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MTM launches its 472-horse Audi TT RS with a 194 mph run at Nardo

Noah Joseph — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 18:28:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Coupe, Performance, Audi

MTM Audi TT RS - Click above for high-res image gallery

You'd be forgiven for believe the Audi TT RS is fast enough. By most accounts it is, packing a 340 horsepower, turbocharged inline five, it's good for a four-and-a-half-second sprint to sixty and a 174 mph top speed. But if you're going after the triple-century metric mark (close to 200 mph), you're going to need a little something extra.

So says MTM. And they ought to know. The German tuning house has a history of taking Audis to the V-max and beyond, having brought an RS6 Avant to 344.2 km/h in 2009, a radical twin-engine TT to 393.6 in 2007 and a Bentley to 331 in 2008.

In an effort to take the TT RS past the 300 mark without the need for breaching the 500 hp mark, MTM tweaked the ECU, modified the turbo spools and fitted a new exhaust system - along with new wheels, tires and brakes. The result of the engine mods was 472 hp, enough to get its customized TT RS up to a GPS-certified top speed of 312 km/h (just under 194 mph) at Italy's Nardo test track. And they'll sell you the modifications too, for a price: €14,500 for the engine mods and another €9,973 for the suspension and wheel work, taxes and installation included.

Having proven their point about power:speed ratios, MTM's also working on a 500+hp version. We can hardly wait to see what they'll manage with that one, but for now you can check out the images in the gallery below and the details in the press release after the jump.

Gallery: MTM Audi TT RS 20th Anniversary

[Source: MTM]

Continue reading MTM launches its 472-horse Audi TT RS with a 194 mph run at Nardo

MTM launches its 472-horse Audi TT RS with a 194 mph run at Nardo originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: 2009 MTM Audi A3 Sportback is a singular sport (with) utility

Chris Paukert — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:57:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Performance, Europe, Hatchback, Audi, New Car Reviews

2009 MTM Audi A3 Sportback - Click above for high-res image gallery

In the automotive world, price is increasingly a function of degrees. How's that? Dial in a faster windscreen angle, aggressively rake the rear glass and - voilà! - you've just padded your margins to the tune of a few thousand bucks. Take a plain-jane sedan, hire some stylists to turn it into a "four-door coupe" with a racy greenhouse, and you can use the same mechanicals and still charge a mint. The same goes for crossovers - just steepen the backlight and you're in the ducats. Not convinced? See the Mercedes-Benz CLS and BMW X6 for field notes.

MTM is planning on selling only 15 of these in the U.S.

We note all of this because we're sure you're going to look at the upright profile of this MTM Audi A3 Sportback and dismissively turn up your nose when you learn its pricetag is around $55,000. But if we lopped off a couple of doors or gave it a less formal roofline, we'd be willing to bet that its price would suddenly look a lot more palatable. All of which is understandable, really, as $55k is a lot of coin to be shelling out - especially considering that at a few shekels over $27k, a base A3 starts at roughly half the money.

But shelve your bodystyle prejudices and bear with us for a moment. If you're like us, you've looked longingly at a lot of what the Four-Ringed Wunder has been kicking out on its home continent - models like the RS6 Avant, TT-RS and S3. And unless you've got some seriously deep pockets, an inside man on the gray market and a relative who owes you a favor at the local DMV, you haven't got a prayer of landing any such tasty treats here in the U.S. So while the folks at Motoren-Technik-Mayer (MTM) can't source you an assembly-line-fresh S3 for your middle-American driveway, they can build you a road-legal doppelganger, and as it turns out, that ain't half bad.

We've talked up the Audi A3's virtues and vices before, so we'll spare you the gab about how much we enjoy its well-resolved interior, grippy Quattro all-wheel drive, planted handling and surprising utility. We've also not been shy in mentioning how its price tag can get disastrously dear with just a brief once-over of Audi's options list - and that's before handing it over to a tuner like MTM. But enough with the apologies - ride along with us past the jump to see if this hot hatch is full of excuses... or full of win.

Gallery: Review: 2009 MTM Audi A3 Sportback

Continue reading Review: 2009 MTM Audi A3 Sportback is a singular sport (with) utility

Review: 2009 MTM Audi A3 Sportback is a singular sport (with) utility originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MTM tunes the Audi RS6 Avant to 702hp

Noah Joseph — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:58:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Tuners, Wagon, Europe, Audi

Click to view the MTM RS6 M in our hi-res gallery

With a 580-hp twin-turbo V10 derived from the Lamborghini Gallardo's mill, the Audi RS6 is hardly a candidate for improvements. It's a station wagon that outguns supercars, for crying out loud. But we had to figure that it would only be a matter of time until someone tried, and German tuning house MTM has stepped up to bat.

To give you an idea of what MTM's engineers are capable, with just a tweak of the ECU they've managed to boost output to 656 hp, dropping the 0-60 time down from an already outstanding 4.6 seconds to a scant 3.9. Throw in a stainless steel exhaust and a new air filter and presto! You've got 702 horses underhood. MTM is also offering some reserved carbon fiber aero bits, a new set of brakes, revised dampers and 21-inch wheels. We don't know what kind of world this is where you can get your hands on a 700 horsepower wagon, but we like it. Check out the high-resolution images in the gallery below.

Gallery: MTM Audi RS6 M

[Source: MTM via World Car Fans]

MTM tunes the Audi RS6 Avant to 702hp originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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