Manufacturers do come, but the Essen Motor Show is the showcase event of the year for the tuning community with a collection of wild, flamboyant and some offensive creations from the creative minds that take BMWs, Porsches et al and give them wings. There’s no room for chavved-up Novas: here, it’s all premium rate material with eye-watering price tags.
Audi/VW
And the nature of the show makes it all the more surprising that VW chose this stage to launch perhaps the ultimate Q car, as VW took the opportunity to present its almighty R36 Passat.
With 296bhp at its disposal thanks to a 3.6-litre FSI V6 the fastest VW ever comes equipped with four-wheel drive, VW’s six-speed DSG transmission and performance normally reserved for the hottest cars from VAG’s prestige brand Audi. This relatively subdued machine that will form a truly enticing budget alternative to the Audi S4 will screech to 60mph in 5.6s and on to the electronically limited top end speed of 155mph.
External cues to the almighty performance held within the saloon and estate variants are deep front air intakes, side skirts and rear apron. Then there are the 18-inch wheels holding dinner plate-sized brake discs that show just how serious a machine VW has released. With a UK sticker price expected to fall below the £30,000 mark, this may be the bargain of the year when it hits the streets in 2007.
Audi was not to be outdone by its sibling, bringing the 260bhp 3.2-litre TT Roadster to the party. The drop-top version of the new and shapely TT is bound to attract those with bonuses and the sharper edges of the new model mean at last the TT add a touch of much-needed masculinity.
But Essen isn’t about the manufacturers, most of which were busy displaying their wares over at the bigger Los Angeles show. This is the tuners’ playground, and there were some truly crazy cars for those with outlandish taste and deep pockets. And Audi was even upstaged by a tweaked version of its own products.
Abt Sportsline came to the show with a dual-fuel TT-R that produces 355bhp whether it’s running on petrol or the LPG tank they have squeezed into this compact car that adds 250 miles to the range. It also proves the tuning world is exploring ways to get high-speeds without high-impact on the world at large.
The supercharger strapped to the 3.2-litre liberates almost 100 extra horses from the TT and it now makes the 60mph mark in a clean 5s, almost a second faster than the standard model. A carbon-fibre bonnet, aggressive kit and Abt’s oversized wheels complete the visual side of the equation.
Porsche
Ruf is arguably the most famous name in the tuning world and even features on the Gran Turismo games, having made its reputation over decades tuning Porsches. Alois Ruf’s company, based in the implausibly named Pfaffenhausen, is officially classed as a manufacturer and the RGT comes with full Ruf badging.
Based on the track-focused GT3 and inspired by the legendary 1973 911 Carrera RS, the RGT comes with a racer’s look with bolt-on wheelarches and an integral rollcage that helps the completely new suspension system achieve pin-sharp handling. Weight saving measures including removing the rear seats and replacing the doors with lightweight options. And then Ruf went to work on the 3.8-litre engine, producing a 445bhp projectile missile.
The car hits 60mph in 4.2seconds, 125mph in 13.5seconds and a top end speed of 197ph, so can show a clean pair of heels to even Porsche’s almighty RS. The price tag has yet to be confirmed, but expect something approaching €200,000.
Far more extreme Porsches made it to the show, however, including Gemballa’s Mirage GT supercar. Based upon the already ludicrously fast Porsche GT, this is another car that comes with a new manufacturer plate and a white one has already found its way to Dubai.
This car could comfortably top 1,000bhp and chase down the Bugatti Veyron, according to Gemballa, but verging on the side of safety with the twin-turbocharged version of the 5.7-litre V10 has resulted in a ‘mere’ 750bhp. That should still be enough to take this simply daft car to 60mph in 3.4seconds and to a theoretical top speed of over 250mph.
It took pride of place on Brembo’s stand and the brake manufacturer provided some of the most indecently sized ceramic discs known to man. And with the hard-top with roof scoop in place to feed those dramatic turbos, this car could easily star in the next Batman film. Sadly, if you need to ask the price, you simply cannot afford it.
And if 750bhp is a little on the tame side, how’s about 1070bhp and 921lb/ft of torque achieved with the delicate act of strapping two dirty great turbos to the 3.8-litre 997 Carrera S engine as they have with the Mission 400 Plus?
The 997 Carrera S’s aerodynamics have been totally revised with a new roof, shallow-raked screen and smoothed just about everything. It works in the wind-tunnel, but that is all for now and the men behind the project were surprisingly candid when they admitted the road testing will be a whole new world and there’s no guarantee that it will work at all.
