Remember H&R? They're the German aftermarket suspension shop selling the 24k gold-plated springs
Gunning for a Speed Record: H&R's Promo Porsche
R Line: Accessory Packages for Euro V-Dubs
Volkswagen Individual, the company's in-house accessories shop for European tweakers, revealed its R line models at the Essen show last week, with such packages planned for the Golf, Touran minivan, Passat and Touareg SUV. Some might say the company is irreparably diluting its R performance brand (whither the new R32…
'Worlds Quickest/Fastest 6spd Supra in the World' on eBay
Okay, the ad for this car reads like something that would be placed in the Recycler if Coach Z had replaced Kyle Gass in Tenacious D and they were looking to fill out the band. But still, 1400+ horsepower at the rear wheels and times in the mid-eights at over 170? That's serious business, friends. Nevertheless we…
ALUMINUM UND SHTEEL! TUNED! Mit Extra Bruce! The Oettinger TT
The bwahs und grills at Oettinger have taken the new Audi TT under their wing and slapped on a body kit and dug into the 2.0 turbo mill to add sort of extra boost to the formerly Bauhausian and now rather butch little Rabbit-based car constructed of a hybrid of aluminum und shteel. Besides the ber-precise 350…
V8 Vantage by Prodrive
Motorsports engineering house Prodrive has turned some of its Aston Martin competitive-tuning knowledge on the general public. Developed by way of partnership with the Aston Martin Racing team, the company's tweakage boosts the V8 Vantage's power source from 380 hp to 425 hp, with torque increased from 302 lb-ft to…
Essen Show Preview: Cobra N+ Nissan Qashqai
Our chap about town, Nick Hall, is hanging around Germany's Essen tuner show (like the US's SEMA), attending to the ladies vehicles on display. While he's there, he'll likely come across Cobra's N+ program as applied to the Nissan Qashqai, the company's new compact SUV currently only available in Europe. The package…
World's Fastest Fish: AC Schnitzer's BMW Tension Breaks BMW Speed Record
AC Schnitzer's Tension concept hit 206 mph on the Nardo test track in Southern Italy, stopping far short of schooling the Brabus Rocket Mercedes CLS, which peaked at 227 mph during the same AutoBild magazine showdown. But it's enough for the AC boys to call their creation the world's fastest street-legal production…
Down the Hatch: Heico's Volvo C30 Diesel Tuner
With the US version of the new Volvo C30 hatch debuting at the Los Angeles Show this week, a Swede-lover's fancy can't but turn to thoughts of tuning the crap out of one. Down, boy. Volvo tuner Heico Sportiv is unveiling its HS3 D5 at the Essen show in Germany next week. The diesel-fired hatch isn't quite a screamer,…
Body Kit and Kaboodle: The PPI Audi Q7
The Audi Q7 is becoming one of the most heavily messed-with SUV models in tuner-shop history. This time, it's PPI who's doing the tweaking — first with a body kit, then with three stages of engine tuning, up to 600 hp. All they've got to show is a few digitally enhanced images, but we'd imagine some footballer or…
AC Schnitzer's New BMW Coupe, Roadster
AC Schnitzer, as part of its press prep for Germany's Essen show, revealed a new tuning package for the BMW M Roadster and Coupe. The Z4Ms have been accessorizied to within an inch of their lives, with compatible kitting that include carbon aerodynamic add-ons, a 3.91 : 1 axle ratio (compared to the standard 3.62 :…
Do Not Front on My Brabus, Nor Should You Front upon Mein Bruce: Claus …
We like Claus Ettenberger, a man who can rock a Hugo Boss cap without irony, and will complete a cross-country rally as fast as possible simply to have time to shower, say hello to his family and then head up to Ventura to play fu ball. As an official installer of all things Brabus and AC Schnitzer, not to mention…
Das Rokit: Brabus Super CLS Breaks Speed Record
The Brabus rocketeers say they've broken the speed record for street-legal sedans, having been certified by Germany's technical standards agency, T V, for hitting over 227 mph on the Nardo test track in southern Italy. The ber tuner's ber sedan, the Rocket — based on a Mercedes-Benz CLS — is powered by a bored-out and …
Psycho Audi Tuner Coming to Essen Show
German VWMoCo tuner, Alfons Hohenester, is bringing what he says is the world's fastest Audi A4, the Hohenester HS650 Nardo, to the Essen show next month. Just last month, the twin-turbo sedan hit 216 mph on the Nardo track, with a score of lab-coated calculations monkeys in attendance to testify on its behalf. The…
Command Presence: A Polizei-tuned Brabus Rocket
Last year, on occasion of the Essen auto show — Germany's version of SEMA — tuning safety organization Tune It Safe showed off a tuner Porsche 911 dressed up as a police cruiser. This year, to promote its agenda of preventing accidents from faulty self-tuning jobs, it's unveiling a Brabus CLS Rocket decked out in full …
i'll Be DAMD: Japanese Design Firm Hots Up the Mitsubishi i
Japanese design firm DAMD aims for SUPER UNDERBODY POTENTIAL! with its new BLACKxMETAL kit for the miniscule Mitsubishi i. The company says the three-piece package, which comprises front and rear half spoilers and side skirting, does more than just pretend to offer i drivers more downforce, it also creates chiaroscuro …
Top Loder: Dressing up an Aston Martin V8 Vantage in Couture
Who would have thought the bespectacled Bavarians at Loder 1899 could improve the sexiness of the Brits' latest Emma Peel, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage? But while the eyes have it, the wallet might as well take a powder. This is a purely high-end treatment, with an titanium suspension system that allows the driver to…
Sheikh Your Moneymaker: Gemballa Mirage GT Concept for Sale in Dubai
And we didn't even known Porsche tuner Gemballa actually built the Mirage GT concept, which up to know only seemed to exist as a few static digitally enhanced images on the company's site. Now, it seems royals in Dubai, flush from their real estate and trade holdings, can grab a Mirage with both hands. The kitted-out…
Aero Kit: Novitec's Wind Tunnel Tests
Were it not for the media tweakers at Novitec, a German tuning shop specializing in Ferraris, we'd never ever get to see how engineers tunnel-test a Ferrari fitted with one of the company's aero kits. But there we are — complete with photo spread. It's a story of how a bunch of really smart people determine the drag…
AC Schnitzer's New BMW 3-Series on the Way
A photo of of tuning shop AC Schnitzer's latest BMW tweaker slammed into the internets today, offering a preview of the company's plans for the 335i turbo. There's no real info on the coming tuner, but we suspect it'll have the same suspension tweaks designed for the E90 (antiroll bar kit, plus stiffer strut brace for …
The Flying Bus: Edo Competition's Porsche Cayenne Turbo
Generally speaking, black-and-orange color schemes should be confined to coal fires and plastic jack 'o lanterns. This Porsche Cayenne tuner from Edo Competition does little to refute that, but it is quite a goer for such a fat ride. The Edo bunch, perhaps best known as the company that dared finagle with the Maserati …
