Born in the USA: 525-hp Mazda MX-5 V8

There are a few things that define the word American. There’s guns. There’s apple pie. And there’s the small block V8 engine. This last one they are extremely fond of and tend to put it in anything they can, which is why the guys at Flyin’ Miata absolutely had to  try it in the new Mazda MX-5.

The result of their efforts is one of the most awesome pointless things ever. It’s a Mazda MX-5 Miata with a 6.3 liter LS3 Chevy V8 engine pumping 525 horsepower. In order to make this nose-heavy creature work they also had to fit it with a Tremec T56 six-speed manual and a Camaro SS Positraction differential. But they’ve done it, and now the world has a 500+ horsepower Miata.

Flyin’ Miata claims there are not major concerns about the handling of this little beast as they’ve fitted 245-section tires, wide fenders and huge Wilwood front brakes with six-piston calipers. That’s kind of like saying it’s okay that I fed Bourbon to my 2-year old baby because I had a stern talk with him not to die. But hey, at least the kid’s gonna pull some hilarious stunts before his liver gets toast and his heart stops.

Mazda MX-5 V8 Full Specs:

• 430 hp 6.2L LS3 V8 engine with a two year warranty – a 2015 Camaro SS engine
• 6-speed T56 Magnum transmission with a custom shift lever
• FM spec Moroso steel oil pan with baffling
• LS7 clutch and flywheel
• AAM differential from a 2015 Camaro
• custom-built dual pass crossflow radiator
• dual Spal fans on a custom shroud
• new aluminum driveshaft
• heavy duty halfshafts
• stainless steel headers and dual exhaust with a lifetime warranty
• Magnaflow high-flow dual catalytic converters
• upgraded fuel system
• new GM-built engine wiring harness and engine management
• Flyin’ Miata custom engine dyno tune for more power and improved drivability with our specific parts
• OE-style motor mounts for good NVH control
• custom air intake system with hot air baffle
• rear mount Odyssey battery with kill switch and engine bay jump start terminal
• Corvette C6 starter
• fully functional stock gauges
• FM sway bars front & rear with adjustable end links
• Flyin’ Miata FOX Racing suspension
• ABS
• FM four wheel little big brake kit
• air conditioning
• Hydraulic steering conversion
• relocated washer bottle
• many custom stainless brackets required for a clean installation
• Flyin’ Miata alignment

Options and upgrade prices:

• LS3 E-Rod engine (better emissions compliance), $640
• LS376/525 (525 hp, 489 ft-lb), $1780
• carbon fiber driveshaft, $520
• aluminum oil pan, $70
• 6-piston front, 4-piston rear brake upgrade, $725
• Swain Tech White Lightning ceramic coating for the headers & cat pipes- $925
• Hot Rod Therapy DBW cruise control- roughly $1000, price TBD
• wheel and tire packages – please speak to us for recommendations and pricing
• Hard Dog roll bar – please speak to us for recommendations and pricing.

ABT Audi SQ5 Pumped Up to 380-hp

ABT Sportline, that Audi tuner who always maintains a balance between power and style, has come up with an upgrade kit for the SQ5 SUV. With model Audi has attempted, somewhat in vain, to make the Q5 less dull and boring. What ABT Audi SQ5 does is show them how it’s done.

So right off the bat the tuner gets busy with the engines in both diesel and petrol variants and gives them a swift kick in the backside. The 313 horsepower diesel in the TDI Plus model now has 360 hp and a torque of 700 Nm (up from 650), while the 3.0 liter TFSI petrol unit gets a boost from 326 hp to a nice and round 380 horsepower, complemented with 780 Nm (up from 700 Nm) of peak torque.

With the power taken care of the tuner set about improving the aesthetics as well as dynamics of ABT Audi SQ5. So a kit was designed and fashioned for the car, consisting of front skirt, front grille, door strip attachments, fender extensions and a rear wing, and it was paired with a set of ABT Sportline wheels, which can choose from the CR, DR, ER-C and FR series and in sizes 20, 21 or even 22 inch. ABT Sound Control and height adjustable suspension system are among the other highlights of the program.

Carbonfiber Dynamics BMW M5 Packs 830 PS

The F10 BMW M5 had vanished into the shadows of obscurity for a while, but it’s now back with a vengeance in the tuning scene as we are seeing more and more excellent examples of it tarted up and enhanced by tuners from all around the world. One of the latest, and best, is this Fire Orange Carbonfiber Dynamics BMW M5.

