Between the four and the six-cylinder nests a very closed club, that of the five-cylinder engines. Return, in gasoline as in diesel, to famous models from Alfa Romeo, Audi, Ford, Volkswagen, Volvo… which have benefited from this unique architecture.
Under the hoods, the cylinders work most of the time in pairs: four, six, eight, twelve, even sixteen on rare Alsatian tricolor racing cars. Exception that proves the rule, the five-cylinder engine is not lacking in appeal. Starting with an atypical sound, more power than that of a “four-legged” for a smaller footprint than that of a V6 or an inline six.
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Audi and Fiat, the five-cylinder specialists
Audi forged its reputation in competition with the Quattro in rallying, which distinguished itself by means of a five-cylinder, then in series with its Audi RS2 station wagon. Nevertheless, the brand with the rings does not have a monopoly on this type of engine. The Fiat group – through the eponymous brand and its Alfa Romeo and Lancia labels – also used it a lot during the second half of the 1990s and the 2000s. Land Rover and Mercedes have become specialists in the five-cylinder diesel. Let’s not forget either Volvo which, like Fiat, was not sectarian and also offered gasoline and diesel five-legged cars.
A five-cylinder for the Honda Vigor
Finally, on the other side of the Atlantic, Honda marketed under its local brand Acura a model called Vigor with an engine of this type available in 2.0 or 2.5. Discover or rediscover twenty famous models powered by a five-cylinder block. Today, this species is endangered. Only Volkswagen Group models remain, such as the Audi RS3, RS Q3, TT RS and the Cupra Formentor. By extension, we also find such engines under the hood of the Donkervoort D8 GTO, which use this block in a version boosted to 435 hp by the German tuner ABT.
>> Famous 5-cylinder cars <<
