It has been rather troubling for Audi fans since the confusing statement from 'The Insider' of some apparent high rank official in Audi from CARmagazine's interview; stating that the upcoming RS4 and RS5 will be using a 3.0 V6 Supercharged power plant, rendering wild speculations of how highly compressed the engine had to be in order to surpass the current 420hp, high revving 4.2 liter V8 that has won numerous awards, obtaining many positive reviews from automotive journalists, with even Jeremy Clarkson stating as 'The best engine in the world'.
Well Fourtitude had once and for all banished all speculations and confirmed that Audi will still be using a V8 powerplant, perhaps tuned higher to produce powers up to 450hp - 470hp. Moreover, Audi is currently developing a 4.0 V8 TFSi engine which will debut in the next A8, hence there could be a possibility whereby the next RS4 and RS5 could be using force induction to achieve the output needed to again place Audi within the ranks of crazy super sedans from the German Trio.
We would like to bank on the force induction route for the RS4 and RS5, firstly it makes no sense to have the RS5 using a 3.0 V6 TFSi whilst the already in showroom S5 is using a 4.2 V8 powerplant (The very reason why S3's 2.0 TFSi makes no sense compared to A3's 3.2 V6). And the current B7 RS4's 4.2 V8 is already very highly tuned to produced 100hp per liter of displacement. With the Lexus IS-F and Merc 62AMG already developing 450hp, the next RS4 and upcoming RS5 should produce more than current outgoing rivals, and since the RS6's 5.0 liter V10 Bi Turbo produces 580hp, pushing the next RS4 waywards to 480hp is very likely logical and a 'safe' option for Audi.
The upcoming RS4 and RS5 will also be equipped with Audi's latest 7 Speed S-Tronic (Audi's DSG) dual clutch automated transmission, Audi's Sports Differential will also make its debut, coupled with Audi Drive Select, which allows the driver to customize the throttle mapping, steering ratio, weight, suspension height and shift points in the transmission simply through Audi's 2nd generation MMI II.
All in all, the confirmation from Quattro GmBh's boss Stephan Reil that the B8 RS4 will be using a 4 liter V8 plant is reassuringly delighting.
