Fabspeed Motorsport knows just how to massage the 5.2L masterpiece of an engine that is the center (well, technically the mid-rear) of the Audi R8 - we've been finessing them from day one. We were approached about optimizing this base R8 in all aspects - performance, sound, and looks. Within short time she was in our possession after the owner's several state drive through inclement weather, which is a testament to the practicality of the R8 and Audi's quattro® AWD system. 

Order of business: baseline, hardware, software, style.                                                                                               

Every performance package begins with establishing baseline power numbers on our Dynojet. 

BASELINE POWER: 462 whp and 356 ft-lbs of torque - very healthy. Time to remove the factory system. 

A beautiful piece of metal, no doubt, but we’re going to turn things up to 11 and remove 30 pounds of weight while we're at it.

While the car was being dynoed and disassembled, construction of the system was underway. Our Unison Breeze mandrel bender makes quick and precise work of all necessary bends. 

Every pipe is then hand polished and checked for fitment in our fixture.

Let the welding begin!

We utilize the best valves in the business: Helical’s extensive experience in high-volume OEM automotive applications has led to standard features such as an extremely durable pneumatic actuator, precision flat sealing faces inside the valve, stiffening ribs and high-temperature bearings at both ends of the butterfly spindle. Helical valves are so well known for their durability that they are utilized on the factory system for the 991 GT3 RS among other applications. 

We are also using cast Y sections for the best possible flow.

We've also redesigned the mounting points. Our bottom brackets now incorporate a point of adjustment for best possible fitment and tolerances between vehicles and transmissions. 

Two additional hangers have been added up on the top of the system to take advantage of the factory mounting brackets. To be clear, these changes are not in response to fitment issues or mounting points breaking - we saw an opportunity to over-engineer and raise the quality of this system for our customers!

All finished! We're dedicated to excellence and we're proud to offer a new and improved Valvetronic X-Pipe Exhaust System. These upgrades have also been applied to our other R8 valvetronic systems.

With the finished exhaust system in place we installed BMC F1 Performance Air Filters and our ECU Tune. These products make up our 2017+ Audi R8 Performance Package - a complete hardware and software solution to extract maximum performance from Audi's magnificent V10.

Back onto our Dynojet for a power report:

PERFORMANCE PACKAGE RESULTS: We experienced max gains of 75 whp and 49 ft-lbs of torque at 8000 RPM, peak gains of 62 whp and 29 ft-lbs of torque, and 524 whp and 386 ft-lbs of torque overall. For the sake of comparison, we've also tested this package on a Plus model on a separate occasion and that vehicle made 503 whp and 411 ft-lbs of torque. 

These are real, repeatable gains that make a great difference in drivability. We've effectively closed the power gap between the base and Plus models. 

Performance Package installation completed - we're ready for the next phase. The passenger seat of this particular R8 belongs to the famous Manny the Frenchie, who will be stopping by for a tour. Stay tuned for our next blog post as we cover further enhancements and Manny's visit!

We leave you with a sweet serenade of pure driving bliss: