Blazing a Trail: The Audi RS2 Turns 30 – A Legendary Porsche-Backed Wagon’s Eurotunnel Adventure
The Audi RS2 Avant: A 30-Year Legacy of Performance and Style
A Birth Year Shared with the Eurotunnel
Summer 1994 was a time of great celebration, marked by the opening of the Eurotunnel under the English Channel and the chart-topping success of Wet Wet Wet’s ”Love Is All Around” in London.
That same year, a groundbreaking grand touring station wagon was born in Germany: the Audi RS2 Avant, the precursor to the current supercar-defying RS6 Avant.
The RS2, with its elegant and luxurious interior, is a perfect way to look back on the excitement that was generated by the ties between Britain and France at the time, and the 30th anniversary is the perfect time to look back on and toast to the birth of these two iconic transport models in the region.
The Eurotunnel may not be well known in Japan, but it is a monumental feat of modern architecture, on a par with the Empire State Building and the Panama Canal.
The idea of connecting Great Britain with the European continent through a tunnel was around since the late 19th century, but construction actually started in 1988. A total of 11 boring machines were cast and a total of 13,000 workers worked hard.
The total length of the tunnel is 50.5 km. The undersea section is 37.9 km long, making it the longest railway tunnel on Earth. The train that runs through it, Le Shuttle, is about 800 m long. Even though the UK has left the EU, it remains a key economic point.
Porsche’s Contribution to the RS2’s Performance
Meanwhile, with the development of the RS2, Audi challenged the conventional wisdom that high-performance models should be two-seaters, even though the S2, based on the Audi 80, and the S4, based on the Audi 100, were already popular station wagons.
When it came time to create a more powerful model, the Avant was the natural choice. The technology used was not as impressive as the Eurotunnel, but Porsche was the obvious choice. That deep relationship continues even now that the two companies are part of the same group.
The 2.2L inline 5-cylinder engine, derived from the Audi Ur Quattro, has been tuned by Porsche. A large-diameter turbocharger has been added, giving it a maximum output of 319ps, 0-100km/h acceleration in 5.4 seconds, and a top speed of 262km/h.
The drivetrain is all-wheel drive with a Torsen centre differential. The front/rear torque split can be varied from 25% to 75%. The brakes, dampers and anti-roll bars have also been upgraded.
The styling was also differentiated with a special bumper, door mirrors and indicators from the Porsche 911 of the same period, and aluminum wheels from the 964 Cup.
It was launched with a price of £45,705, which is roughly £95,000 in today’s money, and even high mileage examples are now selling for over £75,000.
Approximately 2,900 were produced, and 180 were officially introduced to the UK. It appears that 122 are still in active use. The one we borrowed this time had a mileage of 10,500km. It is in good condition, worthy of a museum collection.
A Dashboard that Couldn’t be Improved
The Audi RS2 Avant’s interior is a testament to its luxurious and elegant design, with a dashboard that has stood the test of time.