Ten years after Audi had taken the world by storm with a car with permanent four-wheel drive when it brought out the quattro, the Audi Coupé S2 was presented at the Paris Motor Show in October 1990 as the legitimate successor to the Ur-quattro (original quattro).
The model’s name harked back to the Audi Sport quattro S1, which had caused quite a sensation on the international rallying scene in the mid-1980s. Unlike the Sport quattro S1 though, which had been developed purely as a rally sports car, the Audi engineers designed the S2 as a sporty road-going vehicle. The third-generation Audi Coupé, which had been launched back in 1988, served as the basis. The S2 was powered by the same 2.2-litre five-cylinder 20-valve turbocharged engine which had given the final version of the Ur-quattro its dynamic thrust.
The Ur-quattro and S2 were built in parallel for a short time before the last Ur-quattro eventually rolled off the production line in May 1991. In summer 1992, the output of the S2 engine was upped to 169 kW/230 bhp. The principal exterior features distinguishing the S2 from the standard production Coupé were its 16-inch wheels and a modified front apron with a larger air intake for the intercooler behind it. Otherwise, it was more of a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” visually. Inside, light-grey instrumentation and carbon-fibre trim in the driver’s area provided further hints of this model’s sporty prowess.