Audi is debuting the Audi RS5 TDI Concept at AMI Leipzig to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Audi’s TDI engine and it’s quite a car. The RS5’s 4.2L V8 has been removed in favor of a 3.0L V6 diesel engine featuring an electronically driven supercharger and a pair of turbochargers. The TDI engine will make 380 horsepower with a staggering 553 lb-ft of torque all paired to an 8-speed automatic transmission. All that power will be put on the ground through Audi’s Quattro all-wheel-drive system.
The supercharger will be unique from the usual supercharger setup in that it will be powered by electricity coming from a dedicated 48 volt electrical system. Since it doesn’t require the engine to spool up, there will be none of the usual engine lag.
Audi claims that the Audi RS5 Concept will go from naught to 60 in just four blistering seconds on its way to a top speed of 174 mph. They also say it’ll average about 47 mpg when driven economically, because that’s exactly how one would drive this car.
We don’t know whether or not Audi will produce tthe RS5 concept (probably not), but it’s a decent bet that electric turbochargers could make an appearance on production Audis somewhere down the line.
Check out our review of the 2015 Audi SQ5…
