I’ll admit I have an admiration for car companies that aren’t afraid to do things their own way. For a long time, Audi was one of them as one of the pioneers of the 5-cylinder engine. When it was first introduced, a lot of people thought Ingolstadt was off its collective rocker to build and sell such an unconventional engine. For many years, the 5 was the staple engine of Audi’s lineup.

I’ll admit I have an admiration for car companies that aren’t afraid to do things their own way. For a long time, Audi was one of them as one of the pioneers of the 5-cylinder engine. When it was first introduced, a lot of people thought Ingolstadt was off its collective rocker to build and sell such an unconventional engine. For many years, the 5 was the staple engine of Audi’s lineup.

But as the Japanese and fellow Europeans continued to up their game and horsepower, Audi decided to abandon its oddball 5 and introduce a more conventional V-6. In time, the 1.8T and now the 2.0T four-cylinder turbos effectively filled the slot in Audi’s lineup where the 5 once was.

Now comes word that the top-of-the-line hot rod TT will have a direct-injection, turbocharged version of the Jetta’s 2.5L 5-banger with a rumored output is a potent 365 horsepower. Ironically, VW’s snoozer normally-aspirated 150-horse 2.5 is roughly half the Lamborghini Gallardo’s engine, albeit in a much more modest state of tune.

Ironic that in a round-about way, it took the VW Group’s acquisition of Lamborghini to bring a five back to Audi. But regardless of how it came, all I can say is “Welcome Back.”

Edward A. Sanchez