Audi is 'not finished' with the RS3's 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine

The sonorous five-cylinder engine that powers the Audi RS3, among other models, hasn’t reached the end of its lifecycle yet. One of the company’s top executives suggested that a more powerful evolution of the straight-five will make its debut in the not-too-distant future.

“Honestly, we are really happy that the customers are jumping on that car like hell and we are not, let’s say, finished with the car. We have the five-cylinder, and we will definitely increase the five-cylinder for the next step. We will improve that,” said Audi Sport boss Sebastian Grams in an interview with British magazine Autocar. He added that the brand’s V6 engine will “improve” as well in the coming years.

While he didn’t detail the improvements his team has planned, he clarified that he does not “see a need to completely change the engines.” Dialing up the powertrain’s horsepower and torque outputs by adding a hybrid boost has seemingly been ruled out, too.

In the United States, the turbocharged, 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine is only available in the RS3 (pictured). Across the pond, it’s also found in the RS Q3 and the TT RS, though the latter is on its way out without a successor in sight. It develops 401 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque in the RS3, and how much farther Audi engineers can push it isn’t clear. Regardless, it sounds like a sports sedan worth waiting for.

Higher up in the Audi hierarchy, the RS6 Avant is scheduled to receive a round of updates as well.

“We are always trying to take the maximum out of the technology. This is how I challenge my R&D department. We can go even further. We can make the [RS6] even stronger, even more performance, even sharper,” Grams revealed in a separate interview with Autocar.

Here again, details about where Audi plans to take the RS6 Avant remain up in the air. We may not have to wait long to find out what the firm has in store: Autocar speculates that the hotter RS6 Avant could make its debut in 2024. Time will tell if it lands on the American market.