You knew it was coming, but you weren’t sure when. Now you know; this fall at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Audi/VW specialist will present their tuned version of the R8. Albeit ABT hasn’t released any official images yet, the Bavarian tuner is teasing us as with a couple of sketches allowing us to get the picture. Design-wise ABT’s aero-kit includes side skirts, rear-wing, carbon-fibre bonnet, redesigned front & rear bumpers with the latter featuring four inclined arranged exhaust end pipes and of course, a new set of 20-inch alloys. Kinda bling-bling in a German way but we’ll wait to see it in real-life pics for our final verdict. ABT doesn’t say anything about interior-mods, but we more than sure that they’ll fiddle around with the cabin.

And now to the really important stuff. Thanks to the addition of an ABT supercharger, the stock 4.2 V8 gets a 110 Hp (81 kW) power hike pushing output to 530Hp (390 kW). According to ABT, the supped-up R8 accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.9 seconds and reaches a top speed of 317 km/h – 197 mph (stock version: 4,6 sec and 301 km/h – 187mph respectively). -Click “Read More…” below for the press release

PRESS RELEASE: Τhe 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

Technorati: ABT+R8, Audi+R8, Tuning, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, autos, Carscoop, blogs, 2007, images, pictures