Audi R8 and Audi TT Performance Parts revealed

With a focus on honing handling and suspension, the Audi TT and R8 Performance Parts kits mean fresh, but angrier faces for some of Audi’s top sports models.

As part of a ‘retrofit range’, the VW Group brand will launch aftermarket Performance Parts “in Germany and other markets for the current Audi R8 and Audi TT models only”, though it says additional model packs will follow over time.

The four main areas improved by the packs are suspension, exhaust, exterior fittings, and interior components.

Suspension parts include two-or-three-way coilovers, 20-inch fully milled wheels which reduce unsprung weight by up to 7.2kg, and a wider range of tyres.

AWD TTs also can be fitted with a rear axle cross-member reinforcement bar, which increases the car’s rigidity and improves handling.

TT RS owners can also increase their cars’ top speed to 280km/h.

Lightweight titanium exhausts supplied by specialist manufacturer Akrapovic will be available with trims specifically for the Audi TTS and the Audi TT RS.

Audi says the most “spectacular” items in the range are those of the aero kits, which Audi itself specifically wind tested and developed. This kit increases downforce on the R8 by over 100kg at 330km/h.

The carbon fiber-reinforced polymer parts are also available for the TT.

On top of this, Audi Sport says it has “developed a strut cross brace specifically for the TT, also made out of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer”, which takes the place of the car’s rear seats and drops its weight by 20kg.

Audi Sport MD Stephan Winkelmann says the introduction of these aftermarket parts adds a new element to the Audi Sport brand.

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“With the Audi Sport Performance Parts, we are tapping into a new business segment,” says Winkelmann.

“Our wealth of experience garnered over many years of building sports cars is incorporated into every component we offer, along with our expertise from motor racing, which is still the best test bed for volume production.”

Audi says the parts range will be available in dealers in late northern Summer 2017, though what that means for Australia is yet unclear.