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What's The Best Audi Engine Ever Made? - EuroSport Tuning | Performance parts and accessories for Audi, BMW, Volkswagen, Mini, Mercedes Benz, Porsche and Volvo

What's The Best Audi Engine Ever Made?

Posted by Eurosport Tuning on 2021 Sep 21st

What's The Best Audi Engine Ever Made?

The best Audi engine ever made - what is it? Does one engine in particular come to mind when you think about the “best”? What makes an engine the “best” anyways? Is it horsepower? Innovation? Displacement? Perhaps coming from the factory with twin turbos would do it? It’s hard to answer these questions, so it’s hard to nail down a clear winner of the title as being the best Audi engine ever made. However, we searched the internet far and wide to try and find which engines could make good candidates for the title, and here are our picks.

Supercharged 3.0L TFSI DOHC V6

Wards Auto named this engine as one of the top engines of the year for the 5th time in a row in 2014. This stealthy engine makes 333 horsepower @ 5,500 rpm and 325 lbs-ft of torque @ 2,900 - 4,500 rpm. It’s a bench mark engine of the modern Audi lineup as V8s have become increasingly less popular for luxury cars over the last few years. As of 2014, 2/3rds of Audi’s product lineup counted on this engine for power. This versatile engine words in small sportier cars like the S4 and S5, as well as the more spacious cruisers like the A7 and A8 sedans, and SQ5 & Q7 utility vehicles. This engine is even used in some Volkswagen and Porsche hybrids as well.

Turbocharged 2.0L TFSI DOHC I-4

This engine is a wonderfully balanced and fuel-efficient four-cylinder and five time Ward’s Top 10 Engines winner. It’s both practical and full of technology like an optimized variable turbo and valvelift system that allows variable control over the exhaust valves. Featuring a super efficient intercooler, low-friction internal components, twin balance shafts, six-hole fuel injectors, variable nozzle turbo, variable valve timing, state of the art electronic controls, and a variable length intake manifold. Basically, it’s a very flexible engine. Audi’s more popular model, the A4, counts on this engine to keep the wheels moving.

2.0L EA827/EA113 TSFI DOHC I-4

Introduced in 1972 in the Audi 80 as the EA827, this engine evolved into the EA113 in 1993. The latter EA113 was updated with Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI) direct injection, made 268 bhp and was introduced in the Audi TTS. Forty million of these engines have been made over the years and the EA113 is still in production. In 2008, this engine was included on the Ward’s Automotive Top 10 Best Engines list when it was primarily used in the Audi A3.

4.2L V8 079.D FSI DOHC V8

This design was based on an existing Audi 40 valve 8 cylinder engine. The new version was heavily revised to differ from the prior engine with a new crankshaft, cylinder heads, valve train, pistons, connecting rods, oil system, cooling system, intake, exhaust, and engine management systems This engine is available in two different forms, one being a comfort version initially used in the Audi Q7 — the other being a sports centric high-revving engine borrowed from motorsports for the B7 RD4 Quattro and Audi R8. This engine is the first eight-cylinder engine to use Fuel Stratified Injection — a technology developed by Audi for their LeMans champion R8 race car.

3.2L FSI DOHC V6

A Ward’s pick for 2005 for the direct gasoline injection, being the 1st ever volume orientated application for power enhancement and fuel savings amongst the direct injection technology used in the North American market. Instead of injecting fuel into the intake manifold, the FSI injects the fuel right into the cylinder at pressure 20 to 30 times stronger than used by indirect injection. This is a technology most gear heads are familiar with today, but it was in this engine that it first appeared — blowing away automotive media outlets and drivers everywhere. It also debuted making 255hp @ 6,500 rpm & 243 lbs-ft of torque.

4.2L DOHC V8

This 40 valve V8 pumps out an extremely impressive 253 horsepower @ 7,000 rpm and 430 lbs-ft of torque at 3,500 rpm. It was placed on the 2004 Ward’s Automotive Top 10 Best Engines list for it’s big displacement and ability to throw a small bodied car around on the track or road. It was also recognized for it’s refinement and technologies, something not really found on the muscle car competitors of 2004. This engine allowed luxury car enthusiasts to have the best of all worlds when they slid behind the wheel of the Audi it powered.

Turbocharged 1.8L EA827/EA113 DOHC I-4

Appearing in more than a dozen different vehicles, this turbocharged engine made the list of Ward’s Automotive Top 10 Best Engine, where it shared the list with the 2.7L V6 biturbo brother. It was in the Audi A4 at the time, and also used in various other Audi and Volkswagen models. This was a 20 valve turbocharged engine that delivered plenty of kick and was highly efficient.

2.7L “Biturbo” DOHC I-6

This biturbo 30 valve V6 pumped out 261 horsepower @ 6,100 rpm and 440 horsepower @ 2,500 rpm. The engine featured enlarged intake and smaller exhaust ports on the two cast aluminum heads. More importantly, it has two parallel BorgWarner K04-series turbochargers with with larger side-mounted intercoolers. As it appeared in the B5, the engine has featured dished pistons, stronger connecting rods, larger intake ducting, an recalibrated engine management system. These upgrades allowed the engine to make 375 horsepower @ 7,000 rpm and 325 lbs-ft of torque @ 7,000 rpm.

2.8L FSI DOHC V6

This is another forum favorite that we knew we had to add to our own list of best Audi engines! It’s basically a stroke-reduced version of the 3.2L V6 FSI — it was with this engine that Audi introduced the valvelift variable control lift of the intake valve lift. Internally, it is made with cast aluminum heads, low friction finer cam followers with hydraulic valve clearance compensation, a chain driver double overhead cam, continuous adjusting valve timing for intake and exhaust cams, and two-stage valvelift intake valve lift variable control.

Turbocharged 2.5L DOHC I-5

This engine is an enthusiasts’ favorite, and for good reason. It came from the factory making 232hp @ 6,500 rpm and a very torquey 410 lbs-ft of torque @ 3,000 rpm — now that’s a lot of kick at a low rpm! What really wins over gear heads about this engine is it’s responsiveness to modifications. After rolling through the forums for a while to find what inspires people about this engine, it’s definitely the engine’s ability to handle tons of mods being thrown at it and an awesome based power/torque rating to start from.

Our Picks

So here are all of the options laid out for you to see. Lots of advancements have been introduced in Audi engines, lots of power has been made, and smiles put on faces for sure. However, we have it narrowed down to our pick of the top two:

1. Supercharged 3.0L TFSI DOHC V6 — This engine is a our top pick based on power and its having the most placement on the Ward’s Automotive Top 10 Best Engines lists throughout the years.

2. Turbocharged 2.5L DOHC I-5 — Why? Because it seems to be the favorite of Audi gear heads!

Which ones are your top two? Head over to our Facebook page now to voice your opinion!

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