Quattro

Quattro is Italian for four. In automotive branding, quattro denotes Audi's permanent all-wheel-drive system. It debuted in 1980 on the Audi Quattro (also known as Ur-Quattro), a purpose-built rally car that helped establish Audi’s presence in the World Rally Championship and transformed perceptions of four‑wheel traction.

Quattro provides torque to all four wheels to improve traction and handling. Early systems used a mechanical center differential with a torque-sensing design to distribute torque between the front and rear axles, biasing it toward the axle with more grip. Over time, quattro evolved with electronic control, variable center diff behavior, and clutch-based or electronically controlled differentials that can alter torque split up to rear- or front-wheel bias depending on conditions and mode.

The technology popularized all‑wheel drive in passenger cars and became a defining attribute of Audi’s performance image. The quattro name was extended across the model range and became a brand in its own right; a performance division initially known as quattro GmbH was established to develop high‑performance variants and is now Audi Sport GmbH.

The term quattro is used in other contexts in Italian to mean four, and in motorsport and consumer products as a branding element, but in automotive discussions it is most closely associated with Audi’s all‑wheel-drive system.