This was meant to boost lagging sales of the Coupé and as partial replacement for the famous Audi Quattro (launched in 1980).

The S2 came as standard with quattro permanent four-wheel drive, and featured a heavy-duty 5-speed manual transmission, and was capable of 150 mph.

Although the power increase was minimal, the engine now produced 350 N⋅m (258 lb⋅ft) of torque (up from 309 N⋅m (228 lb⋅ft)) and featured an overboost function that allowed up to 380 N⋅m (280 lb⋅ft) in short bursts.

In 1993, the S2 received some cosmetic updates, including new AVUS-style alloy wheels, ellipsoid beam (projector) headlamps and clear front indicator lenses.

The S2 saloon and Avant feature a lot of similarities in the rear axle support system to the later B5 A4 quattro.