Albert Jason
ABT Sportsline is a well-known German tuning firm that deals with sports cars customizations and it is considered one of the best in the business when it comes with Audi customizations. It is like comparing to Hamann tuner which deals with BMW modifications.
Lately, we have seen plenty of new rides from Audi receiving exquisite tuning projects from ABT Sportsline. One that stands out from the crowd is the power kit and a couple of visual enhancements carried out on the below Audi SQ8, with the project to start last year.
Since the details were quite scarce last year, now we have a more in-depth idea of the type of effort that the tuner has put to create this astounding program. It involves a couple of visual enhancements, new wheels, as well as increased power under the hood.
Visually, and as we can see in the media gallery below, the Audi SQ8 by ABT Sportsline has received a new front skirts add-on, extended rear roof spoiler to improve aerodynamics, as well as a rear skirt insert with quad tailpipes.
To complement the new aero kit, the tuner also offers three choices of wheels. Customers can choose between the GR one wrapped in glossy black or matte black, HR-F in shadow silver, or the HR Aero in dark smoke. All three types are sized 22 inches. However, should you choose the HR-F wheels, then you definitely have to take the 23-inch version, which looks magnificent in dark smoke or shadow silver.
To prepare the new power kit, there has to be some mechanical enhancements as well. Thus, the tuner has installed an adaptive air suspension with a three-stage in-house built ABT Level Control (ALC) lowering kit, which lowers the car`s center of gravity, thus providing improved cornering capabilities. The three stages include Comfort, Sport and Loading Level modes, lowering the car`s ride height by up to 65mm.
As for power output, the technicians from ABT have installed an upgraded kit for the SUV1`s massive 4.0-liter V8 TDi engine, which in factory settings develops 435 PS and 900 Nm of torque. However, with the tuner`s new power kit, the output was raised to 510 PS and whopping 970 Nm of torque. That allows a sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.6 seconds, which is two tenths of a second faster than the standard SQ8.
As for interior modifications, these are rather scarce for the moment, and include full carbon frame covers, aluminum start-stop button or door welcome lights.
Another major project that ABT had on an Audi is the power boost on the SQ7 diesel variant. The model uses the same 4.0-liter with the same stock power. With the tuner`s power stage, almost the same level is achieved as the SQ8; the only difference is that the SQ7 is a tad slower from 0 to 100 km/h, achieving the run in 4.8 seconds, at a top speed of 250 km.h.
Details of the Audi SQ8 customized by ABT Sportsline are provided in the media gallery below!
