It was only a matter of time before Abt got its hands on a Volkswagen R32. The hot hatch is no slouch in stock form with 250 horsepower, but Abt has boosted output to 370 bhp via a supercharger complete with a water-cooled intercooler. This knocks the 0-60 mph time down to 5.0 seconds flat and raises the top speed to 167 mph. Abt has also fitted the R32 with an adjustable sport suspension, as well as 19-inch BR wheels. Follow the jump for the press release.
Last night, we showed you updated photos of Audi's A4 and A5 as reworked by Germany's Abt Sportsline. Tonight, we have a similar set of new shots from the same tuner, only this time the subject is the Audi R8, a car that doesn't need a whole lot of work to begin with. Abt leaves the engine alone, instead supplying a sport suspension, a brake upgrade, and new 20" wheels.
On the visual side, the car gets carbon fiber skirts and rear spoiler, along with replacement front and rear clips that tone down the oversized factory grillework on both ends. The front openings are now angled and feature colored CF inserts. Matching colored pieces are added to the sideblades and the rear end, too. The new rear bumper cover incorporates a diffuser-style bottom, smaller vents, and diagonal outlets for the exhaust tips. Pretty good stuff, if you ask us, and if the colored elements don't float your boat, you can probably go for a more standard look. Assuming you have an R8 for them to work on, that is.
We touched on Abt Sportsline's range of upgrades for the current VW and Audi offerings during last year's Essen Motor Show. Unfortunately, we only had drab-looking photos back then, and frankly, the dark backgrounds didn't do much to liven up the looks of the cars.
Since then, Abt has seen fit to produce complete photo sets that show off the company's modifications far better than the earlier images. The available mods are spelled out here, but in both cases, Abt can transform the A4 or A5 with a subtle body kit (especially when compared to some other tuners), new wheels, a sport suspension, a freer-flowing exhaust system, and a variety of power upgrades. In a perfect world where we could have the Euro-spec diesels, we'd happily opt for the Abt-tuned 3.0 TDI. In both cars, it packs 300 horsepower and a stout 442 lb-ft of torque. Yeah, we could get around just fine with that. Check out the new photos in the galleries below.
Abt Sportline has debuted its own version of the Audi R8 at the Essen Motor Show with a few changes from the tangerine-colored rendering that we first saw back in April. The front side grills now sport vertical slats instead of horizontal, and the hood is stock rather than a lightweight carbon fiber unit. Another visual difference is the 2-piece side blades, and there is no mention of the supercharger that Abt originally talked about. Still on the car is a carbon fiber rear fascia with quad exhaust, side skirts, rear wing, and front splitter. Abt also adds its own 20-inch wheels, sport suspension system, and massive 15-inch brakes.
Next month's Essen Motor Show will feature a ton of tuned vehicles from Europe's best and brightest, and among them will be Abt's interpretation of the new Volkswagen Tiguan. The new crossover has just hit the market abroad, but Abt has already done its best to make this new cute 'ute stand out from its stock counterpart.
On the outside, a two-tone body kit plays off the Tiguan's relatively staid styling to create a substantially more aggressive persona, complete with new front and rear spoilers, flared wheel arches, side skirts and a larger front grille. Abt didn't get into specifics about what suspension modifications were performed to drop the Tiggy over optional 18-, 19- or 20-inch rollers, but new brakes are part of the package.
Buyers who opted for the 1.4-liter turbocharged FSI engine will get a significant boost in output from 150 HP to 200 HP, while the 2.0-liter turbodiesel can either be had in 170 HP or 200 HP flavors. There's no mention of torque figures for either engine, nor are there performance estimates available in the press release after the jump.
To celebrate the 60th birthday of the VW Bus, Abt Sportsline has worked some of its black magic on the T5 Multivan's TDI powerplants. The Abt-enhanced 1.9 TDI produces either 110 or 130 horses, while the tuned 2.5 TDI offers up either 160 or 195 HP. Torque increases by an unspecified amount in all applications as well. To complete the package, Abt recommends you add its upgraded springs, new wheel/tire combo, full body kit, and sport muffler. Euro buyers who want to blow out the candles and salute the 60 years of the Bus in style can begin doing so on December 31.
On the heels of its latest creation the Abt TT Roadster, Abt Sportsline has released the first renderings of its forthcoming AS5 coupe. Based on the hot new Audi A5 powered by the European-market 3.0 TDI engine, the AS5 gets all the thing's you'd expect from a tuner like this: updated bodywork, a new wheel/tire package, a choice of engine upgrades, a new exhaust system, and more.
The AS5's new aero kit is typical of the work Abt has done before, with tastefully inplemented skirts and spoilers, along with a rear diffuser and fender-mounted side extractors. Quad exhaust outlets lend musclular looks and sound to the after portion of the car, and the TDI will be upgradeable to power levels of 272 or 300 horsepower. Sport suspension and brake upgrades will also be made available, and owners can top everything off with a two-tone paint scheme if so desired. We're very curious to see how that looks in the metal.
Abt Sportsline strongest ties to the Audi TT date back to when they ran a race version in the 2002 DTM series. Outside of racing however, Abt is known for its work modifying and tuning cars that sport the interlocking rings, and with the arrival of the TT Roadster from Audi, they're back on the case with a suite of appearance and performance upgrades.
For starters, Abt's new aero kit tastefully muscles up the open-top 2-seater with new skirts and spoilers -- de rigeur for a tuner like this. The obligatory wheel/tire upgrade is also available in 19" and 20" diameters. A sport exhaust with quad outlets gives the TT's rear a more serious visual and aural presence, while underhood, go-fast measures can be taken regardless of what engine the car's equipped with. Abt's regimen for the 3.2L six-cylinder involves the addition of a supercharger that helps boost output to 355 horsepower -- enough to propel the TT ragtop from 0-62 mph in five seconds flat. The standard 2.0 TFSI powerplant is not ignored either, with tuning packages that offer everything from a modest bump to 240 horses to an even more serious kit that offers a robust 300 hp.
Full details from Abt are in the press release after the jump, and a gallery of the hot little roadster can be found below.
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.
Perhaps because of the more striking and rapid R8 in the corporate stable, it's kind of easy to be underwhelmed by the new Audi TT's 250 hp. We don't expect 420 hp like the baby Gallardo offers, but something a little closer maybe. Something in the 300 range perhaps. Well the folks at ABT have read our minds. With their newest offering, the Audi TT-R, they managed to boost horsepower to 355. That should be enough power to get this little speedster to 60 from naught in about 5.1 seconds. And the engine isn't the only thing to change from its trip to ABT. A two-tone body, a new rear spoiler, different 5-spoke wheels, a new sporty interior and Audi TT-R badging are all also part of the package.
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