Tuners: 2009 MTM Audi S3 Sportback at AutoFans www Auto Com

Tuners: 2009 MTM Audi S3 Sportback

Those of us who peruse the Brit and Aussie car rags at our upscale bookstores are constantly tantalized by the nimble, high-powered hardware that’s widely available elsewhere around the globe but denied us citizens of the United States of Cheap Gas and Big Cars. If your obsession motivates you to discover just how exorbitantly expensive and challenging it would be to obtain one and get it licensed for use here, your frustration will only be compounded. Well, if the object of your Euro-lust happens to be Audi’s hottest hatch, the S3, the folks at Motoren Technik Mayer, aka MTM, have figured out a way to plug you into a virtual clone of that car for about what it costs in Germany before the dreaded 19-percent Value Added Tax.

As we noted in our recent MTM Audi Q7 review, the Mayer gang aims to become what Brabus is to Mercedes-Benz/Smart or Alpina is to BMW-the aftermarket tuner of choice for Audis. That MTM Q7’s performance was impressive, but its price was well and truly over the top (the upgrades added about $50,000). By comparison, this one’s comparative restraint and its careful emulation of a factory model make it much more attractive.

In fact, all the new body parts that have been bolted on to this U.S.-spec A3 2.0T Quattro-front and rear fascias, grille, foglamps, badges, brushed-aluminum mirror caps, and side skirts-are original-equipment Audi S3 pieces. MTM’s S3 looks aggressive and special without resorting to the clichéd wings, skirts, and other exaggerated protuberances that so many tuners employ to “distinguish” their cars, though we’d be tempted to forego the Sportback graphics. The interior is pure A3, but several skilled artisans near the company’s U.S. headquarters in suburban Detroit can perform affordable upholstery upgrades as desired, and MTM could probably procure a flat-bottom Audi three-spoke steering wheel if that’s what it took to clinch the deal.

Audi S3s run a version of the A3’s venerable 2.0-liter turbocharged direct-injection engine amplified to 261 horses and 258 pound-feet. MTM enhances the U.S.-spec A3’s mill by installing its own performance chip (available in three states of tune) and fitting a slightly less-restrictive turbo-back 70mm stainless steel exhaust system that intensifies the engine’s snarl very slightly and seems to amplify the lightning-quick braappp that accompanies each upshift of the S-tronic dual-clutch transmission. Our entry-level package delivers a dyno-verified 272 horsepower and 274 pound-feet of torque, an increase of 72 horses and 67 pound-feet. Not hot enough for you? For $7000 extra, you can have 310 horses courtesy of a better down-pipe, new pop-off valves, and extensive tuning, or spend $15,000 for a whole new turbo and lots more tuning good for 380 horses.

In the chassis department, the MTM S3 gets special springs that lower the ride height by almost an inch (just like the S3), a front-brake upgrade to 13.6-inch S3 rotors and monobloc calipers, and a set of MTM-designed nine-spoke 8.5 x 19-inch wheels shod in Pirelli PZero rubber, sized 235/35ZR19. The rolling stock deviates from the S3 formula, upping the 225/40-18 fitment to 235/35ZR19 Pirelli PZeros wrapped around MTM-designed nine-spoke 8.5 x 19-inch Bimoto wheels-a deviation that might be contraindicated for owners living in the frost belt.

So how’s she run? Maybe a touch quicker than an S3, if the factory numbers are to be believed. Employing S-tronic’s slick launch control (ASR traction control off, transmission in S gate, foot on brake, floor the gas, engine revs hold at 3500 rpm, release the brake and hang on for a sling-shot whoosh to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds and onward to the quarter-mile mark at 14.1 seconds at 97.7 mph. Our best A3 2.0T (a front-drive model with S-tronic) was 0.8 second slower to 60 mph (quattro launches better), and finished the quarter a half-second and 2.2 mph behind the MTM. Repeated stops from 60 mph needed just 115 feet, three to 13 less than our three lighter front-drive A3s have needed. Those meaty Pirellis clung to the skidpad with 0.90g resolve-not bad for a 3624-pound car, though the kidney-jiggling ride quality and quick-reflex steering had us expecting bigger numbers.

The engine and transmission driveability are faultless, equally happy oozing smoothly from stoplight to stoplight when tooling around town or operating in the top of its rev range banging off instantaneous shifts when no authority figures are watching. The Sportback’s tidy dimensions and quick reflexes goad you to thread it through holes in rush-hour traffic even when you’re in no particular hurry. If we were ordering up an MTM S3, however, we’d inquire about swapping for S3-size 7.5 x 18-inch wheels and tires. The added sidewall height would undoubtedly provide some welcome ride-quality relief and probably prevent the occasional front-tire/wheelhouse interference we heard when cornering hard.

Whether you’re in Germany or here, the S3 doesn’t come cheap. Prepare to add $17,000 to the price of an A3 quattro S-tronic for the 272-horse package (call it $48,325 to start). A Subaru Impreza WRX STI scratches the hot-hatch itch with superior performance for under $36K, meaning that practically any fan-boy Gran Turismo gamer jock can own a Subaru, whereas MTM will only build 15 or so S3s. And let’s face it, forbidden fruit tastes sweetest when you’re the only one eating it. For more info, visit www.mtm-us.com, and watch this space for more on an upcoming S5 package that adds 100 horsepower.

[source:MotorTrend]

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