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Abt Sportsline, the winning DTM racer and largest tuner for VW group cars, has released renderings of its Abt R8, an ubercoupe meant to challenge Maranello's F430, Porsche's 911 Turbo, and it's own cousin, the Lamborghini Gallardo.
Under the carbon fiber hood installed to lighten things up and maintain optimal weight distribution, Abt has bolted a supercharger onto the 4.2L V8 to scare up another 110 hp, for a final tally of 530. Four-wheel-drive through 20-inch wheels will blast it from 0-62 mph in 3.9 seconds and all the way to 197 mph -- the kind of catapulting that would be sure to peel the gold and burnt copper paint jobs right off those renderings. The monster will even come with an adjustable suspension (height, pressure, and rebound) so you can be just as comfy pulling into the valet as you are at F1 speeds.
To keep the ballistic Bavarian on the ground, the Abt R8 gets a restrained-yet-brutish front air dam, a new rear diffuser, sculpted side skirts, and an "extravagant" rear wing. Cosmetically, specially-designed sideblades accentuate the car, and as if that rear wing wouldn't be enough to let people know you're not cruising in any ordinary Audi, quad tailpipes are inclined at the corners of the revised rear end. The car will be available in autumn. The pics are available right now. Feast.
[Source: Abt Sportsline]
The Abt R8: Sports car in perfection
There are cars and dream cars. The latter includes Lamborghini's Gallardo, Ferrari's F430 or Porsche's 911 Turbo. These cars make your heart beat faster and show the perfected magic of speed on the roads. Abt Sportsline's R8 will also be among these outstanding super sports cars and is getting ready to overtake them in the prestige duel.
The design studies already show the first impressions of Abt's sportiest creation – and prove that the Kempten-based tuner manages to perfect an excellent serial model like the R8 to detail and accentuate its racing genes already in the drawing. The front of the Bavarian R8 shows the marked Abt face. Together with the unique and beautiful rear with its four inclined arranged exhaust end pipes, the rear diffuser and the extravagant rear wing, the front of the Abt R8 is part of an overall concept that brings about phenomenal roadholding. The add-on parts of the super sports cars from the Allgäu-region improve downforce and ensure perfect balance of the front and rear axis. This is especially notable in speed ranges reserved for only a few cars. The sideblades which were developed especially for the Abt R8 and the Abt side skirts give the Abt R8 a new and individual design besides aerodynamical advantages. The aerodynamically efficient Abt body kit, which also includes carbon-fibre parts, is a real eye catcher but also shows the state-of-the-art Bavarian precision work. With the ingenious construction, which also includes a carbon-fibre bonnet, not only a maximum reduction in weight is achieved but it also ensures optimized weight distribution of the Abt R8 – the pure presence of the model athlete already shows this.
Technology and design milestones do not only come from Maranello or Sant'Agata-Bolognese but also from Kempten. The Abt R8 will be a gorgeous dream car with the genes of a top-class race car. This special automobile will belong to one of the fastest among the fastest; the Abt R8 will also challenge the Lamborghinis and Porsches. With regards to the anticipated performance data the Bavarians are traditionally discreet. But this data already amazes sports car fans and makes them want to spur the hot-blooded Bavarian horses. 530 HP (390 kW) are to be drawn from the 4.2 litre-V8 thanks to the Abt supercharger. Compared with the serial model which already shows impressive performance data this means an increase of 110 HP (81 kW). The brand new Abt 20-inch BR wheels stylishly transfer this power onto the asphalt. The all-wheel-drive dream car accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds and reaches a top speed of 317 km/h. These values are synonymous with magic and this extraordinary super sports car desperately wants to be driven. By means of the Abt suspension which is adjustable in height, pressure and rebound, the performance and driving comfort of the super sports car can be adapted perfectly to the requirements of its driver.
A dream car is becoming reality: In autumn the top-class sports cars will have a new challenger as this is when the almost unrivalled fast and uniquely beautiful Abt R8 becomes available.













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jason @ Apr 11th 2007 4:55PM
This thing looks so much better w/o the black-eyed front end.
oren @ Apr 11th 2007 5:13PM
anyone else not that impressed? still would rather have a z06 and save the extra $50k
http://www.montrealvip.com/packages/montrealgrandprix.php
Jake @ Apr 11th 2007 5:26PM
#2 - Of course you can save $50K and get a Z06, but then you have a car that any old schmoo can get. This car is an exotic. The Z06 simply isn't. Of course the Z06 could hang with it at the track, but that isn't the point of cars like this.
Lucas @ Apr 11th 2007 6:06PM
A 1.000.000 times better than OEM.
mr.ed @ Apr 11th 2007 10:56PM
They'll make you a smokin' deal.
Eriq @ Apr 12th 2007 12:04AM
Why even compare a Corvette with an Audi? That's offensive to all exotic cars like this. In terms of class and style overall the Audi blows Corvette out the water. Sure Corvette's are fast but that's all they have going for 'em. They're boring and the corvette interior depresses me (a friend just bought an 06). I prefer the whole package and something rare that not every man with a little bit of money can easily buy. Please don't let me hear any more "I can buy a corvette and save more money" comments, it's pointless.
HotRodzNKustoms @ Apr 12th 2007 12:38AM
I'm sorry but you CAN compare the Z06 to any exotic now. Hell Ferrari copied the Vette for the new 599. But anyways I do like the looks of this car more without the mismatched colored moveable gill panel thing. Plus the Audi should have had this supercharger in the first place to justify the price to me.
ruggels @ Apr 12th 2007 1:53AM
"Plus the Audi should have had this supercharger in the first place to justify the price to me."
bwaahahahahahha so good. remind me of the last time audi used a supercharger again? lol. being a fan of American cars is one thing, being completely ignorant of a car companies progress the last two decades is another. And while you can, indeed, compare it to a z06 i doubt any of it's prospective buyers would, they're not looking for cheap speed or best bang for the buck, when you're dropping 100,000$ on a car (for the base R8) there are other qualifying factors.
garion @ Apr 12th 2007 11:37AM
Not sure if I like the whole 80's Camaro look to the front end.. Not that I would turn one down if someone gave me one.
nagmashot @ Apr 12th 2007 1:07PM
#8
the time Audi used supercharger was 1934.
In 1937 they reached 520hp 853Nm out of a supercharged 6.0l engine...
In 1938 they reached speeds of over 400km/h on publics roads.
In 1938 they produced 485hp out of a dual charged 3.0l engine.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Auto_Union_Typ_C_-_1984-05-12.jpg
520hp 6.0l Audi able to reach easy 200mph... Bernd Rosemeyer crashed with one during a highspeed event at 270mph on the Autobahn...in 1938.
hope that reminds you enough
nagmashot @ Apr 12th 2007 1:24PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbqT_0w8CTg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myxMudtFX6g
just listen to that noise...and that was befor world war 2..
leo @ Apr 27th 2007 2:09PM
this shows where Audi went wrong with their design.
they have taken a bar of soap and converted it to an exotic.
- Yeap, I'd get the ZO6 as well - Audi just has no clue and I hate their bar-of-soap design.
If I was to spend this kind of money, the F430 would get me check - or the upcoming Alfa 8C.
Leon @ May 9th 2007 3:06PM
As 47 year old male who works in the car design industry, I'll have to say that this car does in fact look better than the Z06 on the in/outisde. BUT, I'm a person with common sense. Yes, it would be nice to drive a car that the average Joe can't get his hands on(proving little in the long run), but the last time I checked a cars performance, matched by it's price was the most impressive/important factor of the car. Still as stated before, if someone gave me an Audi R8 I'd accept it in a heartbeat.