Jurgen Alzen Motorsport is responsible, though, and those guys know a thing or two about Porsche tuning, racing and everything that goes with it. I would be willing to break the journalistic bank and lay five bucks on this machine hitting Nardo or even Bonneville Salt Flats like a whirlwind at some point and both are already being considered for the run that 9ff has already proven can be done. So has this group, as attested to by the 216mph, 600bhp+ Audi A4 sitting next to the Mission 400 Plus.
Tuning isn’t all about million dollar supercars, though, and one of the show’s stars started out as a BMW Z4 Coupe, but has been transformed into a machine that will destroy BMW’s own M version.
BMW
Rolf Hartge, the brother of Hartge boss Herbert, disproves the theory that the tuning world is the preserve of the young with a clientele pushing 50 on average. His subtle external modifications combined with serious performance gains appeal to those with deep pockets and the determination to blitz down the Autobbahn at the fastest possible pace.
Hartge’s Z30 Biturbo takes the stunning engine from the 335i, tweaked up to produce a more than respectable 380bhp by the small team in Beckingen. With a new suspension system, an advanced Limited Slip Differential that should help even average drivers slide everywhere on armfuls of opposite lock and a bodykit that adds even more muscle to this machine.
It weighs less than the Z4M Coupe, at 1,395kg, and has bags more torque, so should be faster throughout the range and through the bends. The 0-60mph time of 4.8s is exciting enough, but the top end speed of 283kph goes that step beyond.
A tuning show would hardly be complete without AC Schnitzer, and it brought the new kit for the new 3 Series Coupe, although the Aachen firm has only managed a 260bhp upgrade for the 3.0d so far and has yet to let loose the dragon-slaying 335i conversion. Far more impressive was the 6 Series-based Tension, which will now see the light of day in a limited run of 50 after last year’s concept car received rapturous applause. Schnitzer can work on any car, from the 630i through to the M6, and can install the company’s own 5.1-litre engine with 411bhp.
Visually it’s a little flash for most palates, especially the front spoiler, but with Schnitzer’s near unparalleled reputation with BMW tuning, it won’t have problems shifting the lot.
Mercedes-Benz
Carlsson brought its Mercedes CL conversion with its 430bhp, five-litre arsenal under the bonnet. Adding a supercharger has turned the five-litre CL from rapid yet comfortable transport into a comfortable rocketship and with the traction control off this beast will melt its tyres on a standing start with enough throttle.
Carlsson’s biggest wagons are all capable of bursting the magic 200mph mark, which is normally the preserve of far less refined supercars.
Aston Martin & Bentley
It’s not just German metal on offer in Essen, though, a few of Britain’s finest made an appearance in some form or other.
And then there was the Eibach AMV8400+, a complete rejig of the baby Aston with Prodrive parts and a new interior without the irksome Volvo SatNav. This machine should be much quicker than Gaydon’s offerings, but is really little more than a promotional tool for Eibach and its partners. Write a big enough cheque, though, and they’ll probably hand over the keys.
There was a Bentley there, too, although the workers at Crewe might not be too pleased to see what Mansory has done to their Continental GT.
This Widebody version came in the striking colour combination of black-and-orange, which are warning colours for a reason. This garish display required sunglasses for close analysis, especially the interior that continued the theme with luminous orange Alcantara trim, but had it been an all-black example then the factory might even have approved.
Extended wheelarches, a plunging front end that would intimidate the car in front out the fast lane with a mere look and a rear wing, combined with those garish twin-spoke wheels, provide all the menace the car requires and more. And under the bonnet Mansory has pulled 650 raging horses from the six-litre V12 and knocked half a second off the standard model’s 0-60mph time. It now breaches the mark in 4.5seconds and tops out at 325kph -- not bad for a car that tips the scales at more than 2,300kg.
...and the rest
There were other abominations, too, including a Humvee in Gulf Racing colours and a light pink Ferrari 360 Modena conversion. Had the Pink Panther driven this car, car-loving kids would have cheered for the Aardvark. Still, tuning is all about individuality and if someone wants it and is prepared to spend the cash then there is a company that will build the car, whether it’s a good idea or not.
So Essen was full of the good, the bad and the ugly. But nobody could say it was dull.
Words and pictures by Nick Hall
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