Five Into 3 Does Go

Drop one of the greatest car engines ever built into a family-size hatchback and what do you get? You get the Audi RS3 Sportback and, says jon wall, it’s awesome.

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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO the five cylinder engine? Twenty-five years ago, it seemed as if every major motor manufacturer was making them, enamoured of the inline five’s compactness (it’s only a little longer than a similarly configured four-cylinder), and the facts that it’s lighter, only slightly less smooth and considerably cheaper to build than a straight six.

Mercedes kicked off the trend in the 1970s. It was emulated by VW/ Audi and then picked up by the likes of Volvo, Land Rover, General Motors, Honda and Fiat – and soon, fives were being churned out in their millions. And then just as quickly they went out of fashion, victims of ever more rigorous fuel-efficiency and emissions regulations, the concomitant pressure to reduce engine sizes and the widespread embrace of forced induction across the motor industry.

Engineers may have long demonstrated a preference for engines configured in multiples of two, rather than for prime numbers, but enthusiasts continue to reserve a special place in the heart for the five. That’s partly because of the engine’s distinctive and sometimes magnificent sound, which derives from the unusual firing order of its pistons.