Project R8: “Phantom Black”
For Summer 2011, we wanted to continue our sports car theme while the air was still warm and the weather appropriate. After Davis and the crew at Starwood Motors (formerly known as Medpro Auto Group) assisted us in selling Project Quicksilver to a retail customer in San Antonio, we quickly discovered our next project sitting right there on their showroom floor – a 2010 Audi R8 with the 4.2L V8 engine, finished in the ever-popular black on black combination, and only 6K miles on the clock. This particular car came extremely well equipped from the factory, with options such as the carbon fiber side blades, carbon fiber engine cover, carbon fiber interior trim, navigation, and the Bang & Olufsen stereo upgrade. With a great foundation laid, it would be a simple and quick transformation for us to get this car into show-ready form.

Our first step was to address the chassis as always. H&R sport springs were installed by the crew over at Autoscope Park Cities, and combined with a 4-wheel alignment, this lowered the car .75” front and 1” in the rear. At this time, the factory 19” polished split-5 spoke rolling stock was also upgraded by our friends at Modulare Wheels, who built us a special set of their new M18 3-piece wheels, finished in a custom tinted brushed center with gloss black barrels and assembly hardware. The gloss black lips gave the car a sinister look with its new hunkered-down stance, while the high-tech tinted brushed face (a new type of brushed aluminum finish with a smoked grey clearcoat) helped accent the extensive amounts of carbon fiber provided by the factory. The wheels, which were specially engineered to clear the R8’s massive brake calipers without spacers, were built as 20x8.5 front and 20x11 rear, and were subsequently mated to Hankook’s evo K110 rubber in sizes 235/30/20 and 305/25/20. This wheel and tire combination yielded a great balance of handling and looks, and best of all, no body modifications were required to fit everything nicely under the factory wheel arches. The optional aluminum etched logo centercaps, finished in the same tinted brushed as the wheel centers, were added as a finishing touch to the wheels.

Next up, we focused our attention to the exterior. Enter Prior Design: a relatively new name to the US, but they have been quietly doing great business in other parts of the world for years. Long-time associate Rade Tomic, who founded Prior Design USA, stepped up to the plate and set us up with his R8 front lip and side skirts. Our friends over at Dusold Designs in Lewisville, TX were called in to handle the paint and install duties on the Prior Design parts, which they executed to perfection in just 3 short days. Mike Dusold handled the paint duties himself, after which he commented that the parts fit like a glove and no additional bodywork at all was needed to affix the aero parts to the car – which really says a lot about the quality of Prior Design’s workmanship.

The last item on the agenda was give the car a little bit more bark to go with its new aggressive exterior, so our longtime partners Quicksilver Exhausts from the UK were again called upon, and they provided us with one of their Titan Sports exhaust systems for the 4.2L V8 engine, which not only reduced unspring weight over the rear axle, but provided a bit of horsepower and a great sound as well.

A special thanks goes out to our friends at Modulare Wheels, Rade at Prior Design USA, the staff at Quicksilver Exhausts UK, and the crew at both Autoscope Park Cities and Dusold Designs for their assistance with this project. At the time of writing, Project Phantom Black has already moved on to its new home and our Fall 2011 project is already underway, so please stay tuned!!