Turbocharged 5-Cylinder For The Audi R8 And Lamborghini Huracan?

In a recent analysis, Car and Driver suggested that the Lamborghini Huracan and the Audi R8 could both get a 2.5-litre 5 cylinder-engine.

Relax, don’t get mad because there’s nothing set in stone. Yes, it may sound completely mad, at first, but the story makes insanely good sense.

Basically, all car manufacturers want a slice of the China pie, but unfortunately, not everybody can take advantage of the country’s growing economy. That’s because the tax laws in China include an annual consumption tax on cars that gets higher with engine capacities. In fact, at the current exchange rates, a Huracan costs a little more than $500,000.

So, in order to have some success over there, it’s imperative for a car manufacturer to think outside the box and to approach things differently. According to the magazine, even Ulrich Hackenberg – Audi technical director – has acknowledged that life is difficult in Asia, due to the strict tax laws and that the R8 would have to adopt smaller engines to stay relevant in the market.

Here’s where a five cylinder 2.5-litre TSI engine comes in. Specifically, the supercharged and turbocharged variant fitted on the Audi TT Clubsport Turbo – which was unveiled at Worthersee 2015.

This little brute of an engine is considered the only one adequate to fill the gap, since every other Audi RS-derived power-plant has a big displacement that cancels out the replacement of the 5.2-litre V10.

As it sits in the concept Audi TT, the supercharged and turbocharged 5-pot boasts a cool 600-hoses and 649 Nm of peak torque, which makes it a lot more powerful than the V10 in the R8.

We can’t say for certain if the Huracan will get such a small engine, but apparently, at camp Audi, this issue has been raised. According to Stephan Reil – Quattro engineering director – there was no approved development to jam a smaller engine in the R8, even though he stated: “There are questions of the stability of the tax laws, questions of how much additional volume it would give us, questions of timing, questions of complexity, and questions of whether people in those countries even want us to do it,” he said. “We haven’t yet. But it has been talked about”.