Tag Archives: vehicles

Tuning

Mansory Turns the Audi RS6 into a 1,100-HP End-of-Year Firework

If subtlety is your thing, Mansory has never been your tuning house. The German outfit built its reputation on carbon-fiber excess and visual volume set permanently to eleven. And yet, beneath the loud aesthetics, Mansory has quietly become very good at something else: making already ridiculous performance cars completely unhinged.

To close out 2025, Mansory decided the Audi RS6 still wasn’t enough.

On paper, the current RS6 Performance is already absurd—a 630-hp, twin-turbo V-8 wagon capable of embarrassing supercars while hauling groceries. Mansory’s own catalog pushes that even further, topping out with a Stage 3 package that inflates output to a frankly unnecessary 1,000 horsepower and 1,250 Nm of torque. For most tuners, that would be the mic drop.

Mansory, unsurprisingly, kept talking.

Spotted via the company’s social channels, this latest RS6 build quietly raises the stakes again. There’s no official package name, no neatly branded badge of honor—just a number stamped onto the fender vents: 1,100 hp. Torque remains unchanged from the Stage 3 setup, but the headline figure alone is enough to make Audi engineers wince.

While Mansory hasn’t published a full spec sheet, all signs point to the existing Stage 3 hardware with additional software refinement. That means a reworked ECU, upgraded turbochargers, freer-flowing intake plumbing, air-to-water intercoolers, and exhaust pipes that politely ignore the existence of catalytic converters. The speed limiter is gone, too, with Mansory claiming a top speed of 325 km/h—assuming you can find enough road, courage, and legal flexibility to confirm it.

Visually, this RS6 is pure Mansory, for better or worse. Forged carbon fiber dominates the exterior, covering everything from the hood and splitter to the side skirts, diffuser, wing, and those now-famous vented fenders. The shapes are sharp, angular, and unapologetic, right down to the aggressively pointed exhaust tips. Massive 22-inch forged wheels fill the arches, framing turquoise brake calipers that hint at what awaits inside.

And what awaits inside is… turquoise. Almost entirely. Mansory didn’t just add accent stitching or seat inserts—it went all in. Nearly every surface is wrapped in bright blue-green leather, broken only by carbon trim, glass, and the occasional strip of white hide. It’s the kind of interior that makes you wonder whether subtlety was ever considered, then immediately dismissed. Illuminated door logos and a “starry sky” headliner complete the experience, because of course they do.

Interestingly, despite the visual drama, this particular build still resembles a standard RS6 in its basic body structure. That’s notable, because Mansory has also begun teasing interest in the even rarer RS6 GT. Audi built just 660 examples of that model worldwide—fewer than 100 for the U.S.—and it introduced the 630-hp setup that later became standard. With its unique fenders and more aggressive front fascia, the RS6 GT already looks like a tuner special straight from Ingolstadt.

Mansory hasn’t announced concrete parts or packages for the GT yet, but the implication is clear: nothing with four rings and twin turbos is safe.

In the end, this 1,100-hp RS6 is peak Mansory. Loud, divisive, wildly powerful, and completely unnecessary—and that’s exactly the point. It’s a reminder that even in an era of electrification and efficiency targets, there’s still room for a carbon-clad super wagon that exists purely to shock, awe, and overwhelm.

Taste not included.

Source: Mansory

Tuning

Gunther Werks Gemini Commission: Subtlety, Turned Up to 862 Horsepower

In the restomod world, subtlety is usually the first thing sacrificed on the altar of excess. Widebody kits shout, carbon fiber gleams like a mirror, and horsepower figures are wielded like blunt instruments. Gunther Werks’ latest creation—the Gemini Commission—takes a different approach. It’s proof that an 862-hp Porsche 911 can whisper instead of scream, even while bending the laws of physics in the process.

The Gemini is one of just 75 cars built under Gunther Werks’ Turbo program, which already puts it in rarefied air. But this particular commission pushes exclusivity further, layering bespoke design choices over an already obsessive reengineering of Porsche’s beloved 993-generation 911. Somewhere, a very fortunate owner is about to have the kind of New Year that makes the rest of us question our life choices.

Like every Gunther Werks build, the Gemini starts with the 993 chassis—the last of the air-cooled 911s and, to many purists, the last truly analog one. From there, the Turbo program adds a widened stance and serious aerodynamic upgrades. A vented hood relieves high-pressure air trapped beneath the car to reduce lift, while gills in the front and rear fenders improve cooling and stability. These aren’t styling flourishes; they’re functional necessities when you’re dealing with supercar-level performance wrapped in a ’90s silhouette.

For the Gemini, that aggression is cloaked in restraint. The body is finished in a muted gray selected from four possible hues, and it’s the kind of color that reveals itself slowly, changing character with light and angle. It’s not orange, red, or yellow—and that’s precisely the point. This car doesn’t demand attention; it earns it.

