There are a lot of interesting engines in production right now, but the weirdest has got to be Audi’s turbocharged inline five-cylinder. The 2.5-liter, odd-cylinder-count engine makes nearly 400 horsepower and a unique sound you won’t find anywhere else on the market.
Stateside, you can find the engine, codenamed the EA855, in the RS3 sedan, and overseas in the RS3 hatchback. Most recently, it was also used in cars like the TT RS and the Europe-only RS Q3 crossover. Audi has a long history with the inline-five, having first introduced it 50 years ago in the 100 sedan.
Earlier this week, news broke that Audi would be ending production of its iconic five-cylinder engine for good in mid-2027, as it couldn’t be brought up to the Euro 7 emissions standards set to take effect next year. This report coincides with a similar report we wrote about last year, which said the same thing about the engine bowing out due to Euro 7 regs.
Now, though, there’s a new report saying the engine will live on in countries that aren’t Europe, which means the impending death of the Audi inline-five has been greatly exaggerated.
I Sure Hope The Inline Five Makes It
Let me walk you through a timeline. Back in September, the chief executive of Audi told Australian media outlet Drive that the inline-five’s end was “probably” near. He didn’t go as far as to confirm it, but the statement was pretty cut and dry. Here it is, in case you don’t want to click away:
“No, right now the five-cylinder will probably end with Euro 7,” Audi global CEO Gernot Dollner told Australian media at the Munich motor show.
While it was sad to hear that one of the last truly strange engines would finally be exiting production, it didn’t come as much of a surprise at the time. With emissions regulations tightening worldwide and Euro 7 bearing down on German companies to produce more highly efficient powertrains, it would’ve been too large an investment for Audi to reengineer the engine to meet those new European standards. The company’s falling sales, especially in China, aren’t helping things, either.
Fast-forward to three days ago, when Automotive News published a story that it confirmed with an Audi spokesperson that Euro 7 would mean the death of the inline-five. From that article:
Audi is axing the engine from the region because it fails to comply with the European Union’s upcoming Euro 7 emissions standards to reduce air pollution, a company spokesperson said. The standards take effect for new cars from the end of 2026.
Production of the Audi RS 3, the last model in Europe to feature the unit, will end at Audi’s plant in Gyor, Hungary, by mid-2027.
Makes sense so far, right? Autonews cited the cost of all the hardware changes Audi would’ve had to make to get the engine compliant with Europe’s modern regulations as the reason for its axing, saying the company is prioritizing that spending on EVs.
Here’s where things get interesting. An article published today by Motor1 claims the inline-five won’t die after all, with a spokesperson telling the outlet that it’ll live on for markets outside of Europe:
In a statement to Motor1, A3 model series spokesperson Julia Winkler confirmed the RS3 won’t disappear entirely. Although the luxury brand must call time on the 2.5 TFSI in Europe due to upcoming Euro 7 emissions regulations, Audi will keep the high-performance compact car on sale in non-European markets beyond mid-next year.
While I feel bad for Europeans who love strange engine setups, this is great news for us here in America. It’s unclear whether Audi always planned to keep the inline-five around in select markets or changed its mind at some point—I’ve reached out to a spokesperson for some clarification. It’s also unclear at this time which markets will retain the five-cylinder, and which will lose it, though, seeing as how emissions laws in America are being dismantled left and right, it’s very likely the U.S. is one of the lucky markets.
Either way, it sounds like the inline-five will live on for at least a little bit longer than originally expected. For weirdos like me, that means at least a few more years of worshipping that 1-2-4-5-3 firing order until it goes away forever.
Top graphic images: Audi; Tri-Star Pictures
Watch for it to come to the US market – at least until we get some sanity back in DC.
In my heart I will always be disappointed no one ever made a 5-valved 5-cylinder engine, just for the sheer curiosity of an engine with an odd total number of valves.
Given the topshot, I was really hoping that an Audi had been struck by lightning and gained sentience. Clearly still needs to save the city, since it’s not gold-plated yet.
I guess keeping that engine is cool, too.
I posit that the I-5 is not the weirdest engine out there. I mean, if GM had their own, how weird could it be?
Mazda has a not-unreasonable claim on weirdest with the spinning Dorito, the Wankel. I don’t think they have any Wankel-powered offerings currently available however, unless you want to consider one of the incredibly rare PHEVs with the little single-rotor REX unit under the hood. And even that is no longer offered so I guess that’s out of the running.
VW had a doozy with the V5. V6 I get; V5, that’s different. You gotta wonder at the balancing on that.
Ford is currently offering an I-3 in the Bronco Sport, not too strange since we’ve seen those before, but you know…Ford. Not widely recognized for being wildeyed dreamers once you’re talking about actual products, Ford doing anything not right down the middle of the mainstream is noteworthy.
A two-cylinder car would be interesting and there’s even one currently on the market I can think of: I think the Fiat 500 is still available with the tiny 1.0 I-2.
That V5 was a VR5 which was also half of the W10 which is also super weird
Honda’s had some fun racing engines with the NR500’s oval-piston V4, and the RC212V’s V5.
But it’s Honda’s gear-driven V4 in the VFR stands out as a wonderful sound to my ear when I hear one drive by. We need more V4 engines.
A five sounds so much better than a four, even as proletarian low-tech 170hp VW version.
Shame this is behind such a massive paywall, a detuned 275hp version would be so much nicer than the EA888 in mainline Audi and upper trim VW products.
I wish they would have developed it for longitudinal use instead of developing the 3.0T. An S5 with an inline 5 would have been way cooler. Many reasons why it would cost a fortune or wouldn’t work, but I can dream.
Audi really fucked up by not offering the RS Q3 here
Audi really fucked up by not offering the <insert numerous models> here.
Audi really fucked up by not offering <insert numerous many things> here.
VAG really fucked up by not offering <insert numerous many things> here.
Pun intended?
It is pretty clever isn’t it?
Yes, you’ve earned your sticker today.
They already get all the coolest cars. It’s about time we get to have something fun. I just wish they offered the hatch here, oof.