Audi Formula

The division's operations are located in a 3,500 square metres site at Neckarsulm, near Stuttgart, in the German State of Baden-Württemberg. Development and manufacturing factories are based within a larger 10,700 square metres site of the now defunct German automotive maker NSU Motorenwerke AG. Its core products include the Audi RS3, the Audi RS6 and the Audi RS7 Sportback. Audi Sport GmbH does not sell its automobiles directly to the public via franchised outlets under its own brand name; instead, they are sold under the Audi marque.

Audi Sport GmbH specializes in four 'key' areas, including the design, testing, and production of specialist and high performance Audi automobiles. Examples include the Audi RS3, Audi RS Q8, and the Audi R8. They also design and produce special wheels, sport suspension, and exterior body panels, such as front bumpers, side skirts, and rear bumpers, which are mainly used on the Audi "S line" trim specification available on most of Audi's model range.

The Audi RS cars are Audi's high performance variants of their regular offerings. The "RS" initials are taken from the German: RennSport – literally translated as "racing sport". RS is Audi's highest trim level, positioned above the "S" ("Sport") specification level of Audi's regular model range. Audi Sport creates, designs, and produces all RS models in conjunction with its parent, Audi AG. The RS models are typically Audi's most powerful cars and are built in limited numbers with the latest technology and engineering offered by the car maker.

quattro GmbH offers potential purchasers of new Audi cars the possibility of customizing their new car beyond the scope of "conventional" options, to their own personal desires during the initial manufacturing process. This facility is called Audi exclusive, and extends to virtually all areas of the car. The customer may choose unique exterior paint, in any colour, as well as alloy wheels originally developed by quattro GmbH. quattro GmbH first offered this service at the 1995 Frankfurt International Motor Show.

Audi AG collaborated with Porsche AG to develop the Audi RS2 Avant, a joint venture, from 1994–1996, built at Porsche's Zuffenhausen plant. All subsequent cars have been solely produced at Neckarsulm by quattro GmbH. Stephen Reil became the head of Quattro and oversaw the first quattro developed RS branded car, the 2000–2001 B5 RS4 Avant quattro. The subsidiary grew in size hiring from Audi AG, the various Motorsport projects, and competitors within the industry.

Typical development time was two years per vehicle, with Quattro sitting in with Audi AG in the early stages of the Audi variety model development to learn and collaborate and plant for the RS variant. Reil and professional race drivers from DTM and Audi’s Le Mans effort aided in tuning the RS models by driving on the track, including the Nurburgring, as well as the roads around Neckarsulm. When the RS4 was completed they moved to the 2003 C5 RS6 quattro; fifth was the 2005 B7 A4 DTM Edition saloon.

In the mid-2000s Quattro grew large enough and began developing multiple cars simultaneously with the addition of the R8 and its variants. The RS models were based on Audi S models, the R8 initiative required an entire production and development from start to finish. Audi AG was able to provide support for sourcing common parts but assembly and QA growth saw Quattro grow by around two hundred employees. Along with the R8 quattro GmbH developed the 2006 B7 RS4 quattro, 2006 also saw the 2006 B7 S4 25 Quattro, and a special edition A4 S-Line with 220 hp. As of 2009, the ninth and latest offering is the 2008 C6 RS6 5.0 TFSI quattro.

In 2005, they built an Audi TT quattro sport with 176 kW. The latest Audi TT RS and the Audi RS3 were both notable departures from this Neckarsulm-only production tradition. Whilst the TT RS and RS3 were wholly designed, developed and engineered at Neckarsulm by quattro GmbH, they were manufactured alongside the non-RS Audi models, with the TT RS being manufactured at Győr, Hungary, by AUDI AG subsidiary Audi Hungaria Motor Kft.

The Audi R8 two-seat mid-engined sports car was exclusively designed and developed and is produced by quattro GmbH. An old factory on the Audi Neckarsulm site was redeveloped, and €28 million was invested in the new R8 production line. Around 250 employees work on this car. The longitudinally oriented 4.2 litre Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI) V8 engine used in the R8, rated at 309 kW, is shared from the B7 RS4 quattro, but modified to use a dry sump lubrication system and induction system. A subsequent V10 engined version of the R8 is also available, using a de-tuned version of their sister company's 5.2-litre FSI V10, used in the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4.

Audi re-entered motorsport for the first time since the Auto Union days in the 80s competing with success in Rally, IMSA, and DTM. Audi established quattro GmbH in 1983. Because Group B rally required homologation with road cars Audi created quattro GmbH to concept and help engineer ideas. The result of this was the Audi Sport Quattro, dubbed S1 in race trim. Audi AG produced the race variant, and the 200 street units required to compete in Group B. It wasn't until the 90s this responsibility was spun off into the quattro division in Neckersulm. quattro GmbH was responsible for the customer racing projects which built and sold racecars to professional and amateur racing teams and Audi Sport was responsible for factory efforts seen at Le Mans as well as providing support for special case customer teams such as WRT.

In 1988 Audi Sport produced the Audi 200 Trans Am to expose the brand to the wealthy US market. When it dominated the field and the governing body banned AWD, Audi Sport moved to IMSA and made the 700hp Audi 90 IMSA GTO. The following year Audi contracted Quattro to develop a DTM car to refocus on selling vehicles in Germany. The result was the Audi V8 DTM based on the Audi flagship model.

The entry level racecar beginning in 2016 was based on the Audi RS3. The RS3 LMS TCR features the EA888 2.0T engine largely unchanged from the Audi S3 and other models. The LMS version has 350hp, 420N, and weighs 1245kg. The mk1 was available with an S-tronic dual clutch gearbox also featured largely unchanged from the street variant. In addition customers could opt for a straight cut sequential gearbox. The S-tronic was discontinued for the second generation. The model was available for roughly $110k USD.

Audi Sport began to sell customers a 580hp GT3 variant of the R8. The model enjoyed great success until it was discontinued in 2024, while Audi Sport promised support for the model through 2030. Despite this the R8 won the pole position in the 2025 Nurburgring 24h. The R8 V10 engine is almost completely unchanged from the street variant and over 50% of the parts of the vehicle as a whole are shared with the road model. The R8 begins production in Neckarsulm and after all common parts are assembled they are loaded on to a flatbed and moved to a special AS facility 5 miles away for assembling the final motorsport touches such as roll cage and seats. Because the R8 V10 engines between street and race models are nearly 100% identical, customers could race an entire season and be brought to a facility for revision at a very reasonable price and likewise the street cars were built to the same standard meaning the R8 was more than capable of handling amateur track events. As of 2025, it is unknown if the R8 will return to GT3 racing, but a third generation featuring a high revving 4.0T V8 engine is possible but unconfirmed.

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