To hear the words "2.3 litre 5 cylinder engine" doesn't exactly stir people into fits of anxiety.  Most will ask you how a 5 cylinder can possibly work...

Audi has proven it can, and extremely well.  For over 10 years, the 5 cylinder engine was a staple of the Audi family line-up.  Most cars could be optioned with it and even the first of the top-performance 'S' series of Audi used the magnificent 5 cylinder (oh, they also had a bit of a reputation in rallying.  A bit...).

When Audi made a double over-head cam, 4 valve per cylinder version they unleashed a totally new beast.  This was a well-proven, durable and reliable engine that now had enough power to seriously excite.  And that was before they bolted on a turbo.

The car I've driven (quite often) is a naturally aspirated 20v quattro.  The engine sings for it's supper, and the torque-sensing (TORSEN) quattro system makes this a seriously potent little machine.  The only limit to how fast you want to corner is how big your bal.. er, bravados, are.

First gear is a bit short, and low down the rev range isn't where the excitement is.  It's only once the tacho needle is screaming it's way around to the 7000 RPM redline that things start to get interesting.  So unless you bag it up and drop the clutch off the line, it tends to bog down on take-off.

It makes up for it when it's moving though, and in-gear acceleration is impressive.  Get the right gear and the right revs and the punch from that engine is staggering.

Parts prices can make you cry, and being well over 15 years of age now, they're all going to require some work.

I couldn't drive it every day though.  I'd lose my license!

Imagine what a turbo version is like?!