The wheels nod to the original 993 Turbo design but reinterpret it with modern precision and a striking white-gold finish. It’s a bold choice, yet somehow still elegant. Elsewhere, Gunther Werks adds subtle exterior touches, including a stealth-gray wrap on the CNC-machined mirror caps and door handles. The result is a cohesive palette of tones that feels considered rather than conspicuous.

Inside, the Gemini continues its balancing act between craftsmanship and performance. Carbon fiber dominates, as expected, appearing on the upper instrument panel, door panels, center console, and even the racing seat shells. But Gunther Werks knows when to soften the edges. Tangerine orange Italian leather appears in key areas, injecting warmth and contrast without overwhelming the cabin.

This is also the first Gunther Werks build to feature two distinct cockpit motifs. The driver’s seat is trimmed in luxurious Japanese denim with orange stitching and detailing—a material choice that sounds odd until you see how perfectly it works. The passenger seat, meanwhile, is upholstered in fine Italian leather, creating an asymmetry that feels deliberate rather than gimmicky. The center-mounted tachometer, ringed in orange just as Ferdinand Porsche intended, stands out against the other gauges, which wear gray-coated CNC-machined bezels matching the exterior accents.

Lift the rear hatch, and the Gemini stops being subtle altogether—at least mechanically. Nestled beneath is a 4.0-liter flat-six assembled by Rothsport Racing, and it’s mechanical art in the purest sense. Unlike the vertical cooling fan used in standard 911 Turbos, this engine employs a horizontal fan that pushes more air and cools all six cylinders more evenly. It’s a small detail with enormous implications for reliability and performance.

The rest of the engineering reads like a wish list for speed obsessives. Radiators ensure the turbochargers are fed a steady supply of cooled air, while side vents and a ram-air effect at speed sharpen throttle response. Individual throttle bodies on each cylinder add immediacy that modern turbo engines often lack. In normal driving mode, the engine produces a still-absurd 608 horsepower. Switch to Track mode, and that number jumps to 862 hp—enough to make the notion of “restomod” feel hilariously inadequate.

Gunther Werks isn’t revealing the price of the Gemini Commission, citing customer discretion. Fair enough. What we do know is that the Turbo program starts at $850,000, which tells you everything you need to know without saying anything at all.

The Gemini doesn’t exist to shock. It exists to demonstrate restraint at the extreme edge of performance—a rare quality in a world that often confuses loudness with greatness. And that may be its most impressive achievement of all.

Source: Gunther Werks

Sale

The Original Ford Probe IV Concept Emerges After Decades in Hiding

Every so often, the internet does what the internet does best: turns up something extraordinary in the least dignified way possible. This time, it’s a piece of Ford history long thought lost—a genuine 1983 Ford Probe IV concept car—now casually listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace like a used lawn tractor or a mismatched set of wheels.

According to the ad, spotted by the editorial team at Ford Authority, this is no replica or forgotten show car shell. This is the first Ford Probe IV, chassis 001—the original prototype built by Ghia as part of Ford’s advanced aerodynamics program in the early 1980s. Its current location? Spring, Texas. Its current condition? Let’s call it “historically significant but functionally inert.”

The Probe IV program began in 1979, when Ford asked Ghia a deceptively simple question: just how slippery could a car be if fuel economy were the only priority? The answer arrived in 1983 in the form of a concept so extreme it still looks alien today. Ford claimed a drag coefficient of just 0.15—an absurdly low figure that remains out of reach for modern production cars, even with four decades of computational fluid dynamics and wind-tunnel wizardry.

Of course, there was a catch. Actually, several. The Probe IV wasn’t designed to meet safety standards, carry groceries, or survive a pothole. The composite body sits atop a wooden chassis—yes, wood—with steel subframes solely there to keep the wheels attached. The suspension is manually adjustable, built for testing rather than driving, and the car doesn’t even have a complete gearbox. It doesn’t start. It doesn’t run. It was never meant to.

Chassis 001 lived its entire life as a research tool, shuffled in and out of wind tunnels and engineering labs. Then it disappeared. For years, its whereabouts were unknown, turning it into one of those quietly whispered-about artifacts that historians assume has either been destroyed or buried deep in a corporate warehouse.

We do know what happened to its sibling. Chassis 002 surfaced publicly and sold for around $125,000 in 2022, eventually landing at the Petersen Automotive Museum in California. That car, however, was in far better shape—and still, it wasn’t exactly road-ready.

This newly rediscovered Probe IV won’t command the same money. A non-running, non-driving, purely experimental concept isn’t exactly a weekend cruiser. But value isn’t always about usability. For the right collector, museum, or deep-pocketed Ford obsessive, this is a one-of-one artifact from an era when automakers were willing to ignore reality in pursuit of a single number on a wind-tunnel readout.

That such a car reemerged not at a high-profile auction, but sandwiched between used pickup trucks and patio furniture, feels strangely appropriate. The Probe IV was never meant to fit neatly into the automotive world. Forty years later, it’s still doing things its own way—this time, by reminding us that some of the most important cars ever built were never meant to drive at all.

Source: Ford Authority