First offered in a passenger car by Mercedes-Benz back in 1974, the five-cylinder engine has always been a bit of an automotive oddball. The unconventional configuration eventually gained a foothold in the 1980s with manufacturers who needed a transversely mounted motor that was narrower than a V6 but wanted something smoother and more powerful than an inline-four.
For a time, the engine, with its distinctive exhaust warble, became closely associated with Audi’s lineup, aided in no small part by the motorsport successes of five-cylinder rally cars like the Sport Quattro S1 E2. But as technology progressed and turbocharging became more prevalent, the need for a straight-five layout dwindled. Today, the $63,400 RS 3 is the final five-cylinder holdout—not just for Audi, but for production cars in general.
In an era increasingly focused on electrification and modularity, the improbable introduction of the second-generation RS 3 back in 2022 seemed like fan service—an apparition that would likely vanish after a handful of diehards got their fill. But despite the headwinds that traditional performance cars have faced in recent years, the RS 3 not only lives on, it has actually been refreshed for 2025. While the tweaks are more evolutionary than revolutionary, they make what was already a highly entertaining sports sedan even more compelling. Well, for the most part anyway.
