Audi 80

Audi 80 at a glance

The Audi 80 is a front-wheel-drive saloon with a lengthways-mounted engine, made by Audi from 1972 to 1995 in four generations coded B1 to B4 and positioned below the Audi 100. Ingolstadt was the main plant, with extra assembly at Wolfsburg (B1) and Emden (B2).

The catalogue span of 1966–1996 covers the F103 Audi 80 of 1966–68 and the related Audi Coupé, built until 1996; the Cabriolet lasted until 2000. Quattro all-wheel drive was an option from 1982, not the standard layout. For the brand behind these cars, see the history of Audi.

Development and production history

After the F103 version, the Audi 80 went through four B-series generations, each a new body on a Volkswagen Group platform.

F103 Audi 80 (1966–1968)

The first car to carry the name belonged to the F103 family, unveiled on 9 September 1965. It was based on the two-stroke DKW F102 but used a four-stroke "medium-pressure" engine developed with Daimler-Benz, and it revived the Audi name after the Second World War. Badged by power output (Audi 60, 72, 75, 80 and Super 90), the Audi 80 version was sold from September 1966 to December 1968. It belongs among the classic cars of the 1960s.

B1 (Typ 80/82, 1972–1978)

The B1 went on sale in June 1972 as a two-door and four-door saloon and was shown at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1973; German references credit it with the Car of the Year title for 1973. Volkswagen's first Passat of spring 1973 used the same platform and was almost identical up to the B-pillar. In the United States the car was sold as the Audi Fox from late 1973. German sources give 1,103,766 built by August 1978.

B2 (Typ 81/85, 1978–1986)

The B2 was presented in September 1978, with Giorgetto Giugiaro reworking an original design by Claus Luthe. It was the first Audi 80 with five-cylinder engines and with a diesel, and in 1982 it became the first Audi saloon with quattro four-wheel drive. An August 1984 facelift came with the upmarket Audi 90 sister model. In North America the car was the Audi 4000 from 1979–80 (sources differ on the start). Saloon production ended in August 1986; the Coupé continued to 1988.

B3 (Typ 89/8A, 1986–1991)

The B3 went on sale in September 1986 with a rounder, fully zinc-coated body and a drag coefficient of 0.29, about 110 kg (243 lb) heavier than the B2. The Audi Coupé (Typ 8B) followed in October 1988 and the Cabriolet in May 1991. Procon-ten was optional at first and standard from 1991. German references put B3 output at 1,297,801 cars, with export versions built until December 1991.

B4 (Typ 8C, 1991–1995)

The B4 was presented in September 1991 as a deep rework of the B3, with a longer wheelbase and a larger boot. The Avant estate arrived in summer 1992, which is why the B4 also appears among station wagons. It brought V6 engines, the 1.9 TDI and, from model year 1994, a standard driver airbag. Saloon production ended in December 1994 and the Avant in December 1995, with more than 826,000 built according to German sources, including over 177,000 Avants.

Audi 80 production timeline

Design and engineering

Every B-series Audi 80 uses front-wheel drive with the engine mounted lengthways ahead of the front axle. The quattro versions added a driven rear axle to this layout.

The bodies changed more than the layout. The B1 was a light saloon of 4.18 m (164.6 in) and around 900 kg (1,984 lb) in 100 PS form. The B2 added Giugiaro's longer lines, the B3 a rounded aerodynamic shape and the B4 a longer wheelbase. For a buyer today, the B3's galvanised shell matters more than any engine choice.

Procon-ten explained

Procon-ten was Audi's mechanical restraint system for the Audi 80 and 100 in the late 1980s. Steel cables ran from the engine block to the steering column and the seatbelts. In a frontal impact the engine moved backwards, the cables pulled the steering wheel away from the driver and tightened the front belts, with no pyrotechnic charge. Zwischengas, in a February 2023 article, describes it as a low-tech forerunner of the airbag, and on the B4 it gave way to airbags from model year 1994.

Engines and drivetrain

Audi 80 engines range from a 1.3-litre four with 40 kW (55 PS) in the B1 to a 2.8-litre V6 with 128 kW (174 PS) in the B4, with five-cylinder petrol units and diesels in between.

The first Audi 80 quattro used a 2,144 cc naturally aspirated five-cylinder with 100 kW (136 PS) and 176 Nm (130 lb-ft), sharing its concept with the Ur-quattro coupé of March 1980. On the B3 and B4, quattro was available on most petrol versions and never with a diesel; the B4 quattro came only with a five-speed manual.

The diesel line ran from the B2's 1.6 D of August 1980 to the B4's direct-injection 1.9 TDI, of which German sources count 182,777; for later models of this type, see our diesel cars section. The best-selling B4 engine was the 2.0 E with 85 kW (115 PS), at 456,861 cars.

Audi 80 specifications

The table gives the Audi 80 2.0 E (B4), the best-selling B4 version, as listed by the ADAC car catalogue for German-market saloons built from August 1993 to December 1994.

The consumption figure uses the old one-third mix of urban, 90 km/h and 120 km/h driving, so it cannot be compared directly with WLTP figures.

Variants and derivatives

The family covers saloons, an estate, a coupé, a cabriolet and fast derivatives; S2 and RS2 are usually catalogued as separate models.

In service: reliability, safety and legacy

The later Audi 80 built its reputation on body durability: the galvanised B3 and B4 shells resist rust far better than the B2, which Octane's buying guide flags for corrosion.

Safety equipment improved quickly in the B4 years: ABS became standard on most versions from January 1993, the driver airbag from model year 1994 and the passenger airbag from model year 1995. There are no Euro NCAP results for any Audi 80, because the programme started in 1997.

The legacy runs straight to the Audi A4, which took over from November 1994 on the B5 platform, keeping the B-series code and the lengthways front-drive layout with optional quattro. With more than a million cars each for the B1 and the B3, according to German figures, the 80 was a volume model rather than a niche one, and it sits naturally beside the other German cars of its period.

Preservation and collecting today

For a classic Audi 80, choose the generation first. B3 and B4 cars combine galvanised shells with group-shared parts and are the easiest entry among Audi classic cars; B1 and B2 cars are rarer and need closer inspection.

For the B2, Octane's buying guide lists these points to check:

• Body: sills, wheel arches, door bottoms, boot floor and front strut towers.
• Engine: the oil pump on four-cylinder engines (preventive replacement at around 100,000 miles, 161,000 km), worn valve guides at high mileage and the timing belt history.
• Gearbox: second-gear synchromesh wear and leaks from the "sealed for life" gearbox, which can damage fifth gear.
• Fuel system: the automatic chokes on carburettor engines.
• Parts: service items are often shared with the Golf and Passat; model-specific trim and body parts are harder to find.

Octane also rates Audi's historic parts support below that of Mercedes-Benz or BMW. On a B3 or B4, look for rust where old accident repairs have broken the zinc coating. To compare the 80 with the rest of the range, see all Audi models.