AUDI got the ball rolling on combining road cars with sports-focused all-wheel-drive architecture when it launched quattro technology more than three decades ago.

In the ensuing time, a fair swag of mainstream rivals – both premium and not – have followed in the German brand’s wheeltracks.

Audi, then, is keen to reassert itself as the godfather of grip, both via a large-scale ‘Land of Quattro’ advertising campaign and the release of a raft of new AWD versions of some of its most popular models.

Traditionally, the quattro technology accompanied Audi’s highest spec and top performing models, providing a transmission system that could harness high power engines, but the AWD technology has filtered down to lesser models, and now the coveted badge is more affordable than ever.

Additions include new or revised entry level all-paw variants to the Q3, A4 and A5 ranges.

Audis best selling model, the Q3, is now available as the $47,500 2.0 TDI quattro S-tronic, while A4 and A5 2.0 TFSI quattro S-tronic models have an extra 10kW on tap for $65,800 and $75,900 respectively.

The sold-out A4 Allroad was a run-away success thanks largely to its four-cylinder diesel/quattro combination, so that has been resurrected in the $65,800 A4 2.0 TDI quattro S-tronic as another fresh quattro model – this time in the standard sedan.

On the next page we test a trio of new entry level quattros in a variety of conditions, including a paddock.

Click here for the full review...