern quattro,the exact distribution varies basedon road conditions and howthe car is being driven.So to get power to the front wheelsR8 quattro has a multi plate clutchmounted at the front differential.That's pretty much transverse quattro,which we talked about at thevery beginning of this episode.With the axle switched, meaning thequattro that Audi fans love to hateis integral to the R8.We'd love to do more on the R8 quattroand maybe we'll do a whole episodeafter Audi sends me one.You can have a dream carwhen you're an adult, right?You're never too old for that.That, and a punch buggy.Beep beep.So there it is.Audi quattro isn't just onesystem, it's freaking five.If maximum speed is what you want,well, you need quattro with torsenand the sport diff or anR8 if you got the cash.On the other hand, quattro Ultramay not be that rallyinspired quattro you want,but it does the job it was designed for.Saving money and fuel while stillproviding that sweetall-wheel drive stability.All right, how about this?Count how many times I sayquattro in this **** episode.Count how many times I said quattro.If you got the correct number,leave it in the commentsand I'll send you a shirt.Whatever shirt you wantthat's on the Donut websitein your size, I'll find it,if you can name the numberof times I say quattro.That includes the timeI just said right now.Thank you guys so much for watchingthis episode of B2B.We freaking love you.Thank you guys for watching us.Honestly, we really appreciate you guys.If you could hit thatlike and subscribe button.That helps us out so we can keepmaking this stuff, entertaining you guys.And follow us on Instagram, @donutmedia.You can follow me onInstagram, @jeremiahburtonand until next week, bye for now.