Tuners - Wednesday, April 16, 2008 10:00 - 0 Comments

Lorinser ML Black & White Based on ML 320 CDI

Not much of a revelation in terms of tuning, but Lorinser has issued a slight twist on the Mercedes ML-320 CDI package. Branded as the ML Black & White, Lorinser has taken a white ML and slapped on some matte black 22-inch wheels, painted the exhaust tips and grille matte black and tinted the windows. Paint guns aside, the 320 V6 CDI engine gets bumped up from 165 kW/224 hp and 510 Nm to 192 kW/261 hp and 580 Nm via Lorinser’s Diesel Module
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Tuners - Saturday, April 12, 2008 7:45 - 0 Comments

Rabbit on ‘roids: Abt tunes the Volkswagen R32

It was only a matter of time before Abt got its hands on a Volkswagen R32. The hot hatch is no slouch in stock form with 250 horsepower, but Abt has boosted output to 370 bhp via a supercharger complete with a water-cooled intercooler. This knocks the 0-60 mph time down to 5.0 seconds flat and raises the top speed to 167 mph. Abt has also fitted the R32 with an adjustable sport suspension, as well as 19-inch BR wheels. Follow the jump for the press release.

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Tuners - Thursday, April 10, 2008 8:04 - 0 Comments

Irmscher Peugeot RC Line 407SW

No longer synonymous with Opel vehicles, German tuning house, Irmscher, has broadened their horizons with a partnership with Peugeot/PSA. Starting with the Peugeot 4007 SUV which was first shown at Frankfurt last year, Irmscher has developed a suite of exterior styling products known as RC Line for the entire Peugeot model range. Now in support of Peugeot’s 2008 Le Mans entry with the 908 HDI FAP, Irmscher is providing a specially converted Peugeot 407SW as personal vehicles for Peugeot’s race drivers.
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Tuners - Wednesday, April 9, 2008 7:53 - 0 Comments

Nissan Maxima Convertible with Suicide Doors

Chopping off the roof from a sedan is one thing but also removing the B-pillar to append suicide doors? We’re no engineers but that does sound kinda suicidal in concern of the Maxima’s structural rigidity… Not that it matters, but the owner of the car goes by the name M_Diggler and his Maxima bears a “PRN STAR” custom Florida license plate – apparently his inspiration came from the 1997 Boogie Nights film.

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Tuners - Thursday, April 3, 2008 6:30 - 0 Comments

Ford Focus Facelift According to Loder1899

Loder1899, one of Germany’s top tuners when it comes to Ford cars and stable mates, has worked their magic on the recently facelifted Ford Focus. Loder1899 developed a new sportier body kit, staying true to Ford’s new slogan: The new Ford Focus is music for the eyes. The sporty new body kit consists of a new front spoiler, rear diffuser and roof spoiler and is complemented by 17 to 20 inch alloys, pictured are 9×20 inch W1 alloy wheels in special edition black ‘polished glam’ finish.
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Tuners - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 3:00 - 0 Comments

Gemballa Avalanche GTR 550 based on 911 Targa

Famed Porsche tuner Gemballa has released a new bodykit and performance handling pack for the 997 911 Targa, consisting of a customized font bonnet, an Avalanche front skirt and lip spoiler, a custom rear skirt plus a unique oversized GT wing. To top it all off, a set of sinister-looking 20in black racing rims are included as well as ‘Avalanche GTR 550 Targa’ badging both inside the car and on its rear. Don’t think this is just some overpriced Porsche bodykit, however, because the package also includes a custom Avalanche chassis to improve handling and ride.
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Tuners - Friday, March 28, 2008 9:49 - 0 Comments

Fiat 500 powered by O.CT Tuning

The 500 ‘Cinquecento’ has proven to be a runaway success for Fiat, with the entire 2008 production run selling out in just three weeks and order books for next year already starting to fill. Customers from all walks of life are lining up to get behind the wheel of the classic-styled hatch, including some who see the car as a blank canvas in need of some serious performance mods. That’s where tuning firms like Austria’s O.CT step in. Not wanting to mess with the classic lines of the production model, O.CT engineers focused on lifting the performance of the car via a series of engine and mild suspension mods.

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Tuners - Tuesday, March 25, 2008 10:55 - 0 Comments

WALD Black Bison Edition Sports Line

WALD has developed a hot-looking Mercedes-Benz S-Class-based WALD special, developed for W221. Called the Black Bison Edition Sports Line, the car is said to be for serious status seekers, all in black. WALD is known as one of the leading tuners in Japan specialising in German marques.  Black forged wheels make the main statement, along with different looking side skirts, front grille, side gills and rear air diffuser. No official word on power or stats yet, these will become available as they get released by WALD. Even if it is stock standard 386 kW/525 hp high-tech engine that accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds, and the maximum speed is electronically limited to 250 km/h, we don’t mind. You will agree though that aggression seemed to be the main brief when turning this thing inside out.

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Tuners - Friday, February 22, 2008 15:02 - 0 Comments

Techart GTstreet Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet

Tuner cars are often works of art, flights of fancy or out-and-out racers, but rarely are the upper echelons of performance-tuned cars graced by models intended as daily drivers. Techart’s GTstreet Porsche is an exception to that rule, however - if you can afford the upkeep.

Starting with the Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet as its basis certainly didn’t hurt the transformation into monstrously powerful daily driver - it was already more than halfway there. Now, however, the GTstreet takes its compressed charge of air and turns it into 630hp (463kW). With an appropriate length of tarmac, the black beauty runs to a maximum speed of 214mph (345km/h). But despite the ultra-high speed and huge power, the car is designed to remain tame and liveable on the streets instead of a harsh-riding, power-sliding deafening track rat. It’s only a monster when you want it to be.

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Tuners - Tuesday, February 19, 2008 9:04 - 0 Comments

Gemballa Tornado GTR700 Cayenne: What were they thinking?

Okay, guys. This isn’t funny anymore. We all get that the Porsche Cayenne, though it has its talents, is no prize pig down at the beauty pageant. But this is just mean. Like a caricature of the Cayenne itself, we can applaud the go but shudder at sight of the show. Under the hood, Gemballa has primped and preened the twin-turbo V8 to produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 horsepower. It will also offer a 2WD conversion – that’s got to be a first – to go with the severely dropped ride height and beefed-up suspension.

The mad-science plastic surgery is another story, however, as Gemballa opens up the Cayenne’s mouth, adds a carbon-fiber hood insert, cuts open a whole mess of new vents, throws on some Ferrari-esque tail-lights and a set of roof-mounted brake lights to boot. Inside they’ve added fully-adjustable racing buckets front and back, separated by a strange-looking full-length center console.

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