AUDI 90 (B3) 1987-1991

Audi introduced the 90 as an upmarket version for the 80, and it featured more comfort and luxury items for that era, plus a few extra technical advantages.

Back in the '80s, Audi faced a serious charge from the NHTSA for unintended accelerations on its large model 5000, and that was a serious step back for the German carmaker that tried to enter the premium market. A rebadged lineup solved a part of the problem until 1989 when the governing administration concluded that the cars were fine and the problem was with the drivers. But Audi went on with the renaming system and introduced the 80 and 90 models in 1987. While the 80 was more of a base version, the 90 was fitted as standard with features unavailable on the 80.

From the outside, all the 90 models featured body-colored, wrapped-around bumpers. The light-alloy-wheels were fitted as standard, and the rounded-shaped bodywork was miles ahead of the box-on-box look of its predecessor. Audi offered standard power-windows and locks on the entire 90 range.

Inside, the carmaker installed bucket-seats at the front and a comfortable bench profiled for two in the back. The instrument cluster featured a large tachometer and speedometer flanked on the sides by the fuel and temperature gauges. As an option, a small LCD showed information about the trip computer.

Under the hood, Audi installed only inline-five engines ranged between 2.0-liter and 2.3-liter. They were paired to a 5-speed manual transmission, while the automatic gearbox was available only for the 2.0-liter engine.