April '09 Featured AZ'er: GR8 Ghost's 2008 R8

User Name: GR8 Ghost

 

So I have this great idea for a movie. It's going to be this season's next big blockbuster! OK so think James Bond, meets Top Gun, meets The Transporter, with a bit of Canonball Run thrown in for good measure. You take the hottest sportscar on the market with Audi's R8 and add a bit of the stealthy tech gadgetry necessary to make a cross country fun run. What comes out is not only one bad-ass road-going monster but a major Hollywood hit! Am I right? Well if it's half as mind blowing as the car seen in this month's Featured AZ'er article then I'm going to say "hell yes"! The best part is that this smash hit of a car doesn't belong to Tom Cruise or even Jason Statham, but our very own AZ Member Andre Betz (also known as 'GR8 Ghost' on the forums). Now how fitting is is that even his R8 has an AKA? I hereby present to you, 'The Blackbird'.

As rare as it is to see an R8 on the roads, it may be even more rare to see an owner of one on the enthusiast forums that is modifying their car in any serious way. Once we saw Andre in the Audizine R8 Forums, and what he was doing both to and with his R8, we knew we'd be writing an article on him sometime in the not-so-distant future. With his eyes firmly set on a brand-new V10 R8 we knew we couldn't delay too long, so here we are. Andre and his 2008 Phantom Black V8 FSI R8 are our Featured AZ'er for April 2009. You may or may not already be familiar with The Blackbird and its owner from their run in the recent 2008 Bullrun which took them over 3500 miles across the United States in five days. For those that aren't aware, the car was expertly fitted with a number of gadgets and goodies to make their trip more...shall we say...safe and secure. We won't go into detail about said modifications as it's been covered on the forums and within other articles, but we were lucky enough to get some killer photos from Andre so we'll let those do the talking. They'll show exactly where the aforementioned Agent 007 comes in, and why he'd be extremely envious.

Step outside of the fighter-pilot's cockpit and there are a few features which may be of particular interest to most of you, mods that we actually would like to talk a little bit about. Of particular note are the twenty inch wheels by SDS. These forged alloy wheels are called Avaritia AV80s, and have been powder-coated and color-matched to the car. They're definitely one unique wheel, and they suit the theme of the car extremely well. Rounding out the rear is another rare piece of automotive machinery by way of an exhaust from Capistrano. It's only fitting that one of the stealthiest and most gadget filled R8s on the planet would have an exhaust whose tone and temperament can be electronically controlled from the driver's seat. Stock and tame when cruising down a back alley, or loud and raucous when ripping down the highway with the baddies on your tail. All of this at the flip of a switch. That's definitely one thrill ride I think a lot of people would wait in line for. Ladies and gentlemen, we've got a hit on our hands!

 

• Capristo Electronically Controlled Exhaust
  

• Full Audi Carbon Fiber Package
• Extended Leather
• Top-Secret Techno Goodies
  

A: I'm 43. I don't do shout outs. (laughs)