The head of Audi Sport has dropped a sizeable hint an even more powerful RS3 is coming, saying the firm is “not finished” with its iconic 5-cylinder engine just yet…

Audi Sport managing director Sebastian Grams has suggested an even more powerful RS3 is on the horizon, saying the German automaker is “not finished” with the compact performance vehicle nor its 5-cylinder engine.

The comments point to something of a swansong for the turbocharged 2.5-litre 5-pot, since Audi plans to launch its final combustion-engined new car by 2026, before shifting completely to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2033. And it looks likely a more powerful version of this engine will be used in the RS3 rather than the TT, seeing as production of the latter is due to end in October 2023.

“We have a perfect 5-cylinder engine, which is very unique in the market. We have a 6-cylinder engine, and we will improve these technologies into the next step. I do not see a need to completely change the engines,” Grams said, according to Autocar, at an event celebrating 40 years of Audi Sport.

“Honestly, we are really happy that the customers are jumping on that car [the RS3] like hell and we are not, let’s say, ‘finished’ with the car. We have the 5-cylinder and we will definitely increase the 5-cylinder for the next step. We will improve that.

Audi is seemingly not done with its 5-cylinder engine just yet…

“There’s still a way to go. We have done the RS3 Performance Edition, which is faster, which has more performance, which has bucket seats and another calibration. You can see that we will really sharpen our products in the future,” he said.

Interestingly, the high-ranking executive suggested more power could be extracted from the 5-cylinder engine without the need for any sort of electrification. For the record, the current all-paw RS3 Sportback and RS3 Sedan boast peak outputs of 294 kW and 500 Nm, while the aforementioned RS3 Performance Edition revealed for Europe last year makes 299 kW.

Of course, the vehicle at the very top of the power tower in this segment is currently the Mercedes-AMG A45 S, which employs a turbocharged 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine sending 310 kW and 500 Nm to all 4 corners. Whether the next (and possibly final) tweak for the RS3 will take it past its Affalterbach-fettled foe remains to be seen.

Of course, the next-generation A3 is due around 2027 and is poised to completely ditch combustion engines in favour of electric motors. An earlier report suggested the S3 and RS3 badges would live on, though obviously be applied to performance EVs rather than combustion-engined models. So, this rumoured uprated RS3 is likely to be a final farewell for the 5-pot…

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