The Creation of Adam's Rotors and their 2001 Audi S8

Other than a car build, there's something else I like to watch evolve nearly as much, and that's a company. The great thing here is we have both. We're looking at a one-of-a-kind build as well as the evolution of a business. The car is a 2001 Audi S8, dubbed "ROTORS8", and it's the latest creation by Adam Woodhams of "adam's rotors". No stranger to the Audi and Volkswagen tuning scene, and certainly no stranger to most of you, we wanted to shine a bit more light on the man himself - how he got here, where he's taking adam's rotors, and why he chose the Audi S8 for his most recent build.

 

I remember meeting Adam over five years ago when he'd picked up his first Audi, a silver B6 A4 sedan. A fellow AZ'er from the California Bay Area, we crossed paths at several of the local get-togethers long before there was an adam's rotors and even before he began working for Eric at SPP (AKA: Supreme Power Parts). It feels like a lifetime ago, and actually it was for that first Audi of his. The car met its end thanks to Mother Earth, as would have Adam were it not for Audi's top-rate safety and engineering. Adam then went on to build a MkIV GTI and then a 2007 A3 which we featured back in December of 2008. Both of those cars also garnered the attention of Eurotuner magazine and their readers.

As adam's rotors began to grow, so did Adam's builds. After the A3, he picked up a Volkswagen CC, and then came to back to Audi in a very old-school way with a 1984 Audi 4000. This brings us to present day and Adam's current build and daily driver, the D2 S8.

Adam knew he wanted to try his hand with air suspension and he wanted to do it on a proper big-boy sedan. There were very few cars which could fit that bill as well as the first-gen A8/S8. The only problem lie in the fact that there aren't many of these cars out there, which means not a lot of people modifying them, and therefore not much aftermarket support. That didn't stop Adam though as these were all welcome challenges. The vast majority of the parts added were one-offs, and the tuning custom. This included the exhaust and engine tuning performed by 034 Motorsport, the air suspension assembled with parts from both Universal Air and AccuAir along with the crew at Hard Parker Garage, and the wheels custom made to Adam's specs by DPE. This and much more have made for one stunning showcase for adam's rotors products. The S8 has a set of "AR sport I" rotors on the passenger's side and a set of "AR sport II" rotors on the driver's.

Back in 2006 Adam saw the need for a specialist in the rotor market. With custom wheels being so hot, and he himself going through quite a few sets, the idea of having ugly old rotors behind one's shiny new wheels just wasn't cutting it. Traditionally, upgrading your braking system meant simply going with something larger off of the OEM parts shelf, or using whatever came with your big brake kit. With the growing variety in custom wheels there needed to be more options for one's rotors too. Adam wasn't alone in this thinking, hence the seemingly overnight explosion of his business and the growing name recognition of adam's rotors. Adam's idea was to let the customer easily and quickly custom design their rotors. They can choose the overall finish (silver, black, or gold zinc), a ceramic coated hub (matte black, matte red, etc), and a machined pattern if so desired (drilled, slotted, dimpled, combos of both, or even custom).

So much has changed since 2006. Adam's girlfriend has become his wife, his hobby has become his career, and the Audi enthusiast scene is bigger than it's ever been. But, much has also remained the same. His career is still his passion, his builds are still German, and cars still require rotors to stop. Luckily, I don't see any of that changing in our lifetime.

 

Be sure to check out our video feature on Adam, his company, and the S8: "A Spotlight on Adam's Rotors"