What's the news?
In yet another display of German tuners taking ludicrously fast cars and putting their own stamp on them, Audi specialist ABT is bringing a veritable armada of tuned Ingolstadt products to the Geneva Motor Show this week. As part of a display that includes an Audi TT RS-R and a Formula E racer, ABT will show its take on the R8, SQ7 and RS 6 models.
The Audi R8 gets a mostly cosmetic going-over, with the typical carbon fibre splitters and frills, while some new wheels and ABT-specific interior detailing also appear. A stainless-steel exhaust system liberates an extra 20hp from the 5.2-litre V10 petrol engine, while new coilover suspension and a 50kg weight reduction are said to enhance road holding.
Audi's SQ7 also gets some aesthetic upgrades inside and out, and thanks to a frankly scary 520hp and 970Nm of torque from the 4.0-litre TDI engine, it's now what ABT terms a 'Super Utility Vehicle'. Quite. You'd need superhuman skill to hold on to this beast without some pretty sophisticated chassis trickery, and to that end the SQ7's air suspension now comes with ABT's own Level Control. Cheekily, ABT also suggests that the new carbon rear exhaust trims are the only view that competitors will see of the car, although with those engine output figures it's sort of hard to disagree...
As for the Audi RS 6 Avant, (now the RS6+ in ABT parlance), power has jumped by 100hp to sit at 705hp, and the biturbo V8 engine now produces 880Nm of torque, handy for uprooting any trees that the SQ7 may have missed. The standard RS 6 already moves like the proverbial off a shovel, so this thing will be just insane. Only 50 individually-numbered examples will be made, and all will get a suite of external and interior upgrades to distinguish them from the regular car.
As is the norm with tuner upgrades, the visual additions can be somewhat subjective, but who cares when these Audis have more than enough go to back up the show?