10 Automakers That Had An Intimate Relationship With Inline-Five Engines

In the automotive world, there are a few engines that come in affordable packages that also manage to genuinely stir the soul of enthusiasts. Can you think of any, past or present? Perhaps, the 1,6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder in the current Toyota Gazoo Racing Yaris and GR Corolla come to mind, and, from the past, the likes of the high-revving Honda S2000 F20C and K20 from the Civic Type R from the mid-two-thousands.

The inherent problem with the former is that three-cylinder motors tend to have an unsettling vibration at low rpm, while with the latter there’s no running away from the fact that they simply sound like any other high-revving four-cylinder. This is where the unique characteristics of the inline-five come into play.

The criminally under-utilized inline-five is one of those engines that gets enthusiasts to sit up and listen among the sea of same-same powerplants. As an engineering exercise, it ticks many boxes, undercutting larger displacement engines in price while offering strong performance without neglecting weight, reasonable efficiency, or throttle response. Then there’s the unmistakable sonorous bark, one you’d expect to come from a high-end sports car.

Sadly, very few brands have engineered these marvels. Here we’ll take a look at ten upstanding brands that have developed five-pot drivetrains one of which can still be bought new today.

In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturer archive websites.

10 Volvo 850 R

Top Speed: 155 MPH

Volvo has a rich history of developing fire-breathing turbocharged five-cylinder engines and some naturally aspirated ones too. Arguably the coolest car on this list and the least likely performance model to feature an inline-five. The Volvo 850 R is a family estate car that those in the know deeply desire and respect.

Performance Specifications

Back in the 1990s, Volvo participated in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) with a race-ready 850. The brand took what they learned from racing in the BTCC and applied that development knowledge to the road in producing the 850 R. Over and above the regular 850 Turbo, the 850 R offered lowered suspension, shorter gearing, a subtle body kit, sticky 17-inch rubber, and a front limited-slip differential. It’s not the obvious choice, but it’ll remain in the history books as a wicked family estate and one we’re glad that Volvo had the guts to put into production.

9 Ford Focus RS

Top Speed: 163 MPH

With stiffer lowered suspension, beefier brakes, improved downforce, and, of course, added power, the Ford Focus RS took the lessons learned from the 2.5-liter five-cylinder Focus ST and turned the recipe up to eleven. Before the launch of this facelifted model in 2010, Ford engineers subjected the Focus RS to over 400 laps (nearly 5,000 miles) of the fearsome Nordschleife.

Performance Specifications

Built to be the ultimate daily driver front-wheel-drive hot-hatch, the Focus RS had so much power sent through the front axle that torque steering became an issue. This is where an unwanted turning force is created around the wheel center and to mitigate that, Ford took six years to develop what they called the RevoKnuckle, a new piece of front suspension design. The result was that the Focus RS became one of the fastest front-driven cars ever made, and it remains a rarity today.

8 Fiat Coupe Turbo

Top Speed: 155 MPH

Do you remember the name Chris Bangle? He’s the infamous car designer known for penning the E85 BMW Z4 and the opinion-splitting E65 BMW 7 Series. Before his move to BMW at the turn of the millennium, he designed this two plus two Italian sports car with a five-cylinder heart. Despite its controversial aesthetic, the Fiat Coupe still looks the part despite its age. It’s clear that Chris Bangle was ahead of his time but, unfortunately, didn’t get much recognition for this one, as design house Pininfarina took care of the interior with many Ferrari-inspired touches and materials.

Performance Specifications

The Fiat Coupe was based on the Fiat/Alfa Romeo Type Two chassis, the same platform that underpinned the Alfa 145 hatchback and popular GTV and Spider and to assist the MacPherson strut front suspension dealing with the 229 lb-ft of torque it shipped standard with a limited-slip differential.

7 Land Rover Defender TD5

Top Speed: 98 MPH

In the mid-1990s, just before BMW took over Land Rover, the then Rover Group started Project Storm where Land Rover would design and develop a host of new configurable engine designs to keep up with emissions regulations. Once BMW had taken over, the German firm, of course, favored its own engines with both four and six-cylinder options, but the Defender’s engine bay was too short to fit a six-cylinder diesel, so the TD5 went ahead as the sole survivor of Project Storm.

Performance Specifications

The TD5 soon became the obvious choice within the Defender range, as for many years it was the only engine available, in a Defender while being sold alongside the Discovery TD5, Land Rover built more than 310,000 five-cylinder engines between 1998 and 2007. For Defender enthusiasts around the world, this torquey engine remains the one to have thanks to a timing chain rather than a timing belt and its unique diesel clatter.