This car is a good example of a thorough and deep tuning kit for the F10 in which it gets a bunch of visual and mechanical upgrades to become more fun and playful. And that’s what the aging M5 needs these days to regain its once mighty position in the market.

As mentioned, Carbonfiber Dynamics BMW M5 is finished in Fire Orange which is an exclusive M3 GTS color BMW used only for the E92 series. On this car the paint job is complemented with a carbon fiber aero kit from 3D Design, consisting of a front lip, side sills, diffuser and a boot spoiler. As is often the case with 3D kits, the package is subtle and dignified. The kit is paired with a set of 21 inch Vossen wheels.

But the biggest highlight of Carbonfiber Dynamics BMW M5 is what lies under its bonnet. It’s the same 4.4 liter V8 as in the stock version, but here it has a modified twin-turbo system as well as a custom exhaust system wit downpipes and everything, developing an incredible 830 horsepower. To give an idea of the kind of performance this M5 is now capable of, it can sprint from 0 to 200 km/h in just 10 seconds!

Liberty Walk Ferrari 360 Wide Body Kit

Indulging their recently developed taste for relatively old Ferraris, Liberty Walk has come up with a wide body package for the 360 Spider. Complementing the LB-Works F430, Liberty Walk Ferrari 360 package is full wide body affair with custom aero kit, wheels and suspension.

It kind of makes sense, you know, picking old Ferraris for such extreme treatments. Not that LB-Performance is shy about working on newer models. They have already done more than their fair share of wide body 458s. But the older models like the 360 and 430 have now become cheap enough for a wider group of people to afford them, and it is among the proletariat where extreme makeovers are most popular.

So there is a strong case to be made for the Liberty Walk Ferrari 360 Spider wide body. The package for this car consists of front splitter and carbon bezels on a custom bumper, side aero skirts and sills as well as wide bolt-on fenders, rear diffuser, rear wing ducktail or GT wing, duck cover, and Airrex air suspension.

Liberty Walk leaves the choice of wheels to you, but they ask for a full fat kit in carbon around $30K, plus another $8.9K for the suspension. It’s an expensive kit, but the end result looks rather dope:

Wide Body Maserati GranTurismo by EXE

Principal Japanese tuner Executive 01, or EXE, has penchant for wide body stuff, as seen with their previous works here and here. One of the latest exotic cars they have subjected to such treatment is a heavily customized Maserati GranTurismo.

Now, this wide body Maserati GranTurismo may look pretty ostentatious to a European, but actually by Japanese standards it is rather understated. For one thing, it is black and not pink with tiger stripes all over it. What’s more, although the car features massively flared wheel arches they are insanely so. In fact, an uninterested eye might not even notice what this car is all about.

The more tuning savvy among you have already recognized the kit on this wide Maser as a LB-Performance package. EXE’s wide body Maserati GranTurismo is actually a joint project between them, Liberty Walk, and Fairy Design, and it sits on a set of Forgiato Wheels. The whole thing has been done very tastefully, and we also quite like the combination of black body panels with naked carbon fiber parts.

As always, the LB-Works wide body kit includes a set of wide fenders that are attached to the body using visible bolts and rivets, custom front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser and a rear wing, in addition to the fat wheels and air suspension.

Liberty Walk Lamborghini Huracan Spyder by RDBLA

Ladies and gentlemen, what you’re looking at here is the world’s first Liberty Walk Lamborghini Huracan Spyder wide body. We have seen the coupe version of this bad boy before, but that car doesn’t hold a candle to this topless beauty with its Grigio Lynx paint work.

You may have seen this car, or one just like it, before when it was the first Huracan Spyder to receive a set of Forgiato wheels. Now the car has grown some muscles courtesy of LB-Performance and their one-of-a-kind body kit that is hands down the sickest styling package you can get for this car. It is unashamedly shouty and in-your-face, so if you want something more understated we recommend you look elsewhere, maybe at this Vorsteiner Huracan.

But for us Liberty Walk Lamborghini Huracan Spyder is the ultimate expression of what this model can be. The open-top Huracan is a great base to start with, true, but what the guys at RDB LA have done with it takes that greatness and inject it with a heavy dose of steroids, thus pumping it up to a whole new level. Just as before, the LB-Works Huracan rides on a set of Frogiato wheels, matte black of course, and it’s slammed with a full set wide body kit.

The Huracan package by Liberty Walk consists of bolt-on extended fenders, front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser, and a ducktail rear spoiler. The full set kit costs $27,640, but that’s excluding the installation, wheels, and air suspension.