Bolt-In Goodness: 1982 Audi Quattro Suspension Retrofit

1982 Audi Quattro

The upgrade Mike Burroughs is doing on his Audi UR-Quattro should be a piece of cake compared to his last project.

Over the past two years, Mike Burroughs from StanceWorks has been getting loads of attention for his wicked Honda-swapped Ferrari. Now, he’s working on a new project, and it’s of a considerably less heretical nature. The goal of his latest build is to create the ultimate street version of the Audi UR-Quattro, and he’s off to a fantastic start. In his latest video, we get to learn about his plans for the suspension, and why he decided to go the route he did.

While Burroughs is a master fabricator, he isn’t an Audi expert, so he turned to one of his buddies that it is —Brian Scotto from Hoonigan — for some help. Scotto has a love affair with the Four Rings, and since he’s also a well-known parts hoarder, he also had the complete running gear from a Quattro Coupe on hand. As Burroughs explains, though it’s more refined than the stock hardware, given the family history, it’ll bolt right into his 1982 model.

But while this swap will require far less fabrication than the Mount Everest-level required to marry Maranello’s bodywork with the mighty K24 engine, it’s still a big job. And the first step is taking everything apart. That’s what we see in this video, and if you’re like me, getting to watch teardown without having to get your hands dirty or draw blood is like getting into a hot tub after some time on the slopes. By which I mean awesome.

For the most part, everything goes smoothly. That said, Burroughs did encounter a few issues. One seems to be the result of some previous wrenching, as an improperly oriented bolt meant the brake caliper had to come off to undo the shock. The control arm bushings are also fuzed in place, and even hitting them with a torch didn’t help loosen things up, so he ordered a special tool to pop them. The bearings in the steering knuckles proved even more stubborn, and even with heat and 10,000 pounds of force from his hydraulic press, they remained seated. So their removal will be covered in another episode.

At this point, Burroughs is faced with a choice. The hubs are a unique 4×108 pattern, and while he’s considering drilling them out, the easier path would just be to upgrade to the five-lug S2 units and call it good. That tactic would line up with the rest of the build, as one of the reasons he’s doing this swap is part availability. For example, the stock suspension integrates the knuckle and strut into one unit, which would make it tough to swap to coilovers.

But what would you do here? Is there a good reason to drill out the hubs? Or is the five-lug swap a no-brainer? Hit me up and let me know! 

Image Source: YouTube

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Monster Audi 80 Quattro Build Packs 610 Horses of S2 Thunder!

1984 Audi 80

Bought for around $775 USD in 2014, Audi 80 combines quattro with turbocharged S2 lightning to light up England’s motorways like no other.

The second-gen Audi 80, built between 1978 and 1986, received the quattro system in 1983. Though it didn’t have the ur-Quattro’s power or the 100’s lower price, it did hold the road as well as its Group B siblings. It also helped cement Audi’s place in the public eye through the parts bin, and its quattro-enhanced abilities.

The Audi 80 also makes for a perfect foundation to build madness upon. One such example lives at Paul’s Classic Car Restorations in Mansfield, England, and is the personal car of the shop’s owner. Ricky of LivingLifeFast paid a visit to Paul’s shop to check out this monster in sheep’s clothing.

1984 Audi 80

“Early 80 Audi Quattro. Built 1983, brought to U.K. ’84, registered ’84,” said Paul. “I bought it in 2014 completely rotten. Engine wouldn’t turn over. First idea, we had the original engine rebuilt. Drove that for a bit and got bored.”

The $775 USD (in 2014 dollars) Audi 80 soon woke up, though, thanks to Paul’s friend, Brian Thomsey, turning him on to S2 engines. Upon purchasing one from said friend, the old Audi slowly turned into the 610-horsepower beast it is now. Linking the S2 to the corners is a five-speed gearbox from a U.S. Audi 200, one left completely stock.

1984 Audi 80

“You gotta understand the power-to-weight,” said Ricky. “I mean, 610 horsepower is ridiculous. But, it’s [2,200 pounds], you understand this?”

With the light body and the S2’s big power, Paul says his Audi 80 has the same power-to-weight ratio as a Pagani Zonda. In a 37-year-old car! As Paul demonstrates on the motorways and roads around Mansfield, this boxy boy don’t mess around, sliding across lanes with all wheels engaged, its turbo popping with every gear shift.

1984 Audi 80

“This is what the new cars are trying to emulate,” said Ricky. “These newer cars – I’m not anti-new car. I love new cars, by the way, for anything thinking that I’m some hater. But when you jump into some of these new, all-wheel drive cars, it’s like completing a game overnight. It’s so easy to extract its performance.”

Meanwhile, the Audi 80 build isn’t wanting for anything. All anyone needs is a strong grip on the wheel, and bravery to ride the lightning to Valhalla.

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Cameron Aubernon’s path to automotive journalism began in the early New ’10s. Back then, a friend of hers thought she was an independent fashion blogger.

Aubernon wasn’t, so she became one, covering fashion in her own way for the next few years.

From there, she’s written for: Louisville.com/Louisville Magazine, Insider Louisville, The Voice-Tribune/The Voice, TOPS Louisville, Jeffersontown Magazine, Dispatches Europe, The Truth About Cars, Automotive News, Yahoo Autos, RideApart, Hagerty, and Street Trucks.

Aubernon also served as the editor-in-chief of a short-lived online society publication in Louisville, Kentucky, interned at the city’s NPR affiliate, WFPL-FM, and was the de facto publicist-in-residence for a communal art space near the University of Louisville.

Aubernon is a member of the International Motor Press Association, and the Washington Automotive Press Association.