07 AUDI QUATTRO

Rating 5.0

ENGINE 2144cc inline-5, SOHC, 10v, turbo

POWER 147kW @ 5700rpm

TORQUE 285Nm @ 3500rpm

0-100KM/H 7.0sec (claimed)

WEIGHT 1320kg • PRICE $36,500

LIKE: Unflappable traction; adjustable dynamics; genuine game-changer

DISLIKE: Values are appreciating; survivors are hard to find; vacuum leaks

WE WERE CLIMBING the Turracher Hohe, Europe’s steepest Alpine pass. It had been snowing all night and notices at the foot warned that it was impassable without chains.

Even the cars with chains on, their tyres were creeping along, their drivers holding their breath as they tried to maintain a precarious grip on the steep climb. I had no chains and no spikes; just ordinary summer tyres, but I dropped into second gear and gave the 147kW turbo-blown engine full throttle.

On most cars it would have been a short cut to a long drop, but the car rocketed to the top of the pass with scarcely any wheelspin, hitting 130km/h over the snow, then slowing under complete control as I braked hard to avoid startling