Doug DeMuro Reviews One of the Rarest Audis on the U.S. Market, It's Not What You Think

Treser was a German tuning company created by an engineer who used to work for Audi and help develop the mighty Audi Quattro. After he left the carmaker, he established a small shop that worked on Ingolstadt's products, made them look meaner, and tweaked their engines to produce more power. The European Treser version provided up to 250 horses for this model, which was insane for those times from a turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-five engine. Remember that this is a front-wheel drive vehicle that competed against the BMW 5 Series and the Merc's E-Class. Well, it didn't win, but at least it tried.

Walter Treser hit a barrier in the U.S.: he couldn't upgrade the engines due to stricter emission regulations, so the customers had to live with just the standard 140 hp. But the tuner didn't give up and sold the car anyway with an aero body kit. The car that you see here has it. Even though some parts look like they were repaired, the overall appearance is of a mean vehicle built for speed. But due to the weak engine, it is like an econobox with a wild body kit. The wheels, though, are just awesome. You can hardly say that you often got to see that design.

Moreover, Treser insisted on putting his company name on the car and installed small badges on the front and rear bumper. He also added the Treser writing on the trunk lid, just below the fat lip spoiler. The icing on the cake is found on the fenders, where some gutter-like cladding adorns the wheel-wells. Well, the Mercedes-Benz 300 Gullwing had something like that in the '50s.

Inside, Doug DeMuro emphasizes the Audi Treser Super 5000 unique features, such as the quirky automatic climate control unit or the steering wheel design. Although, I have to admit that the latter looks better than the original one found in those times Audis. As for the infotainment screen, I wouldn't go that far to call that squared LCD more than an on-board computer display. Moreover, I had a watch that was bigger than that. Last but not least, that metallic label looks like it was mounted by someone who had never held a screwdriver in their hands before.

As for driving, the Audi 5000 was good for its times, but not above the BMW 5 Series E34 or the E-Class W124. True, its well-composed interior didn't have rattles and unusual noises. But it was a front-wheel drive vehicle, which made it less scary than the RWD sedans built by the other two German premium carmakers. Although, as Doug notices, it feels livelier than a 140 hp sedan, and he's right. I still remember that the 5000 felt very quick on its feet.

But now, since the car is up for sale on Doug's website Cars and Bids, the potential buyers should check if they can get a proper Treser powertrain installed and give the car the performance it deserves according to its looks.