Aftermarket Tuners

The 2011 Honda CR-Z hybrid just made its official production debut in January and is already a hotbed of tuning activity. It's a foregone conclusion that the car will receive Type-R treatment from Honda's in-house mod shop and Mugen has revealed initial details on a body kit, wheels and interior accessories they plan to offer once sales commence. Now, Spoon has jumped into the mix...

This Japanese wrench shop is introducing a host of tuning options. A suspension upgrade drops the ride height by 50mm with new coilovers in front and a spring/shock combo in back. Special calipers with 15-inch slotted discs take over braking duty. A new N1 exhaust system is in full effects with some ECU tweakage planned to add a little more kick. Spoon is also serving up some CR93 wheels in their signature blue hue to match the calipers. The body gets a minor revamp with a new carbon fiber hood, mirrors and front lip spoiler.

This year the 2010 Geneva Auto Show was like a buffet in which I hand-picked all the types of food. The manufacturers were the staples; steak, potatoes, a dessert platter, etc. I expected them to be there and taste good, as usual. But the real treats this year came from the tuners. They are the crazy geniuses that take a mass-produced car into their kitchens and create something extraordinary and (for better or worse) original. There were lots of tuners and coach-builders showing their wares at Geneva this year, and here are my 5 favorites in no specific order:

Ford's SVT Raptor is my favorite truck right now, and comfortably sits in my Top 10 Trucks of All Time lounge. It's fast, strong, durable, and able to go off of jumps without sending the tires through the hood and the driver to the grave. It is what I would want someone to build if I could design my own truck. The only thing it needed is more power. Ford answered that request by adding an extra option box to the dealer sheet, offering a 6.2 liter engine producing 411hp and 434 ft-lbs of torque.

But maybe you already bought your Raptor with the 5.4L, or maybe you had to get it because the lie "It's a small engine so it gets good gas mileage" was the only thing that got your significant other to co-sign the loan. Either way, if you want more power without opting for the 6.2, you just have to call Hennessey Performance. Named the Hennessey VelociRaptor 500 ($10 says John Henessey loves Jurassic Park) this truck will eat trails and sports cars alike.

G-Power may not be a name that readily comes to mind when you think of BMW tuners, but the company is really hoping to change all that in short order. Last time we heard from this German mod shop they unleashed the world's fastest BMW coupe - the G-Power M6 Hurricane. This time around they are taking a crack at the BMW X5 with the same storm weather naming convention and ridiculous power conversions.

The G-Power Typhoon "Black Pearl" is about as extreme a sport 'ute as you'll find (this week). The Bimmer's 4.8-liter V8 engine gets reengineered with new pistons, rods, crankshaft, fuel injectors and benefits from revised ECU mapping and additional cooling systems. If that wasn't enough, it's also bootstrapped with an SK III RS supercharger and outfitted with a new intake and exhaust. With 625 horsepower on tap (an increase of 270 hp), the Typhoon blasts from 0 to 62 mph in just 4.5 seconds with a top end of 186 mph.

It was inevitable that the aftermarket tuners would swarm around the new Porsche Panamera like sharks waiting to consume their prey. The packages that have resulted have spanned the gamut from rocket ships like the Lumma Design CLR-700GT to slightly more subtle creations like the 9ff Panamera PT-65 Turbo and Gemballa Mistrale. TechArt is often the most subtle of the usual suspects and their Porsche Panamera debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show took the middle road with a styling package aimed at the discriminating consumer.

Now, TechArt has release some new pictures and details on their official Individualization Program for the Porsche Panamera. The body kit (Aerokit I) includes a new front fascia with integrated daytime running lights, front spoiler, side sills, rear diffuser and fixed rear wing. The super sedan rides on 21-inch Formula or 22-inch Formula II light alloy wheels.

The Porsche 997 has turned into the platform of choice for tuners looking to transform mere sports cars into tire vaporizing hypercars capable of rivaling stalwarts like the Bugatti Veyron and Koenigsegg CCX. Maybe it's the bullet-proof engine or the inherent aerodynamic efficiencies, but a host of German and domestic mod shops have been cranking out some amazing performance from this platform. Ruf, Gemballa and Switzer all have proven packages with stratospheric specs, but 9ff has time and time again brought some game-changing fighters to the Porsche wars.

The company's latest offering, the 9ff GTurbo is based on the Porsche 911 GT3 or the hardcore GT3 RS and offers 3 level of performance - 750 hp, 850 hp or a whopping 1,000 hp. With this much additional power being delivered, 9ff has crafted a special aero kit which includes a new front apron with LED indicators, side skirts and a rear apron (with variations for the center mounted GT3 and GT3RS and a left/right configuration for the other 997s). Special vents in the rear fenders deliver air to the intercooler while outlets in the front fender reduce wheel well pressure at speed.

Any way you look at it the TechArt GT Street RS is a pure shot of adrenaline. Based on the already stellar Porsche 911 GT2, the German tuning house managed to coax out an additional 160 horsepower and 130 ft-lb of torque over stock for a total output of 690 horsepower and 634 ft-lb of torque.

AutoBild recently ran a test comparing TechArt models to other supercars and the results were quite surprising. The reigning Tuning Grand Prix champ ran the 3,671 meter circuit in 1:31:94, besting the previous track record, held by the Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce, by 4.47 seconds.

Tommy Kaira is a Japanese tuning shop that has made a big name for itself by putting out some of the baddest (like bad meaning good) modification packages on the planet. Strangely enough, they got their start tinkering models from Mercedes but now focus exclusively on domestic rides from manufacturers like Nissan, Toyota and Subaru. And those outside Japan may have gotten their introduction through the Gran Turismo racing series, where Tommy Kaira makes a strong showing.

Now, at the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon, the company is unveiling their latest package for the Nissan R35 GT-R. Known as the Silver Wolf edition, their take on Godzilla gets a full body kit, upgraded brakes, exhaust system and suspension components along with some new wheels and a revamped interior.