The inline five-cylinder engine is one that should be quite familiar to fans of Audi’s racing history. It will soon be familiar to fans of the latest that the German automaker has to offer and it arrives in two flavors; the new 2018 Audi TT RS and 2018 Audi RS3.
Each comes packing 400 horsepower courtesy of an inline five-cylinder engine that’s backed up by 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox.
On the outside of both cars, you’ll notice clues to the lively mill hiding between the fenders. The front fascia is more aggressive and the rear sport exhaust belches noise from a pair of large, black, oval exhaust tips.
Inside you have RS stitched into the sport seats and a bit of suede mingling with leather. If you opt for the slightly more sporty TT RS, you also get the steering wheel lifted straight out of the Audi R8. Each car has lots of character, tremendous levels of performance, and serves up delightful noise. One has room for more to party while the other is fully focused on the task at hand. You can’t make a wrong choice here, because either path leads you into the Audi Sport family and you have an RS-badged machine parked in your garage.
We check both of the vehicles out on the turns of Lime Rock Park and the open road of rural Connecticut.
[Disclaimer: Audi flew us to NYC and put us up in a swank hotel. We choppered to and from the track and ate way too much Greek food. I’m now 65% feta cheese.]