► On display at 2017 SEMA show
► References classic 90 IMSA racer
► Electric turbo brings 592bhp and 193mph
You might recall the strange, wonderful Audi 90 IMSA GTO race car from the ’80s that featured as part of our recent greatest fast Audis feature. We called it ‘The Thing’, and it’s a particular personal favourite of Audi’s design director Marc Lichte. It’s pictured below to jog your memory:
So with that in mind, here’s The Thing II: the Audi TT Clubsport Turbo concept, a wild one-off TT special tuned to the nines and on show at the 2017 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) extravaganza in Las Vegas.
Gallery: the best of SEMA 2017
And there’s something awfully familiar about those square-shouldered arches and ’80s-esque Audi Sport stripe graphics…
It also may or may not be related to the very similar Audi TT Clubsport Turbo concept shown at the Worthersee festival in 2015.
Down the arches…
So far out do those box arches extend that the concept is a full 5.5 inches wider than the regular TT. And no prizes for guessing this one’s all-wheel-drive, rather than front-wheel-drive.
The giant CFRP rear wing is manually adjustable, suggesting there’ll be some aerodynamic grip to go with the oodles of mechanical traction on offer.
What’s under the striped hood?
Same 2.5-litre funf-cylinder TFSI engine as the production Audi TT RS, with an electrically assisted bi-turbo system (hence the name) on hand to up its power output to 592bhp. In a TT!
Audi forecasts 0-62mph in 3.6sec and a top speed of 193mph. Even faster than the original Audi R8 supercar, in that case.
Click here for CAR’s long-term test adventures in our old, four-cylinder, narrow-arched Audi TTS