Is Audi TFSI More Than Just A Badge? It's Complicated
TFSI is an acronym that stands for Turbo Fuel Stratified Injection, and it was first used in the 2004 Audi A3. That humble A3 hid under its hood the world's first turbocharged direct injection gasoline engine, a technology that paved the way for all the ultra-high-output turbo engines that power many cars today. The TFSI name is reserved exclusively for Audi's gasoline-powered cars. Gasoline-electric hybrids are dubbed TFSI e, and diesels, which are no-longer sold in the U.S. after the Dieselgate dumpster fire, retain Volkswagen Group's TDI title in markets where they're sold.
Read more: These New Cars Just Aren't Worth The Money
Turbo Fuel Stratified Injection technology for gasoline engines was once a remarkable innovation that has since become quite commonplace. Traditional fuel-injected engines that don't use direct injection usually use throttle body injection or port injection; those systems spray gasoline into the intake port where it's mixed with air before it enters the cylinder via the intake valve. In contrast, gasoline direct injection directly injects gasoline into the cylinder, which increases efficiency by burning the fuel more completely which produces less exhaust. Gasoline direct injection requires beefed up injectors that can withstand high pressures and temperatures while still remaining incredibly precise for optimized fuel metering and atomization, as well as high-pressure fuel pumps, fuel rails, engine control modules, pressure sensors, and unique air intake systems to work properly.
Direct injection is known to lead to carbon buildup on the intake valves and ports since fuel doesn't wash over them like it does in traditional port injection systems. This can be mitigated by using high-quality gasoline, and keeping up with maintenance like frequent oil changes and monitoring your spark plugs. The more advanced technology can also result in more expensive repairs, and it can push prices up.
The benefits of direct injection, especially in turbocharged engines, outweigh the negatives. Direct injection is more efficient, allowing engines to use less fuel, and direct injecting a turbocharged engine means you get that boost in power while retaining more efficient combustion. This has allowed turbocharged direct injection engines to provide big power numbers while producing fewer emissions, which allows automakers to continue producing powerful cars despite stricter emissions regulations.
The numbers placed before TFSI don't actually mean anything outside the world of Audi's own numerical structure. Audi decided to make the numbers represent different ranges of power outputs. For example, 40 TFSI cars have power outputs that range between 167 and 201 horsepower. The ranges have changed a bit over the years too, just to make things harder to comprehend, and the brand is ditching the numbers for its next-gen vehicles completely.
This can be confusing in the case of the 2025 Audi Q3 45 TFSI. It is the only Audi model currently on sale with a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 that produces 228 horsepower and 251 pound-feet of torque. All of Audi's other 45 TFSI models produce more power, but share the same 45 TFSI badge. The A4, A5, A6, Q5, and Q7 45 TFSI models all use a 2.0-liter inline-4 that produces 261 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque, so they make a lot more power than the Q3 45 TFSI, but the outputs are still in the same output range, as defined by Audi.
Engine displacement, aka the size of the engine, doesn't play a factor in the numerical aspect of the TFSI naming structure, just the engine's power output. That's what TFSI means, and the numbers that precede it mean, and no, I don't think the naming scheme makes much sense, either.
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For creating a genre, for providing considerable driving excitement at a time when there wasn't much, and for launching what is today a cornerstone of the Audi brand, the first quattro must be recognized as an accomplishment of major significance. Happy 25th. Ask the Company Who Owns One (Several, in fact) Audi Tradition, the company's museum, history archive, and classic car collection, owns and maintains at least one of each model quattro. They're used for displays, driving demonstrations, club, and yes, media events. Why they like it: Several of the guys who fettle the company's fleet comment on how they're still fun to drive, especially in the snow. Why it's collectible: Audi of America's records indicate that just 664 Ur quattros were sold from 1982 through 1985, so they're rare. They're also quick and technically interesting. Restoring/maintaining: A quattro is an expensive car to run and/or restore. There are three differentials to look after, plus the center diff's vacuum actuation system. Parts are available, but expensive, and may need to be sourced from Europe. Powertrains are tough if cared for. Turbos tended to get noisy and wear out; expect to replace or rebuild them every 75,000 miles. The interiors did not wear well. Expect to pay: Concours-ready quattro: $12,000-$18,000; solid driver: $5000-$10,000; tired runner: $2500 and up (source: Join the club: Audi Club North America ( Our Take Then "...the quattro is, quite simply, one of the most delightful vehicles we've ever evaluated... [it is] destined to serve as a rolling testbed for a number of Audi's future production designs... [but] for now, we're content with the quattro. After all, sometimes a little showing off isn't such a bad thing. "--Bob Nagy, MT, June 1982 road test. Now One of the performance classics of the 1980s and the start of the whole rally-as-road car genre. As a collectible, they're cheap to purchase, although have the potential to be expensive to own. Performance still holds up, and they're rare. Snow Play Quattro A2 Rally When skiers want to get to the top of a steep run, they take a lift. Heck, you can't walk up there. But believe it or not, you can drive there, if you happen to be peddling an Audi A2 quattro rally racer. Michele Mouton drove this one to second place in the driver's championship in 1983. It's stripped, gutted, reinforced, and has enough candle power on its nose to get a 747 through a midnight rainstorm. The rumbling, popping turbo five has been twisted up to about 350 horsepower. I'm strapped into the passenger-side racing bucket as retired German rally car pilot Jochi Kleint revs the motor and lets out the clutch. Once the car is rolling and the engine's built some boost, he floors the throttle and heads straight for the top of the snow bank. That's up a frozen hill. On narrow street tires. No studs, no chains--just quattro-style traction. The engine bangs on and off the rev limiter, as Kleint pitches the tail out and back; we spray waves of snow to either side, laughing like fools. He spins a big brodie at the top, then heads down the bank. Another pirouette, and then we do it again. More spraying, more revving, more laughing. This quattro stuff is amazing. Driving the Mountain Shattering Records and Setting Them, At The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb If the United States has anything that resembles the world's most difficult rally stages, it's the annual foray to, or more correctly up, Pikes Peak. It's been an American motorsport staple since 1916, and a variety of quattros have taken the overall victory there. In 1985, it was the quattro queen herself, Michele Mouton, who won the race in record time. Her record fell in 1986 to Pikes Peak perennial Bobby Unser, driving a Sport quattro S1. Walter Rohrl made it a threepeat in 1987, aboard an even more radically winged Sport quattro S1, rated at nearly 600 horsepower. His record time of 10 minutes, 47 seconds remains impressive; it took another 15 years to get down to the 10-minute mark.
