Overview
- Audi Sport boss Rolf Michl told Autocar that evaluations and negotiations are ongoing and that the company is exploring options to retain the five‑cylinder but has made no final decision.
- Meeting EU7 will demand major changes to the engine’s filters, emissions sensors, fuel‑injection systems and catalysts, which would require substantial investment in hardware and software.
- The power unit is currently limited to the RS3 and is also supplied to Cupra’s Formentor VZ5, a small production footprint that makes the upgrade costs hard to spread across many cars.
- CEO Gernot Döllner has questioned whether Audi can refinance the necessary work, and if the engine is dropped the brand risks losing a distinctive, lower‑priced entry into its RS performance ladder and the characteristic sound that fans value.
- The five‑cylinder dates to 1976 and has been central to Audi’s sporting image through models such as the Quattro and RS2, and Audi recently released an RS3 Competition Limited that some saw as a possible swansong for the layout.