Modifications_ Audi R8

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30 aUtocaR india JUNE 2011 www.autocarindia.comwww.autocarindia.com

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Somewhere between ourthand th gear, the R8 crossed200kph. You expect theshove in the small o your back to ease o, but it just

doesn’t. Both passenger andMilltek exhaust system are howling like banshees, and somewhere past 200kph,I’m vaguely aware o the engine bouncingo its 8000rpm rev-limiter in th.There’s more o the same thump in sixthand when the speedo crosses 260kph,common sense gently taps me on theshoulder and I back o. The engine wasstill pulling hard and it elt like it had atleast another 80kph in its arsenal – I, onthe other hand, didn’t. To say it’s easy to

get carried away in this 550bhp (claimed)supercharged Audi R8 would be a grossunderstatement. It insists, and sometimesdares you to do so, every time you nd ahal-decent stretch o road. Two hundred

kilometres per hour is a joke or this carand given the space 260kph is almost aseasy as boiling an egg.

To give you some perspective o whatthis beeer R8 will do to your senses,here are a ew hard acts. 100kph comesup in 5.4sec, 200kph in 15.44 sec and 240in a shade over 23sec! The in-gear timesare as mental. 20-80kph beore you cansay ‘R8’, and 40-100kph beore you say

‘Holy!’ Phenomenal as these numbers are,this R8’s party trick bit is the way i t pulls

Pete’s at it again and this timesupercharged an R8. We’re blown a

STORY OUSEPH CHACKO PhOTOgRaPhY ASHL

so hard in the higher gears. It pulls soeortlessly through the last third o its rev band, even in th gear, that you eel like you’re in the sling o a big catapult beingfung down the road with unrelenting

orce. I there’s a downside to this, it isthat it all eels a bit too civili sed, a bittoo sterile. There are no tyre-smokingantics, no bottom-clenching moments,no sideways heroics, nothing. I you areexpecting a handul o bad behaviourrom your 550bhp supercar, you may bedisappointed. Or pleasantly surprised.

You need to pay attention to what youroot is doing with the throttle though

– think o going ast and you’ve already crossed 200kph! Chew your nails

absent-mindedly and you’ll be in the nextdistrict beore you realise it! And it doesall this while making sounds rangingrom the ominous growl o distantthunder to the loud trumpeting o a ew

hundred elephants! We’re on this restricted eight-lanehighway outside Hyderabad because PeterChacko o Pete’s Perormance asked i we

wanted to drive his latest oering. We’vedriven Pete’s cars beore – rememberthat wild horse o a 500bhp Octavia RS?Or the grunting 220bhp Laura? We’venever come away disappointed. Thisproject however, is new or Pete’s. A proper perormance upgrade on a propersupercar – something they’re doing or ◊

ty bge gves he ge wy. the pul.



Modification | Audi R8

JUNE 2011 aUtocaR

modiicati

Superhe u

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∆ the rst time. Peter’s roped in theSouthern Caliornia-based VF Engineeringto provide the supercharger kit and theengine remap to get the V8 R8 to makemore power than the R8 V10!

The good thing is that VF Engineeringhas not messed with any o the R8’sriendly supercar character. Powerdelivery is linear with no suddenpeaks and this car eels as docile as thestandard R8 when you’re trying to dodgeautorickshaws on your way to that openroad. There’s a solid ‘whup’ rom the

transmission on ull bore shits, but it just adds to the supercar experience.

The R8’s brilliant weight balance andall-wheel-drive system easily copes withthe extra power – around corners youhave a lot more go and i you eed it toomuch when leaned over, it’ll step intopredictable understeer. And because thesuspension is stock, the R8’s riendly ride is unchanged as well – it dealt withHyderabad’s bumps and lumps reasonably

well. That it looks like a stock R8 may disappoint some who want more show ortheir newound go.

