Audi 2.5 TFSI (five-cylinder)

2.5 L · inline-5 · turbocharged · petrol · 2009–present

Also known as: 2.5 tfsi, cepa, ctsa, daza, rs3 engine, tt rs engine, five-cylinder tfsi, ea855, ea855 evo, vz5

Audi's turbocharged inline-five — the engine of the RS3 and TT RS, and a deliberate revival of the five-cylinder layout the company built its rally reputation on. It has won International Engine of the Year in its class repeatedly.

The layout is the point and the diagnostic frame. A five-cylinder's firing order gives it an odd-cylinder-count vibration signature and a distinctive sound, and its misfire arithmetic differs from a four or a six — which matters when reading a misfire counter or interpreting a rough-running complaint by ear. The later aluminium-block version dropped substantial weight over the original iron-block engine, and the two are quite different to work on.

In service the themes are those of a very highly boosted direct-injection engine: intake-valve carbon, high-pressure fuel-pump wear, and heat management that leaves little margin. These cars are also modified as a matter of course, so establishing the software and hardware state is the first question on any knock, boost or misfire code, ahead of any component test.

Cars fitted with this engine

9 generations, across 3 makes. From the authored catalogue — an absent car means the catalogue has not reached it, not that the engine was never fitted.

Audi

Cupra

Formentor KM 2020–present

Volkswagen

Golf Mk6 2008–2012

Information, not instruction

CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.

Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.

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