Luxury Tuner: Champion Motorsport Audi S4, A6

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102277

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Luxury Tuner: Champion Motorsport Audi S4, A6

Racing to Success: Performance Matters, But So Does Looking Good

STEVEN COLE SMITH
Published Date: 5/2/05
Considering the success Floridas Champion Audi has had in motorsportsincluding a first and second at the last Sebring 12 Hour in the Team ADT Champion Racing R8s, and 2003 and 04 manufacturers championships in the Speed World Chal-lenge GT series with its RS6syoud think the dealership might want to take advantage of that experience and notoriety for the tuner car market.

And youd be right. Champion Motorsport, operating from a new 22,000-square-foot facility in Pompano Beach, Florida, separate from the two area Audi dealerships, prepared a trio of 2005 Audis for AutoWeek to drive.

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These cars are relative­ly mild compared to some other luxury tuner cars on the market, and that reflects what the typical Audi customer wants, says Bill Young, chief operating officer of Champion Motorsport. Audi drivers dont want to be part of the extended cast of The Fast and the Furiousthey just want mild to moderate makeovers that extend as much to personalization as they do to performance.

The core business at Champion Motor-sport is a line of light, handsome custom wheels that has gone beyond Audi and Champions other new-car offering, Porsche. Champions wheels are used on the new Dodge Viper, Young says, and the business is growing. The forged alloy wheels are built in Japan, and Champion owns part of the company.

The most extreme of the three Champion Motorsport Audis is a red S4 with Champion Motorsport 19x8.5-inch RG5 wheels, a custom exhaust system, Brembo brake kit and an H&R adjustable coilover suspension. Despite the low-profile Pirellis, the S4 rides surprisingly well and corners better than a stock S4, which is saying something. Most notable is the invigorating exhaust sound, though the 4.2-liter V8 reminds us more of an unmuffled Viper than any V8 weve heard. The mods add about $8,000 to the S4s price.

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A pair of A6s are less extreme than the S4. They are clad in 19x8.5-inch wheels and have a custom exhaust kit and H&R lowered springs. The exhaust kit works quite well on the A6 with the 4.2-liter V8it sounds completely different from the S4, more like a pushrod V8, and I mean that as a compliment. But the A6 with the 3.2-liter V6 doesnt benefit so much from the exhaust tuning, sounding sort of industrial. The wheels, weighing just 19 pounds each, look great and reduce unsprung weight considerably. The A6 mods add about $3,000 to the sticker.

Champion Motorsport can certainly do more extreme tuning if you wantthere is, in fact, an A6 that will soon be sporting upward of 500 hp under construction in the garage.

The facility, Young says, has been tuning more Porsches than Audis, but that balance is shifting and now the business is about half-Audi, half-Porsche. Because of the connection to its new-car dealerships, Champion can modify new Audis, and will ship parts.

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Young hints that more news about Champion Motorsport and its plans for the tuner market should arrive by years end. We will, as always, stay tuned.

Champion Motorsport, (800) 775-2456, championmotorsport.com


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