I’ll be honest, it’s a bit rough being an American right now with the way we’re behaving on the global stage, but every once in a while, we get an absolutely scrumptious dub, and it makes it all worth it. One such dub is the fact that we get to keep Audi’s iconic five-cylinder engine a bit longer than the rest of the world because we believe in a little thing called freedom. Ever heard of it?
The turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-five will be phased out in Europe by mid-2027 because of the EU’s upcoming Euro 7 emissions standards that are meant to reduce air pollution, according to German outlet Automobilwoche. However, because our emissions requirements are less stringent (for better or worse), Audi will continue to offer the motor in the RS3 for a little while longer. Right now, there’s no word on exactly how much longer that’ll be, though, and Audi says production of the RS3 is only slated to run at its plant in Hungary until mid 2027, anyway. Perhaps it’s going to stock up on the little hot sedan for the U.S. market before the line shuts down. In its latest form, the U.S.-spec inline-five makes 394 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. That’s enough to rocket the little RS3 from 0-60 in a scant 3.6 seconds.
While it would be wonderful to see the I5 live on, Audi told Automobilwoche that upgrading the engine to meet even stricter emissions rules would require extensive hardware changes and significant investment — something the company just isn’t willing to do. Instead, it has opted to prioritize its spending on electric vehicles, even as that market continues to face some issues.
“As of today, there are no plans to relaunch the five-cylinder engine,” an Audi spokesperson told Automobilwoche.
A long history
Audi’s five-cylinder just celebrated its 50th birthday and has been a real building block for the brand’s performance identity for decades at this point. It was first introduced in — you guessed it — 1976 in the Audi 100, and in the 1980s it became completely synonymous with the automaker’s rally success because it was teamed up with Quattro all-wheel-drive.
Audi actually rang in its 50th with the special edition sedan called the RS3 Competition Limited, and just 750 units are being released. It comes with a bespoke suspension setup, a special green paint job, gold wheels, and some sportier touches on the inside that set it apart from more run-of-the-mill RS3s. It’s a hell of a sendoff.
The engine’s death also means the ending of a rather unusual manufacturing process at Audi’s Györ, Hungary plant. There, the engine is largely assembled by hand across 21 different stations without the use of robots, according to Automotive News. Key components like connecting rods and crankcases are produced separately within the plant.
Sadly, when the RS3’s I5 goes away, so will the entire engine configuration. It’s the very last one, and — I’ll be real — I don’t have much hope we’ll see one again. While inline-fives are undoubtedly sick as hell, they don’t exactly provide much that can’t be found (performance or efficiency-wise, at least) in four- or six-cylinder engines.
We’ve just got to enjoy the RS3 and its inline-five while it lasts here in the U.S., and look smugly on as the rest of the world stares at us with jealous eyes. That doesn’t happen much anymore, so we’ve gotta savor it.
