Mk7 VW Golf R with Audi RS3 Engine Sounds Incredible

One of the best parts about the 2.5 liter turbocharged five-cylinder engine from the Audi RS3 and TT RS is the fact that it sounds far bigger and more powerful than it is. Admittedly it is quite powerful, making 400 horsepower from the factory, but it sounds like it makes 600 horsepower and has five more cylinders. It’s especially awesome when it’s stuffed into a lighter, more unassuming looking car, such as the Volkswagen Golf R.

In this new video, we get to see a Mk7 VW Golf R with a highly tuned version of the Audi RS3 2.5 liter turbo-five under its hood. According to the video description, the RS3-powered Golf R and the other tuned Golf R in the video make a combined 1,100 horsepower, so we’re assuming that the RS3-powered Golf R makes between 500-600 horses.

More importantly than that, though, it sounds killer. The 2.5 liter turbo-five sounds incredible from the factory and even better when you start removing pesky emissions-saving bits, such as catalytic converters and OPF filters. But when it gets a tune and a full Akrapovic exhaust, it sounds like an absolute monster.

Okay, so it’s a bit too boomy at low rpm and the burble/fart-tune is a bit obnoxious. But once it starts revving up closer to redline, it sounds flipping fantastic. It’s raspy, growly, and angry in the way high-priced exotic supercars sound. In fact, it sort of sounds like a baby Audi R8 V10 Performance, which sort of makes sense, considering the RS3 engine has one bank of five cylinders and the R8 has two, so their sound profile sounds quite similar.

Obviously, doing an RS3 engine swap on a Mk7 VW Golf R isn’t cheap or easy but, if you have the funds and the ability to do so, you’ll get an incredible car that’s not only bonkers fast but sounds killer, too.