Slideshow: This R8 Makes it Owner Feel Like Iron Man

This converted Audi R8 was a passion project

There’s no other way to describe it. Owner Nathan Cicio explains: "I've built a lot of cars, but this one has my heart. I can't even explain the emotional connection and excitement." Nearly 70-percent of this build was performed by Cicio who, it’s worth noting, is the owner of TopSpeed Motorsports, a performance shop based in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Images and story via superstreetonline.com

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The inspiration that drove this project

Cicio admitted that he was inspired by the R8 Ultra racing machine: "I wanted to build a car that looked so crazy-radical, most people would not believe it was street legal. But if you were to hop in and drive it down the highway, you would feel it was nicer and more luxurious than stock." The solution he came up with was to use fewer off-the-shelf parts than usual.

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Let’s begin with it being a limited model

Cicio started with a V10/six-speed manual model in red: "From all the documentation I could find, there were only 20 or so ever shipped to the United States in that configuration," Cicio says. "So it was going to take some digging." In the fall of 2013, Cicio was able to locate one in a small Texas dealership. He only had the car for a month before he began working on it. "The goal was to leave absolutely no stone unturned. We wanted to address everything." 

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Analyzing the body

The first thing Cicio started with was the body, which is 5.5 inches wider than standard. This, right off the bat, created a major challenge—every carbon-fiber part, except for the rear wing, is a hand-built one-off. Although many of this car's custom components were designed and built in-house, Cicio had some outside help along the way. In this case, it was from Bryson Richards of Classic Livery in nearby Atlanta.

"The body was a work of art, to be honest. Bryson is more of an artist and visionary than a body man," Cicio says. Next came four months of multiple revisions on the hood, front lip, canards, side skirts, rear fenders, and rear bumper.

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Further customizations

Afterward, a twin-turbo setup was installed, keeping things modular to test various options. The Garrett 35R eventually was selected, along with Tial wastegates and blow-off valves, plus a special cooling system. "There were some tricks to this part of the build. We decided on an air-to-water intercooler that not only increased efficiency but combined the water tank and the intercoolers in the same unit. This design of pushing water up through the intercoolers and letting it drain back through a completely integrated tank before getting pushed through the heat exchanger was not only innovative but eventually proved to work well on the track."

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All this work resulted in some pretty impressive performance

Measured at the wheels, Cicio says that he can get 750 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque, the latter with a flat graph from 3,000 to 8,200 rpm and still making more than 500 lb-ft in those upper reaches. It’s worth noting that Cicio settled on just 6 psi of boost to make sure the car didn't run into a heap of heat-related issues.

Another positive outcome of low boost is that the car doesn't have any split-personality induction mishaps. "The turbo hit is almost non-existent," Cicio says. "It feels like a huge-displacement NA engine that never stops pulling all the way to redline. The car drives like stock as far as throttle response, tip in, linear WOT pulls, and all. TSM tuned the car using only the factory ECU with no piggyback, so the throttle, fuel, and timing controls are extremely fluid and work seamlessly."

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Tires that grip

Cicio’s tires are either Michelin Pilot Super Sport for the street or Toyo Proxes R888 on the track, fitted to 19-inch HRE alloys. Behind the wheels is an upgraded Brembo braking system, and the springy bits have been changed to JRZ coilovers.

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Beautiful interior

Cicio outsourced interior duties to JPM Coachworks in Atlanta, Georgia. "A lot of people said I was nuts for wanting to put a fully custom, luxury interior in a time attack track car. But I knew what I wanted. 'No stone unturned' was the goal, and the interior was a stone. My instruction to JPM was: 'I do not want to see one stock plastic, aluminum, or leather piece put back in this car. I want every single panel either redone in Nappa leather, covered in Alcantara, or custom-made in carbon fiber.' From the dash to the firewall, the headliner to the carpet, absolutely every piece of the inside was pulled out."

So, in came Recaro Sportster CS seats with custom coverings. The steering wheel, center console, and dash are now wrapped in Alcantara with dry carbon accents where there used to be silver trim. The door panels are a combination of leather and Alcantara with red stitching, while the headliner and rear storage shelf sport diamond-stitched leather to match the upper portion of the seatbacks. "I also had them fit extra sound deadening," Cicio says.

Images and story via superstreetonline.com

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Final reflections

In a demonstration, Cicio puts the sprint from zero to 60 mph at 2.9 seconds and a top speed above 200 mph. It sounds feasible. "Rolling down the highway at 80 mph with the windows up, the car is silent. With the extra sound deadening, the turbos to muffle the exhaust and then the exhaust design itself (another TSM component, by the way; stainless steel, TIG-welded, back-purged, Audi factory cats), there is no drone at all. However, roll down the window and drop it from Sixth to Third and the turbos spool in like a jet, the V10 screaming behind them."

And the hours working on those one-off body parts and wind-tunnel-testing them appear to be well spent. "The TSM TT WideBody R8 is without a doubt one of the most exhilarating cars I've ever had on the track. With all the added downforce, you have to push the car really, really, really hard to get to the edge of what it will do. The faster you go, the better the car grips, giving the driver confidence in high-speed sections of the track. You can even push the car on street tires much further than one would think.

"The power delivery is also spot-on since the turbos come up so linear. After a tough 45-minute session of track work, the intake air temperatures, as well as oil and coolant temps, stay in check throughout."

"With the gated shifter, you get the exotic feel of metal clanking on metal as you row through the gears, which is simply awesome. Yet it still has creature comforts like a full Harman Kardon audio system, satellite radio, air conditioning, and rearview camera. We even kept the parking sensors. The overall experience, people's reactions, the performance, sounds, and comfort are just incredible."

Images and story via superstreetonline.com

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