 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
Jörg Bensinger is a Germanautomotivechassis engineer, who pioneeredfour-wheel drive (all-wheel) transmission for conventional (on-road) automobiles in the 1980s, first developing the idea in 1977.[1][2][3]
He joined theR&D department ofAudi in 1968.
He tested aVolkswagen Iltis, afour-wheel drive militaryoff-road vehicle, with another engineerRoland Gumpert in the late 1970s in Finland. He proposed a four-wheel drive road vehicle in February 1977 toFerdinand Piëch, the head of R&D at Audi andWalter Treser [de].[4] The go-ahead was given to test the idea with anAudi 80, with anallrad (all-wheel) design, without a centredifferential. Parts from anAudi 100 were also taken to produce the new transmission design.[5]
The car received the backing from the board of management of Audi in September 1977. The vehicle was tested on theTurracher Höhe Pass in Austria, one of the steepest routes in Europe, climbing the snow-covered 23% gradient withoutsnow tyres. The vehicle was given to the head of R&D at Volkswagen, the AustrianErnst Fiala, to test. A main feature is the dual-direction transmission system invented by Audi's head of transmission,Franz Tengler.
The new car, theAudi Quattro, under head of Audi designHartmut Warkuß, was launched in Europe in 1980. It had a 2.1 litreturbocharged ten-valvestraight-five engine that produced 197 bhp; it could go from 0-60 mph in seven seconds. The car, driven byMichèle Mouton, entered the1981 World Rally Championship, and dominated theWorld Rally Championship (WRC) for the next years.
He married Jutta Raisch, who is also aglider pilot. They fly their gliders fromVaumeilh airfield.
