Audi, known for its "four-rings", is one of the most prestigious brands to enter the rally scene. Their Quattro all-wheel drive system is considered among the best. The sound of its incredible inline five-cylinder engine screaming is enough to send chills down your spine. The Quattro model, that raced in the Class B Rally Class, was among the cars that were "banned" or more precisely, not allowed to be raced because it was too fast and dangerous.

This brand has paved its way to the top ranks of World Rally, Circuit Racing, Hill Climb races, and more, by featuring some of the best-performing engines to ever be made. Highly skilled drivers were added to the mix, allowing Audi to rise above the competition, creating a legacy that lasts to this day - leading to the success of its road cars that we see now.

Related: 10 Greatest Audi Sports Cars Ranked

Audi Sport Racing History

August Horch was the engineer and founder of the Horch and Audi companies, with its first taste of success coming from a victory in the 1906 Herkomer Run. After this initial win, there was not much success seen in the following years, leading the company (Horch) to question whether racing was in its best interest. It was for this reason that August eventually walked away from his first founded brand, and in 1909 created the legendary company that we know today as Audi.

In the following years, Audi saw great success with multiple wins. August Horch and his team were able to lead themselves to three consecutive victories between 1912 and 1914 at the Austrian Alpine Run, swiftly making Audi a feared brand on the track. It was not until the 1970s, under the name of Audi Motorsport, that things started to get more serious for the company.

Roughly 10 years later, Audi entered the World Rally Championship, now under the guise of Audi Sport, which is the name we see today on its race cars and sports models. The Quattro, all-wheel-drive system was featured, propelling Audi to the top while also creating a legacy in the process. Three years after its involvement in the World Rally Championship, Audi started to rack up championships, with the "Ur-quattro" leading the brand to two drivers' and manufacturers' titles.

But that wasn't all, Audi decided to spice up its resume even further. Starting in 1984, Audi took part in the Pike's Peak Hill climb with multiple versions of the Quattro, grabbing three victories in succession. In 1987, Walter Röhrl, driving an Audi Sport Quattro S1, was able to take things even further by being the first driver to complete the hill climb in under 11 minutes.

Related: The 2020 Audi A8 May Revive the Legendary Horch Moniker as it Rolls into Ultra-Luxurious Territory

The Best Pre-2000s Audi Sports Cars

After the Quattro system was implemented, Audi quickly rose to be one of the better brands around. It was around this time, that Audi began building multiple cars that were highly competitive against the competition. Audi Sports cars such as the B5 RS4, featured a twin-turbo V-6 engine that made 375 horsepower with 325 pound-feet of torque.

The C4 RS6 was another incredible car from this era. A turbocharged inline five-cylinder was featured in 1994, with a more high-powered 4.2-liter V-8 being an optional upgrade. The turbocharged five-cylinder made 227 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque, while the optional V-8 made a substantial 286 horsepower.

As you can see, prior to the 2000s, Audi had been very fond of its turbocharged inline five-cylinder. This engine was seen in many of Audi's rally cars, later inspiring the Audi Sports cars, such as the RS6 and the RS2 Avant. After gaining some engineering pointers from Porsche, Audi was able to take the RS2 Avant a step above the RS6. By adding a bigger turbo, bigger cams, additional tuning, and a proper cooling system, Audi extracted nearly 100 additional horsepower from the same inline five-cylinder, at 311 horsepower.

Related: 10 Most Important Cars With Five-Cylinder Engines

Top Current Audi Sports Cars

Audi's success did not stop after the early generations of the RS4, RS6, and RS2. Some of the best Audi Sports cars to hit the market are models such as the

• Audi S3
• Audi S4
• Audi TT
• Audi RS
• Audi R8

The fastest current non-electric Audi Sports car is the Audi R8 Competition Limited Edition. This car features a 5.2-liter V-10 engine paired with a seven-speed S-tronic transmission, generating an incredible 570 horsepower. The Audi R8 V10 Performance is slightly faster in acceleration, running 0-60 MPH in a time of 2.8 seconds versus the Competition's 3.1 second 0-60 MPH time.

Audi R8 Performance Specifications

If you prefer something a little more low-key, the Audi S8 may be a perfect alternative. Featuring a twin-turbo, 4.0-liter V-8, this car makes 563 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque effortlessly. It has an eight-speed automatic transmission with the Quattro all-wheel drive system - as you would expect from an Audi of this caliber.

With fuel being one of the biggest costs of owning a vehicle, Audi has taken care of this by adding features that enable fuel savings whenever possible. In a twin-turbo, 4.0-liter V-8, anything helps! A cylinder-deactivation mode is used for highway driving, to allow for lower fuel consumption when cruising. You can expect around 13 mpg in the city, with a jump to 22 mpg on the highway once the fuel-savings features have the opportunity to activate.

Other models such as the S4 are great Audi Sports cars that can be purchased for significantly less than the R8 or the S8, while still offering incredible performance. It features a turbocharged V-6 engine, that produces 349 horsepower, making this car comparable to that of the Mercedes AMG C43 or BMW M340i.

Related: The 2020 Audi S8 Is Kind of a Supercar with Four Doors

The Future Of Audi Sports Cars

As you've probably noticed, Audi is no stranger to the trend that we see most brands taking, which is that of fully electric cars or hybridized engines. Audi's RS e-tron GT, being a fully electric front and rear motor car, produces a combined 637 horsepower and 612 pound-feet of torque.

This is currently Audi's fastest production car, with nearly 70 horsepower more than Audi's previous fastest car, the R8 Competition Limited Edition. With this being said, you can probably assume that in the future you'll be seeing more and more electric vehicles coming from Audi.

Audi Sport currently has fivr models of cars that are produced, for the following classes: Dakar Rally, GT2, GT3, GT4, and TCR. Each of the models is available for you to purchase (apart from the RS Q e-tron Dakar Rally car), allowing anyone to get in on the fun.

While most of these cars listed are internal combustion engine cars, Audi does have plans to feature fully electric drivetrains in every one of their production vehicles within the next decade. You can expect to see a fully electric R8 around 2025, and in 2026, Audi plans to join Formula 1 Racing with a fully electric platform. The Audi RS6 will also be brought back to the market, dubbed the new RS6 E-Tron.