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Audi Explains Why Its Five-Cylinder Engine Is Dying

It could tweak the engine to pass emissions regulations, but it's just not worth the hassle.

2025 Audi RS3

Photo by: Chris Rosales / Motor1

Adrian Padeanu

By: Adrian Padeanu

Sep 11, 2025 at 4:06am ET

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We're sad to report that Audi’s inline-five is not long for this world. It has already disappeared from the TT and RS Q3, both of which have been discontinued. The RS3 is now the sole-surviving RS model with the turbocharged 2.5-liter engine, but its days are numbered. In about two years, the final five-cylinder RS3 will roll off the assembly line in Ingolstadt.

As you’d expect, tightening emissions regulations are driving the engine’s demise, but that’s not the whole story. Audi CEO Gernot Döllner told Australia’s Drive magazine that making the five-cylinder Euro 7 compliant is “not difficult.” Even so, Audi won’t commit the money and engineering resources to keep it alive.

Euro 7 takes effect in November 2026, but only for newly launched vehicles. Since the current-generation RS3 is already on sale, it gets a temporary reprieve. However, Audi will have to retire the five-cylinder when the next stage of Euro 7 comes into force in November 2027, at which point all cars sold in EU7 markets must comply with the tougher rules.

Döllner explained that while the engine could technically be adapted to meet Euro 7, “it’s a question of scale and overall market demand.” Put simply, RS3 Sportback and RS3 Sedan sales aren’t strong enough to justify the investment. As a result, “the five-cylinder will probably end with Euro 7.” In theory, it could continue in regions outside the EU7, but Audi has likely done the math and found it unviable.

Photo by: Audi

The announcement came this week at the IAA Mobility Show in Munich, where Audi is presenting the Concept C. When asked by Motor1 if the targa-topped sports car might offer a combustion engine, Audi flatly denied the possibility. Due in 2027, the production version will be strictly electric, riding on a Volkswagen Group platform likely shared with the Porsche Boxster and Cayman EVs.

A five-cylinder behind the seats would have been ideal, but it’s not happening. Similarly, Audi once mulled an entry-level R8 with the inline-five, rear-wheel drive, and even a manual transmission, but that project never left the drawing board.

2025 Audi Concept C

Source: Audi

As for the RS3’s future, Döllner declined to comment on the chances of a four-cylinder replacement. A few years ago, Audi insisted it would never build a four-pot RS, leaving the next-generation RS3’s direction uncertain. That's provided there's even going to be another with a combustion engine, given how the ninth-generation Golf will be purely electric.

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In the meantime, Audi is preparing to send off the RS3 in style. A more powerful version is on the way, and rumors suggest Volkswagen will also use the inline-five for the ultimate Golf in the combustion-engine era. It wouldn’t be the first non-Audi model in the VW Group to get the EA855, as Cupra already offered the Formentor VZ5 with five cylinders.

When it finally bows out in about two years, the 2.5 TFSI will close the book on a tradition that began in 1976 with the five-cylinder Audi 100 (C2).

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Source: Drive

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