Still, this is really one o those supercars you can use everyday. The extra 130bhpthe orced induction kit brings with itis easily contained by the stock stability program and tyres though the brakescould do with an upgrade. Slowing◊

www.autocarindia.com

Wh k ehve yu see rsuperr perreks i?Rigt now, te market is

small but we see potential.Tuning supercars is a

relatively new art in

India, so most ownersare waiting to see owwell te cars we modiy

run and weter tey arereliable. Tis will cange

ater a couple o our carsare on te road, and

people start talking about tem.

Wh p hese ks hve he r’s le?It depends on ow and were you usete cars. Constant track use will obviously

result in more wear and tear as te engineis making so muc more power. Tere’s no

noticeable dierence in engine lie in streetuse. We ave even seen some cars wit our

diesel perormance box run or 200,000kmwitout any problems.

c i ge hs k feywhere i? awh bu suppr?Yes, we will go to te customerand t te kit werever te

car is. It takes tree to ourdays and tis includes tuning

te engine. As or support,

te supercarger needs nomaintenance. I anyting,it’s te belt tat drives te

supercarger tat needs to becanged at around 50,000km.

We supply a spare belt wenyou buy te kit.

ay ks r her superrs?We ave kits or te Audi RS4, R8 (V8 andV10), Lamborgini Gallardo LP560, Porsce

911s (including supercarging te 911 Turbo)and a wole range o BMWs.

Whh r wul be yur re prje?Te Gallardo and te R8 V10. We can go upto760bp on tese cars wit our kit. We ave a

customer in Deli wo’s interested in tting it,and we are really excited about it.

TALKING TO:PETER CHACKO



Modification | Audi R8modiicati

∆ down rom beyond 200kph repeatedly did lead to slight brake ade and thathorrible grinding/squealing noise thattortured brakes make. Oh, and therobotised clutch did heat up ater a ewrepeated standing-start acceleration runs,and it’s why this car doesn’t match Audi’sclaimed 0-100kph time o 4.6sec. But, to be air, the high ambient temperaturesmay also have been at ault (it was 35deg

C that day). There’s also that small issue o warranty – tting this kit will void it.

The supercharged R8 is staggering.It manages to be more exploitable,cosseting and docile than you wouldimagine and yet is every bit as ast as

you expect it to be. As is, the R8 kit costs Rs 20 lakh – that’s

or the supercharger, the intercooler, theECU remap and the Milltek exhaust. It isexpensive but you’ll realise why it’s worthit every time you put your oot down. AI

ThE SUPERChARGER USED is an Eaton Twin

Vortices Series 1900 our-lobe supercarger

making 6psi o boost. It is mounted on te

engine wit a CNC-macined billet aluminium

ousing containing an air-to-water eat

excanger (to cool te carged air going

into te engine) and an extra radiator in te

nose cools te water. Te R8’s generous engine

ACCELERA

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

In gear accel

20-80kph

40-100kph

Kph BOOsT Is THE sECRET. . .bay allows or a neat and easy t. Te

supercarger is driven o te crank via a

Goodyear serpentine belt system and te stock

belt as been upgraded rom ve to seven ribs.

VF’s engineers re-wrote te ECU’s code rom

scratc and ‘fased’ it into te car’s two ECUs

troug te OBD2 port. Te ECU’s new code

also omits te top-speed limiter. Tere’s also aMilltek exaust system.

VF claims te engine’s internals are te

same and tere’s no beeng up to andle te

extra power and also tat it is running te

same compression ratio as te stock R8. VF

Engineering says it will run on 91-Octane uel.

And, tey say it’s not necessary to upgrade

te clutc, but an R8 V10’s clutc is a direct t

and will andle te extra torque better.

Te system takes about our days to install.

‘260kph in

this car is almos t

as eas y as

boiling an egg.

JUNE 2011 aUtocaR www.autocarindia.com

Pulls lke r everywhere he rev b.

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Modifications_ Audi R8