The article was originally produced on January 30, 2014, some facts and prices may have changed since then.

Audi Alpine Tour

A journey from the snowy mountains of the Alps down to the warming sun of the Riviera in the best Audi has to offer!

The history of Audi begins as early as 1909 when August Horch founded the company. The name Audi is the Latin form of the surname Horch. Why Horch was not used was because August had been kicked out of the original company. In later years, the two companies found each other again together with two other car companies and formed Auto Union. The four brands were Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer. In later years the name was changed to just Audi but the four rings in the logo illustrate the four original companies. Right up until the 80s, Audi was a car brand that did not stand particularly high in comparison to the other premium brands such as BMW and Mercedes. But with the serious introduction of four-wheel drive in their models, which led to success in rallying, the brand grew slowly but surely. When the Audi Quattro model was launched in the 80s, a milestone had seriously been passed. The car has been popularly nicknamed Ur-Quattro and it is in it that our journey begins.

In the Swiss Alps, the city of Interlaken is situated on Lake Thun, a turquoise-green alpine lake that takes its name from the city of Thun. From here begins the journey of almost 870 kilometers towards the French Riviera and Monte-Carlo. From Interlaken, the journey goes towards Megève in France via Susten Pass and Nufenen Pass, among others. The first car on the journey is a bright red Audi Quattro, Ur-Quattro! When you open the door to this classic, the 80s are instantly recognizable with the smell and appearance of the cabin. Despite the fact that this car has more than 30 years behind it, it testifies to its high performance, driving firmly but hard with this gem is nothing that worries the car. The first stretch from Interlaken is mostly highway before the mountains make the road more curvy. On the highway, the Ur-Quattron is like an iron. Even when the road starts to turn more and more, the car follows without problems thanks to the fine four-wheel drive. That this model lived for more than 10 years does not feel strange at all and it was with this car that Audi registered the Quattro brand with a Q.

First, the car change takes place on a sun-drenched stretch of road after St. The Gotthard Pass. The change takes place from the first Quattro to the RS Q3, which is the latest addition to the Quattro family. This is the first SUV from Audi to receive an RS badge and is based on an Audi Q3. RS, which is German for RennSport, is Audi's tuning department. BMW has M-sport and Mercedes AMG. The first model to be marked with an RS emblem was the Audi RS2, a collaboration between Audi and Porsche that was sold between 1994/95. The engine in the new Audi RS Q3 is a 2.5 liter 5-cylinder turbocharged machine that delivers 420 Newtons of torque and 310 horses. Since this is an SUV, the sporty feel suffers a bit. But the classic turbo chirp from the engine together with the curvy roads that the stretch over the Nufenen pass offers puts both the car and the driver to the test. Both handle very well with some matting in the brakes and sweaty palms. With the RS Q3, Audi shows that even an SUV can deserve an RS emblem. 

The car change from the latest RS department has to offer becomes the most classic RS model, namely the RS6 Avant. No car of all time, apart from the arch-rival BMW M5, can measure up to this brick breaker from Ingolstadt! The twin-turbocharged V8 engine is among the strongest you can find in a family estate. 560 horsepower and 700 Newtons of torque are already available from 1750 rpm. The journey from standstill to 100 km/h takes just 3.9 seconds. With the Dynamic plus package, the top speed limit is raised from 250 to 305 km/h. Despite this colossus of a car and with a weight of just over two tons, it behaves like a go-kart on the alpine roads down to Megève. It is very difficult to understand how a car of this nature can consume every single turn without tiring, the power is endless and the carbon fiber ceramic brakes make sure to bring the crew to a halt before every corner, time and time again. This is without a doubt one of the best cars in the world! 

Megève is a commune located in the south-eastern part of France right near the Swiss-Italian where we stay overnight. From here, the remaining stretch towards Monte-Carlo goes over passes such as Col de Montegenèvre and Col de Vars. The car for today's first leg is the luxury Audi RS7 Sportback. Basically the same car as the Audi RS6 but with an emphasis on luxury. The body is in a coupé/sedan design, i.e. a slightly sloping roofline towards the back and the shapes like a three-door coupé but with five doors. The doors, which are of the frameless version, are equipped with so-called insulating glass. In practice, double glazing that significantly reduces the noise level in the car. The main competitor is the BMW M6 Gran Coupé with the difference that the BMW has rear-wheel drive while the Audi has all-wheel drive. The performance and comfort are almost the same as the RS6, which is hard to beat even for BMW. In the RS7 you drive like a king.

After the Col de Vars comes the most fantastic road stretch of the trip and it is over the Col de Bonette pass. Located in the French Alps, bordering Italy, the pass has Europe's highest paved road section that goes around the summit of Cime de la Bonette at 2,860 meters. This is absolutely one of the most beautiful and eye-catching roads in all of Europe. The mountains all around and the road winding endlessly over the slopes offer hair-raising views and driving. Because the landscape is so incredibly large and open, you can see far ahead where the road leads. This contributes to exhilarating speed experiences in the Audi RS7 Sportback at the limit of what is possible. Once again, the palms are dripping with sweat!

The next car change also causes stomach churning but of a completely different character than the Col de Bonette. The car now available is an icon in automotive history, namely the rally version of the Ur-Quattro, the Audi Sport Quattro. To meet the competition and further develop the Ur-Quattron, the designers had to come up with something drastic for the successful model. What it did, and which was presented in 1983 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, was the shortened Sport Quattron. Compared to its predecessor, the wheelbase had been cut by 32 centimeters. In order to get the car approved according to the FIA's regulations for group B cars in rallies, 200 street-legal examples had to be built. In addition to the shortened wheelbase, the car also had a lot of body parts replaced with more durable materials such as Kevlar. New price for a Sport Quattro was the same as two 911 Turbos at the time. The performance from the 5-cylinder engine that is still alive to some extent delivered 306 horsepower. At the end of the Group B rally era, the Sport Quattron's rally sibling, the S1, had an engine power of over 600 horsepower! It is usually said that some things should not be experienced after their expiration date with the risk of disappointment, the Audi Sport Quattro is not one of these experiences. Despite its age, this is a brutally fun car to drive! The short wheelbase makes the car incredibly nimble in the turns and the engine has plenty of power as long as you keep the turbo pressure up. The mountain roads over the classic Monte-Carlo stretch, the Col de Turin, bring to mind what it was like for Stig Blomqvist and company in the 80s when the Sport Quattro completely dominated the rally circus.

The final stretch down to Monaco and Monte-Carlo must of course be spent with the roof down in Audi's performance convertible RS5 Cabriolet. The heart of this model is the highly praised 4.2 liter V8 in suction version. With 450 horsepower and a fantastic muffled sound from two large oval exhausts at the back, this is a truly wonderful experience. Drive with the roof down and enjoy the sun, which warms more and more every meter you get closer to the sea. The nine-pass journey has featured some of the most beautiful and spectacular Europe and the world has to offer in the form of roads. To experience this behind the wheel in the history of Quattro has made every single kilometer even more interesting and amazing experience!