Avus Audi TT outpaces R8 V10

We recently brought you news of a steroidal Nissan GT-R fettled by German tuning/customising house Avus Performance, and now the same mob has released details of a reworked Audi TT RS that's no less insane.

To recap, the Audi TT RS is an already rapid car in standard form, eking out 250kW and 450Nm from its 2.5-litre five-pot turbo engine -- the exhaust note of which was tuned to rekindle memories of the legendary Ur-Quattro of the 1980s.

Anyway, the folks at Avus clearly thought it still erred towards the timid end of the scale, so they reworked the ECU, turbo and exhaust system to yield a barrel-chested 338kW and more than 640Nm of torque -- well in excess of what a BMW M3 (309kW/400Nm) can crank out.

Avus quotes a 0-60mph (0-96km/h) split of 3.8sec, and top speed reportedly increases to 312km/h. These numbers are up there with a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, so it's clearly not too sluggardly.

It's not merely an engine upgrade, as the titillating TT also cops adjustable coilovers and gloss black 20-inch Sportec Mono wheels wrapped in 255/30-20 Hankook S1 Evo rubber.

Avus claims the suspension tweaks actually improve ride quality, and different setups are available for racetrack use.

In keeping with modern custom-car culture (and true to the company's motto of "Gloss is out, matt is in"), the Avus TT is clothed in matt-black vinyl skin, but other colours are available on request.

The cost of the upgrades -- excluding the engine mods -- adds up to about 9700 euros ($15,800 in our money), which doesn't seem inordinately expensive.

Here's what all the individual bits cost (in Germany)...

>> Matt black 'vinyl' skin -- 1999 Euro ($3257)
>> Coilovers -- 1299 Euro ($2117)
>> Modified ECU + exhaust system (338kW/640Nm) -- price on request
>> Gloss black 20-inch wheels with 255/30/20 Hankook S1 Evo tyres -- 6400 Euro ($10,430)

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