Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. We're going to talk about the Audi S3 facelift. More specifically, the one that HGP Turbo has built.
You know these guys. They make quality products, like the 800 horsepower, twin-turbo V6 Golf that will out accelerate a Lamborghini. This one doesn't have a 3.6-liter engine swap, but it does take full advantage of what the 2.0 TFSI engine can do.
Normally, this unit makes 310 PS and 400 Nm of torque on overboost. But the output is now 480 PS and just sky of 600 Nm. It's part of a line of mods available for everything from the Passat to the TTS Coupe, with two lower power stages producing 390 and 426 PS.
The list of mods is pretty long, which is what you expect for €9,900 plus another€1,700 for the installation. There's the K&N carbon fiber air filter, enlarged impeller and turbine wheel, larger turbocharger intake, high-pressure fuel pump and performance pistons.
And then there's the new exhaust system, which is made from a 76mm pipe with a 130mm steel catalyst. In the case of a manual car, you'll need another €1,500 for the reinforced coupling. When the 6- or 7-speed DSG is in action, you are looking at a €2,200 bill. Thankfully, we know all that because there's a Golf R sister car. Really, you'd be better off buying the RS3 instead.
What the S3 and the R lacks (until today) is the digital dashboard showing you how the car rockets from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.2 seconds and to 200 km/h in 10.8 seconds.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News