Audi 100/200/5000

The first 100 coupe and sedan established their semi-premium status soon after Audi became an official Volkswagen division in 1966. Ten years later, Audi’s second-gen 100 would gain an all-new inline-five and cement Ingolstadt’s obsession with this engine type, which continues to this very day. Based on the Volkswagen EA 827 four-cylinder, the 2.1-liter five made 136 horsepower in the 100 5E, an upmarket sibling to the base four-cylinder cars. In 1978, a diesel five rolled out making 70 horsepower. By 1989, the 100 TDI introduced direct injection, turbocharging, and electronic management, making the diesel good for 120 horsepower.





While European models sported the 100 and 200 monikers, Audi used the 5000 nameplate in the United States, where the engine’s output was strangled by power-sapping emissions modifications. Indeed, turbocharged versions of our 1980s-era 5000 sedan made less power than Audi’s original naturally aspirated five. Still, various versions of the five-cylinder 5000 wound up on our 10Best Cars list every year from 1984 through 1988 (although a sudden-acceleration scare during these years nearly drove Audi out of the U.S. market). By 1991, the five-cylinder’s final year in a U.S. Audi sedan, 2.2-liter turbo models were making as much as 220 horsepower. In Europe, the Audi fives lasted until 1997, in the A6 and S6 (the successors to the 100, 200, and 5000).