Abt Sportsline

Infobox Company
name = Abt Sportsline

type = Privately held company
foundation = 1970
founder = Johann Abt
location = flagicon|GER: Kempten im Allgäu, Germany
locations =
area_served = Worldwide, with European main emphasis
key_people = Jürgen Abt Managing Director,
Christian Abt
industry = Automotive industry, Motorsport
products = specialist car body styling parts, engine tuning
services = Motor racing activities
revenue =
operating_income =
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assets =
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num_employees =
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homepage = [http://www.abt-sportsline.de/en/ Abt-Sportsline.de]
footnotes =
intl = yes

Abt Sportsline, based in Kempten im Allgäu, Germany, is a company with 40 years of experience in motor racing and tuning, mainly of Audi, and the related primary Volkswagen Group brands - Volkswagen, Škoda, and SEAT cars.

History

Johann Abt (born December 1935), who continued a horseshoeing tradition of his family with motor cars, was a motorcycling and hillclimbing racer for Abarth factory team until 1970. He later entered cars with his own team, winning the "Trophé de l’Avenier“ and other series.

After the death of their father Johann in 2003, the company with 100 employees is run by the brothers Hans-Jürgen Abt (born 1962, Managing Director) and Christian Abt who is also a race car driver.

After Christian Abt won the German STW Supertouring championship title in 1999 with an Audi A4, a quick decision was made to join the new Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. The new Abt-Audi TT-R initially showed their lack of development time, but in 2002 the team celebrated the biggest success in the company’s history with Laurent Aïello’s title in the DTM.

In the 2003 DTM season, Abt Sportsline gave their 19-year-old apprentice Peter Terting the opportunity to drive one of their Convert|470|hp|kW|0|abbr=on cars, after the rookie had won the ADAC VW Lupo Cup series title in 2002. The young man could not really cope with the pressure in the professional competitions though, but the move by Abt is remarkable anyway.

Aftermarket

ABT has taken much of their racing knowledge and adapted it for the street, making the company a successful tuner for the full Volkswagen Group line of products (including Audi and SEAT).

Notable cars

* AS4-R - A highly modified B7 A4 Avant, the ASR-R makes use of the bi-turbo 2.7L V6 to produce Convert|480|hp|kW|0|abbr=on at 6800 rpm, and convert|417|ft.lbf|N.m|abbr=on of torque at 330 rpm! Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine called the AS4-R, "a grocery getter that delivers," and said it, "handles like a toy..." ["Modified Luxury & Exotics" RS4 Renaissance, PP. 88 to 94, By Colum Wood. Photos by Joost Demuynck. May 2007]
* TT-R - A supercharged second generation V6 Audi TT.
* R8-R - Not yet released ABT's R8 will feature a supercharger mated to Audi's incredible 4.2L V8 for a total horsepower output of Convert|530|hp|kW|0|abbr=on.

References

External links

* [http://www.abt-sportsline.de/en/ Abt Sportsline official website]
* [http://www.modifiedle.com/features/feature_006.html ABT AS4-R test drive article]
* [http://fancytuning.com/tag/abt-tuning/ ABT Tuning]