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Carwow celebrates Audi's 5-cylinder turbocharged engines with a straight line speed competition between 5 of the brand's sports cars of the past.

Audi is famous for its iconic five-cylinder engine. Before we knew it, Audi is already celebrating 45 years of this engine layout. This motor has powered several of the premium carmaker’s offerings, including some four-wheel-drive cars that became legends in their own right.

Mat Watson of carwow was able to gather 5 four-wheel-drive, five-cylinder Audi icons -- the Quattro 20v, Quattro S1 Group B rally car, Sport Quattro, S2 Coupe, and RS2 Avant. As usual, these cars engaged in a series of drag and rolling races.

Among the five, Mat chose the car that started the 5-cylinder engine, manual transmission, and 4WD configuration – the Audi Quattro (a.k.a. Ur Quattro). While initial models offered less than 200 hp, the power soon grew to 217 hp of output and 227 lb-ft of torque with the 20v versions. It tips the scales at just 3,075 lbs.

Mat also brought a real – not a replica -- Audi Quattro S1 rally car. Stig Blomqvist and Walter Röhrl had actually driven this 2,400-lb car in their racing days. It’s quite powerful with its 2.1-liter engine delivering 493 hp of output and 354 lb-ft of torque, with a rally-spec six-speed gearbox (with short-ratio gears) distributing power to the wheels.

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Also in the lineup is the car somewhere between the Quattro and the Quattro S1 – the 2,800-lb Sport Quattro. Mated to a five-speed manual gearbox, its 2.1-liter engine offers 301 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque.

Meanwhile, the purplish 1996 Audi RS2 Avant is the heaviest vehicle among the five cars at around 3,516 lbs. Its 2.2-liter engine delivers 310 hp and 301 lb-ft of torque. Completing the lineup is a red 1996 S2 Coupe that weighs 3,362 lbs and offers 226 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque.

The first drag race caught the driver of the Quattro S1 napping, but the rally car recovered and won the contest. Shortly following the Quattro S1 was the Sport Quattro and S2 Coupe. The Quattro 20v and RS2 Avant came fourth and fifth, respectively.

RELATED: Why We Love The 1994 RS2 Avant, Audi's First RS Vehicle

Interestingly, the second drag race had the same results, but the rally car was more responsive this time. As for the two rolling contests, the positions remained the same as in the drag races.

Meanwhile, the braking contest broke the status quo. The Sport Quattro won by a small gap against the Quattro 20v. The other three Audi, however, traveled the most distance before finally stopping.

Julybien Atadero writes from the island of Cebu covering various automotive topics including new sports cars, classic muscles, pickup trucks and SUVs. While I like peace and quiet, I love playing with my kid. When I have nothing else to do, I watch documentaries and animations.