Five Into 3 Does Go
Prestige Hong Kong|July 2017

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.

Five Into 3 Does Go

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.

This story is from the July 2017 edition of Prestige Hong Kong.

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This story is from the July 2017 edition of Prestige Hong Kong.

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