MTM's 650-HP Audi RS 3-R Is on the Prowl, Craving for Corvette, Porsche, or Ferrari Blood

Naturally, this knighthood didn’t come without spoils: 500 PS and 600 Nm (493 hp/443 lb-ft) from the same 2.5-liter, five-cylinder engine. A high-tech ABT Engine Control Unit and the custom-developed flow-optimized intercooler allowed for 0-to-100 kph (62 mph) times of 3.3 seconds, half a second quicker than the factory rating.

ABT called their small sedan creation ’Your own 4-wheeled jet,’ and it was quite an impressive feat of street-legal automotive engineering. But there is a Nemesis for every car out there – and, in this case, it lives a stone-throw away from ABT’s headquarters in Bavaria (where else would wrench-turning wizards dwell?).

The name Motoren-Technik-Mayer (MTM) might not be as easily recognized as Brabus, Alpina, or the like, but their work is no less jaw-dropping. The founder of MTM, Roland Mayer, is a mechanical genius who has been closely linked to Audi for the past four decades. In fact, the man was part of the team that developed the inline-five monster of the Audi Quattro in 1985.

To set its mark on the automotive universe, MTM improved the I5 powerplant until it breached the 400-hp mark in 1994. That immediately turned an Audi S2 RSR into the first four-ringed machine to hit 300 kph (186 mph) in street clothes. The car in question was powered by a 2.2-liter inline-five with 428 PS and 485 Nm (422 hp and 358 lb-ft) – see the article in the gallery about that historic achievement.

So it’s understandable why this company has a soft spot for Audi – and an inclination to take the Ingolstadt machines over the edge. Their latest feat literally puts a new twist on a new twist (no grammar mistake here) and results in a new kind of surface-to-surface missile.

Their starting point isn’t a standard Audi but a tuned one – notably, the ABT-prepped RS3, the RS 3-R described in the opening of this story. After seeing what their Bavarian competitors did with the stock automobile, Roland Mayer’s team of piston hobbits probably said, `Nice work` and nodded in approval.

And then set to their metal-imbuing sledgehammering. Remember the specs of the original RS 3: 400 PS and 500 Nm (394 hp / 369 lb-ft). After ABT fiddled with it, the rejuvenated RS 3 – now baptized RS 3-R – gained 100 PS and 100 Nm (100 hp and 73 lb-ft), reaching 500 PS and 600 Nm (494 hp and 442 lb-ft. The Germans have a maniacal fixation on metric precision, hence the round numbers).

MTM took it a leap further, not just a step: 653 PS and 750 Nm (644 hp/553 lb-ft), simply because they have the knowledge, the means, the ambition, and the drive for it (pun most definitely intended). The immediate consequence of their wrench-wielding efforts is a 0-62 mph (100 kph) sprint of 3.02 seconds. You can admire the tuner’s work in the video attached, courtesy of the Auditography YouTube channel.

The top speed of this supercar-feasting grocery-getter is limited to the same 186 mph (300 kph) magical barrier. It’s safe to assume that lifting the ban on the engine’s computers would push the 1,574-kg/3,472-lbs four-door compact sedan disturbingly close to – if not well into - the 200-mph (322 kph) territory.

However, there is a price to be paid for a 9.44-second 0-200 kph (124 mph) street-friendly turbo machine: €27,070,00 (including taxes), which translates to $29,822.63 (to be Germanically accurate) at the time of this story.

But that’s only the package price, which includes modding the engine and transmission control units, replacing the speed limiter, and optimizing the gearbox shift times. An improved intake manifold and multiple intake optimizations go full circle to deliver said performance. The reinforced steel connecting rods and bearings keep the fire inside the cylinders and the high-revving crank spinning.

MTM can morph the ABT Audi RS3-R in five days – again, to stay true to German precision, its 65 work hours – for €8.896,00 / $9,800; and yes, I, too, wonder about this €4 mismatch with a round number. According to the tuner, the conversion is fully reversible, leaves no side effects, and is also available with ‘louder ignition pops.’ Extra cost two- or three-year warranties are offered (€1,800 or €2,800, respectively; $1983 / $3,085).

Apart from the discreet decals on the front doors reading ‘653’ and the ‘mtm’ script on the rear, very little tells that this Audi can shame natural-born supercars back to their internal combustion, superior cylinder head count roots. A few carbon fiber elements on the outside, some discrete stripes on the sides, hood, roof, and trunk.