The mid-sizers

1991 at the IAA the completely revised successor to the Type89, the B4 was introduced. Optical and technical improvements let it look more solide and pleasant. Now, the fuel tank was placed under the trunk so that the trunk is better to use. To achieve a large fuel tank, it is now a pretty complicated plastic part. For the first time, a sixcylinder was available in a "B" Audi.

Distinguishing difference to the Type89 are the thicker fender flares of the B4. This New Zealand B4 has non-stock rims and the nice red rear light centre piece.
With the introduction of the B4 the smallest rim size was 15", no longer 14" as with the Type89.

Interestingly US and German versions of the B4 are quite different. The bumpers are two piece items to incorporate the part that "retracts" in case of a small contact. Europeans have the white turning signals, while the US-Americans have to cope with yellow position lights. (Question: Are position lights and turning signals integrated into one lamp?)

Also in 1991 the convertible was introduced. Its production was stopped as late as 2000, although it is based on a construction of 1986! The convertible concept car was based on a Tape89 Coupé, but the production version was apparently newly engineered from the b-pillar backwards.

Open or closed, the Audi "Cabrio" (convertible in German) was always a pleasure to look at. While the convertible above has the "old" convertible front fascia, the convertible to the left is one of the last, with the slightly modified bumper with the turning signals reaching around the corner.

The convertible bumper was also used on the S2, one of the sport versions of the Audi 80, powered by a 230PS 20V turbo engine. The S2 was available as Coupé (Engine 3B: 5'469 cars, ABY: 1'901 cars), Avant (1'818 cars) and -shown here- as ultra-rare sedan; with 271 cars one of the rarest Audis of all times. In Avant and sedan only the modern ABY engine was installed, among other features it had an Overboost function which raised the boost for a short period of time (for overtaking for example).
Thanks go to Oswald and Tots from www.tots.ch for the numbers.

Even with the S2 being the wider-spread sport model of the B4, the Audi 80 Compettition has to be mentioned. Robert has parked his special edition also at the visitors' cars. 2500 cars were built for homologation purposes for the 2 litre touringcar racing series STW. A 16 valve fourcylinder with 140 PS caters for fast movement, alas not as fast as an S2. But the Competition has the larger wing. a smart move by Audi as they were then allowed to use a useful wing in the STW, too.

Of course, the "baddest" Audi 80 of all times has to be shown, too. The RS2 was engineered together with Porsche and surely is the top Audi 80 of all times. It had mega brakes and a reworked version of the 20V turbo engine of the S2. Its top-speed of 262km/h (163mph) made it the fastest production station wagon in its days.

The RS2 is based on the Audi 80 Avant. Here is the one of my sister. Eventhough the Avant was introduced together with the B4: The rear view shows that it was already developped during Type89 times. My theory is: The introduction of the Type89 Avant was planned, but when the sales figures of the Type89 were not that great any longer, it was decided to broaden the Type89 facelift to a new model B4 and introduce the Avant at this point of time in updated apparel.

While the S2 is surely not weak with 230PS, this is of course not enough in Finnland! Peter Lindström pilots this hot projectile in the Finnish Super Saloon series.