The content of the article:
- World car tuning studios
In the automotive world, you can count dozens of different tuning studios, but not all of them gain worldwide fame and become cult.
World car tuning studios
Brabus
In the photo: Brabus E V12
German tuning masters have long been unconditionally recognized as the best in Europe, objectively having no equal.
Atelier Brabus is now a huge holding, which includes a joint venture with Daimler AG, a subsidiary of Startech, specializing in tuning Jaguar and Land Rover, a restoration studio, as well as departments dealing with the design and decoration of interiors of business jets and yachts.
The name of the legendary atelier was formed from a combination of the surnames of its founding fathers - Klaus Brackman and Bodo Buschman, who were fond of modifying Mercedes-Benz models.
In the late 70s, there was little emphasis on car power, primarily providing comfort and aesthetics. The idea of creating a luxury car was applied to the Mercedes SW126, and this was the beginning of the victorious march of the West German company around the world.
The next phenomenon was the model 190 E of 1984, which received a phenomenal transplant in its "heart" - a 276-horsepower V8 engine from W126. And already the next year, when the engineers got to the E-class W124, they reached a record that got into the Guinness Book.
Thanks to the low ground clearance and aerodynamic body kit, the specialists of the studio managed to obtain an amazingly low drag coefficient of 0.26.
By the beginning of the 90s, Mercedes cars were "brought to mind" only in the German studio, which at that time was preparing a new shock - the famous 6.9-liter V12 engine with a return of 508 hp. for Mercedes-Benz E-class.
In 1995, Brabus showed the S-class limousine, which received a 500-mm wheelbase, which has become a proprietary "chip" partition between the driver and rear passengers, as well as carbon-ceramic brakes. The latter fact is all the more striking because they entered the world of modern sports cars only recently, while the Germans have been actively using them for more than 20 years.
In 1996, another record in the Guinness Book was a 7.3-liter engine, which made the E-class sedan the world's fastest serial. Then a new direction was mastered - working with yachts, at the same time the company began to make tuning for miniature Smart cars. Subsidiary Startech worked with Chrysler and Jeep models, modified Maybach, Gelandewagen and McLaren SLR.
Throughout its colorful history, Brabus has repeatedly won the title of the best tuning studio, opened hundreds of its representative offices around the world, including unique mobile offices in cooperation with Apple, continues to implement the most daring technical ideas and set unattainable speed records.
Alpina
In the photo: BMW Alpina
When a student of the German university Burkard Bovensiepen broke down his Fiat 1500, he did not think that self-repair and an increase in power would be so successful and non-standard. He decided to try his hand once again, now with a BMW - 1500, which not only became more powerful with modifications, but also found its first buyer.
In 1964, BMW gets acquainted with the activities of a daring engineer, sending Bovensiepen two-chamber carburetors for testing. The units after the upgrade turned out to be so practical and effective that the company did not withdraw its cars from the warranty after such modifications. Inspired by the auto giant's approval, Bovensiepen opens his own tuning studio.
Where else to demonstrate the dynamic qualities of cars, if not in motorsport? The first victory of the racing team was won in 1970 at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps competition. The BMW3.0 CS was specially modified for this race and for the first time received 20-spoke wheels, which soon became a trademark of the brand.
Since 1978, the company has left the racetrack in order to develop civilian transport, and in 1983 it is registered with the Ministry of Transport as a full-fledged automaker with the right to assign VIN numbers to its models.
Among the outstanding achievements of the brand are the fastest sedan Alpina B10 Bi-Turbo model of 1989 and the Switch-Tronic transmission, which is an “automatic” with a function of manual gear shifting using a button on the steering wheel.
For its anniversary in 1999, the company released the most powerful serial diesel car - the D10 Bi-Turbo based on the fifth E39 series, whose engine produced 245 hp. It was the most powerful mass-produced diesel sedan in the world.
One of the latest achievements of Alpina can be called the 608-horsepower B7 bi-turbo sedan, in the "heart" of which is a V12 engine, accelerating to hundreds of kilometers in 3.7 seconds.
Hennessey Performance
In the photo: Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee
The brainchild of former race car driver John Hennessy is located in Texas in 1991 and has a reputation as one of the most productive in the world.
Participating in the famous American Pikes Peak Hill Climb race, Hennessy himself adjusted the settings of his car.
The set speed record inspired the driver to continue his research, as a result of which his own tuning studio was born. Together with a team of mechanics, he first of all took on Japanese cars: Toyota Supra, Mazda RX7, Mitsubishi 3000 GT, which became a "pen test" and did not go into mass production.
A real success was the work on one of the first models of the Dodge Viper, which with renewed power received a speed of 217 km / h and the ability to participate in any world competition.
For the next 3 years, the company successfully worked for the benefit of Dodge, by 1997, carried away by the monstrous 10-cylinder Chrysler cars.
Acquaintance with the Californian millionaire Don Goldman provided the studio not only with financial support, but also with new ideas from an ardent fan of speed and beautiful cars.
The fruit of the partnership was the Ford GT, which managed to reach an incredible 200 mph for 1998, and then the upgrade package for the Cadillac CTS-V, increasing its power to 654 hp.
But the most grandiose creation of Hennessey Perfomance is the Hennessey Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk SUV with a 1000 hp engine that propels this monster in just 2.8 seconds. Even many eminent supercars cannot boast of such phenomenal performance.
Today Henessey has not only a wide dealer network, but also its own school that trains professional mechanics and automotive tuning engineers.
Mugen Motorsports
In the photo: Mugen Honda Civic 2008
Given by his father - the legendary founder of the Honda company Soichiro Honda - a copy of the just released Civic served as an incentive for his son Hirotoshi to open his own tuning workshop.
Together with a friend, race car driver Masao Kimura, the first years they worked on automobile and moticycle engines, but for the Formula Japan 1300 competition in 1973, experts have already presented their own Mugen car. And by 1977, absolutely all Japanese races were won by the MF-318 with a modified Civic 1300cc engine.
The company gained wide popularity among ordinary customers in 1984, when it began to produce the first serial light-alloy wheels, unique in their design and functionality.
At the same time, the studio entered the American market with original aerodynamic body kits for the Civi, and released an interesting hatchback Honda Ballade CR-X Pro on the domestic market.
In the 80s, Mugen Motorsports actively cooperates with Formula 1, installing its power units on Tyrrell, Lotus, Ligier, Jordan, Prost GP. The first Japanese supercar Honda NSX also owes its appearance to Mugen, from which the automaker borrowed a number of ideas.
By the 2000s, the studio could already be proud of its aero kits for the S2000 convertible, the technique of finalizing the latest supercharged engines, its own series of wheel rims for the Accord sedans, the Integra coupe, turned into race cars for circuit racing.
Honda fans are sure that no other atelier can upgrade their favorite cars better than Mugen specialists.That is why narrow specialization has become the main advantage and key to the success of the company, which has modernized almost every detail of Honda during its long life.
Conclusion
German Brabus, American Hennessy, British Kahn Design, even Russian Top Car - specialize either in a spectacular appearance or in improving dynamic performance. But all of them are designed to make the models that they got for revision the best, the most unique externally or internally.