6 Mercedes-Benz ML 270

Top Speed: 115 MPH

Can you believe that the W163 Mercedes-Benz ML was first launched way back in 1997? Shortly before the ML was launched, it had already made itself popular as Mercedes handed modified pre-production models to the producers of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Between 1998 and 2001, the inline-five ML 270 went into production as one of two turbodiesel variants and the body-on-frame SUV kick-started the German luxury SUV phenomenon we see today.

Performance Specifications

Despite starring in a host of films following Jurassic Park, the ML became popular as a status symbol, and it was an added benefit that it was handy off-road too, thanks to permanent four-wheel-drive. It also offered decent occupant space, and a class-leading luggage capacity at the time, while the five-cylinder turbodiesel offered ample torque for effortless cruising.

5 Volkswagen Jetta

Top Speed: 139 MPH

In 1999, Volkswagen launched the fourth generation Jetta VR5, also known as the Bora in some parts of the world. This was a brisk executive version of the compact sedan rather than a hot performance model. To demonstrate this, it had a subtle exterior except for a small V5 badge on the front grille and a rich leather interior with lashings of wood trim.

Performance Specifications

As the name suggests, the 2.3-liter VR5 engine is essentially an evolution of Volkswagen’s VR6 engine with one less cylinder. This VR design is technically an inline engine featuring a single head with a small angle separating the cylinders into a slight V. As you’d imagine, it makes a unique yet pleasant thrum, but it always lived in the shadow of the VR6 and unfortunately never received the same level of praise.

4 Acura Vigor

Top Speed:130 MPH

In North America, in the early 1990s, Japanese manufacturers had the market in a stronghold with impressive well-priced products from Honda, Nissan, and Toyota and, to add to the growing market, Honda’s luxury brand Acura launched the Integra-based Vigor in 1992, building on the momentum created by the launch of the NSX in 1991.

Performance Specifications

The choice of five cylinders for the Vigor was at the time an oddball choice, but the Acura executives had a method for their madness. The brand’s entry-level Integra would sport four cylinders, the mid-level Vigor five, and the top-of-the-range Legend six. The Vigor’s G25A1 engine had a single overhead cam, and four valves per cylinder and managed a respectable claimed 0-60 MPH time of 7.9 seconds. At the time, this was very competitive for the class of sedan.

3 Mazda BT-50

Top Speed: 112 MPH

Mazda had a great run with its MX-5, CX-3, and CX-5 while the BT-50 pick-up truck was something different altogether, having been co-developed alongside the T6 Ford Ranger. It, however, got the short end of the stick when it came to its styling and struggled with a firmer ride and more lethargic transmission calibration. Despite this, it is still a popular choice in countries like Australia and Thailand.

Performance Specifications

Underneath the sculpted bonnet you’ll find the same 3,2-liter 5-cylinder turbodiesel that was in the Ford Ranger of the time and for a good few years it remained one of the more potent mid-size pick-up truck engines until the Volkswagen Amarok V6 came along. It produced 197 HP at 3000 rpm and 347 lb-ft between 1750 and 2500 rpm and was mated to a 6-speed automatic.

2 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Top Speed: 118 MPH

The second generation Jeep Grand Cherokee codenamed the WJ was a watershed moment for the Jeep brand where it embraced the luxury side of what customers’ expectations were while retaining its legacy of go-anywhere off-road capability thanks to the brand’s QuadraDrive all-wheel drive system.

Performance Specifications

This 2.7-liter turbodiesel-powered Jeep was a well-balanced inline-five that offered smooth performance and respectable efficiency. At the time, Jeep was owned by Daimler, so it’s no surprise then that this engine is the same as the one found in the Mercedes-Benz ML270 found higher up on this list. The Jeep used a monocoque construction rather than a ladder frame, but it rode with firmer springs and dampers for better control when the going got tough.

1 Audi RS3

Top Speed: 155 MPH

Supercar-baiting performance in a muscular compact body is what Audi’s RS3 is all about. It’s meant to be the entry to Audi’s high-performance RS stable, but there certainly isn’t anything entry-level about it. With 401 HP sent to all four wheels via a quick-fire seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, it’ll crush the 0-60 MPH sprint in a claimed 3.6 seconds while the folks over at Car and Driver have tested it at a scarcely believable 3.3 seconds.

Performance Specifications

It’s sadly the only, and very likely, the last five-cylinder engine to go on sale. It marks the end of an era for the legendary Audi Quattro badged models as the potent five-cylinder of the past kick-started what the German performance brand became so well known for. If you’re by financial means, you should get one if it tickles your fancy, as this is a modern classic in the making.