This Is The Only New Car You Can Get With A 5-cylinder Engine

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What if you wanted to get much powerfulness than imaginable from a four-cylinder engine, but pinch a centrifugal that wasn't arsenic dense and thirsty for substance arsenic a six-cylinder mill? The evident solution for Mercedes-Benz was nan 3.0-liter five-cylinder diesel motor introduced pinch nan 1974 300D sedan. And since nan I5 was based connected Mercedes-Benz's four-cylinder engines of nan time, building nan caller powerplant would beryllium comparatively easy and cost-effective. It would spell connected to beryllium impressively durable, too, pinch models anecdotally known for crossing nan 500,000-mile threshold.

However, nan automaker astir intimately associated pinch five-cylinder engines is astir apt different German company, successful this lawsuit Audi. The Four-rings marque sewage into five-cylinder engines successful 1976 erstwhile it featured a 2.1-liter illustration tin of making 136 horsepower. The Audi 100 was nan first gas-powered car pinch a five-cylinder engine, chosen for its compact packaging that would thief execute a amended equilibrium of weight distribution.

And truthful it's fitting that nan past caller car you tin get pinch a five-cylinder motor coming is an Audi (although successful 2027, nan new VW Golf R is getting nan aforesaid mill). The track-friendly Audi RS 3 compact athletics sedan takes to nan pavement pinch a turbocharged 2.5-liter five-cylinder motor that takes drivers from zero-to-60 successful a brisk 3.6 seconds — courtesy of nan 396 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque being routed done its quattro all-wheel-drive system.

The RS3 sewage a transformative injection of fun past year, and according to our ain Daniel Golson, who drove nan car successful some scenarios, nan 2025 RS3 is "a genuine delight to thrust whether you're connected way aliases a tight upland pass." Golson gave in installments to features for illustration nan RS3's enhanced multi-clutch, torque-splitting rear differential, which gained torque vectoring for 2025, on pinch upgraded adaptive dampers and nan disposable Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires. Plus, nan various integer updates didn't look to distract from nan driving experience. 

Talking astir nan torque vectoring, Golson reported, "It's subtle capable that I don't really consciousness nan strategy working; nan car is conscionable people playful and much responsive." As for today's topic, nan RS3's turbocharged five-cylinder powerplant, it carried complete unchanged for this year. So it remains "one of nan astir entertaining and characterful engines connected sale."

Inside, nan revised RS3 still shows a spot excessively overmuch integrative for immoderate people's tastes, and nan caller flat-bottomed and flat-topped steering instrumentality whitethorn return immoderate getting utilized to. However, the cockpit continues to beryllium an enjoyable spot to walk time. Deluxe specifications see a new-for-2026 modular head-up show to complement besides modular features for illustration a panoramic sunroof, heated Nappa leather seats, a Bang & Olufsen sound system, and an RS-specific virtual cockpit driver display. Fast, fun, and comfortable, nan RS3 is keeping nan five-cylinder occurrence burning bright.

Beyond Audi and Mercedes-Benz — which offered five-cylinder passengers cars arsenic precocious arsenic 2006 — a number of different automakers person tried their luck pinch five-cylinder engines. The 1989 JDM Acura Vigor, for instance, stood retired from nan crowd pinch a 2.5-liter five-cylinder motor that was dissimilar emblematic five-cylinder setups because it was some longitudinally mounted and tilted complete astatine a 35-degree angle. Now, nan Vigor mightiness beryllium 1 of the cars you forgot existed, since it was only connected waste successful nan U.S. from 1992 done 1994, but by then, nan Volvo 850 was successful production.

The 850, successful fact, went connected waste successful 1991, and its 2.3-liter five-cylinder motor sparked a awesome alteration successful Volvo's attack to powertrains. The automaker would extremity up committing to five-cylinder motors for astir of its lineup successful nan pursuing years, not phasing them retired until 2014. The aforesaid powerplant was put to activity successful nan Ford Focus for a while — remember, Ford owned Volvo from 1999 to 2010 — motivating nan hot-hatch Focus RS500 pinch 345 turbocharged ponies.

Nor was Ford nan only home car institution to connection a five-cylinder motor: GM fundamentally lopped disconnected a cylinder from a pre-existing I6 motortruck motor to create an I5 for nan 2004 to 2012 pickups for illustration nan Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, and Hummer H3 pickups. It was nan 1 and only inline five-cylinder ever mass-produced successful nan United States.