Hartmann Motorsports Update

I get lots of emails from Southern California Audi owners who are contemplating a Stage III upgrade to their 1.8t car but have read my missives regarding APR's "authorized" Orange County installer, Hartmann Motorsports. Based on some things I've heard and read over the last couple of weeks, it might be safe to enter the HMS water these days. To wit:

- While chatting with Ken (my mechanic) while he was installing my Forge FMIC just before Christmas, he mentioned that Scott Hartmann had been in to Newport Auto Center just a few days before; he'd been picking up an RS6 that HMS was going to modify the suspension on for the upcoming LA Car Show (my car was up on the rack having the SPEC clutch/flywheel installed, which someone pointed out to him and caused a good-natured grimace). Newport Auto gets a lot of modified A4s in for service and "normal" warranty work, and they keep track of where the cars have been modified at. Cars from HMS typically were very sloppy, but Ken mentioned that the last three HMS cars that had come in were immaculate, everything where it belonged, all trim in place, every nut and bolt not only installed, but actually torqued down! Ken said he thought it was clearly someone else turning the wrench over at HMS. Made me wonder if Fabryce was still there.

- Last week on a flight to Chicago I was thumbing through the February 2004 issue of european car and there in the S4 Shootout article was the yellow Hartmann S4 and Fabryce's mug in the "owner" picture. What caught my attention, however, was another unknown face in the picture. Reading through the article, it stated that Casey Allinder is the HMS "chief mechanic", and when the S4 "blew up" 2 days prior to the shootout event Casey was the guy who put it back together, not Fabryce.

So I was at the LA Auto Show yesterday and made sure to stop by the Hartmann booth in Kitna Hall. Scott wasn't around, but I did check out the RS6 (looked good) and had a little chat with Fabryce, who was very cordial and gave me the low down on what had happened to the S4 (basically the timing belt snapped at 11k miles). My guess at this point is that HMS' business is doing pretty well and Fabryce has moved to more of an owner/partner role, probably handling HMS while Scott tends to Intrax (the cash cow).

HMS Part II: I've been thinking about adding a rear spoiler to TTUNED for a while now. With the extra power of the Stage III kit I'm worried about the amount of lift that get's generated at speed. I read in a new TT book I got (Audi TT - The Complete Story, by James Ruppert) that the factory spoiler actually adds enough downforce that the lift generated at the TT's rear is something like 53 lbs at 125 mph, down from 148 lbs of lift for an "unspoilt" car. A Boxster, the book states, generates 68 lbs of lift at the same speed.

The problem is I hate the factory TT spoiler - one of the styling cues I love about the TT's original design was the lack of a wing on the car, but apparently it's true that the car's underside ground effect panels simply don't generate enough downforce. So I've been looking at alternatives and have basically narrowed it down to two ideas:

1. Get the Audi TT 3.2 spoiler (and add the nifty honeycomb rear exhaust valance) or
2. Get the Sportec spoiler

The 3.2 factory spoiler probably generates tons of downforce, and that's good, but it's no more stylish than the "regular" TT factory spoiler, other than the cool black outline bit. The Sportec spoiler, on the other hand, is the best I've seen for the car, sweeping gently from the edge of the car and gradually building up to the middle of the car before doing the same on the opposite side. Really fits the lines of the car well.

Trouble is I haven't found anyone who carries the Sportec line of Audi accessories, even after some extensive web searches. I also don't know how effective at reducing lift the spoiler is; I don't want it for looks (although it does look great), I want it for downforce.

So what's this got to do with HMS? As I'm talking with Fabryce in the HMS booth at the car show, I notice a black TT and it has the Sportec spoiler on it, along with a nice set of 18" Sportec rims. Fabryce said it was a customer car, and I asked him where the spoiler came from, and (surprise!) turns out that HMS is now an authorized Sportec reseller.

I asked Fabryce how much downforce the spoiler generates but unfortunately he didn't have any numbers on it (if anyone knows please email me!! jeffreytz@yahoo.com). I asked how much it was and Fabryce said $800 unpainted. Sounds like a lot. I'm going to check around some more, I think I saw one of these for sale used on the web, just need to remember where it was (maybe the TT Talk forum?). But at least I know where I can get one now, it's just ironic it's at HMS. A lot will depend on how TTUNED handles at its first full (we hope!) track event at Willow Springs on 1/21. If I don't notice any lift issues than I'll probably just skip the spoiler issue for now, but if it's twitchy, that's the next mod.

Anyway, took a bunch of pictures at the show, will get them posted on the Webshots site in the next couple of days. Best in show was the new Austin Martin DB9, hands down, but there was other fun stuff there too, like the Morgan, the Bentley GT, and a few others. Watch the website or this blog for notification when the pics are up :)