What's this all about?

ABT is a famous German outfit known for racing success and tuning Audis to the point of lunacy, and it is bringing a selection of its most recent work to the Geneva Motor Show.

Bit in-your-face, aren't they?

Oh yes. In typical restrained German tuner fashion, ABT has applied loads of aesthetic 'improvements' to differentiate its versions from the paltry standard R8, SQ7 and RS 6 models. The cars are nothing if not distinctive, although, as usual, beauty is most definitely in the eye of the beholder. Luckily, the firepower lurking beneath ensures that the styling upgrades of these weapons aren't writing cheques that the engines can't cash...

Let me guess, they've got more power.

Yes, and then some. While no-one who's driven an Audi R8 could ever describe it as slow, a 50kg weight reduction and an extra 20hp (the latter due to a stainless-steel exhaust system) do it no harm. New coilovers also help the already prodigious handling. For the SQ7, the 4.0-litre TDI has been massaged to push out 520hp and 970Nm. That sort of pulling power could get it a job lugging trains around if the whole fast SUV thing doesn't work out, while ABT has even modified the SUV acronym, to end up with 'Super Utility Vehicle'.

And the RS 6?

The noticeably un-tardy estate also gets a power and torque boost, now standing at 705hp and 880Nm respectively. Limited to a build of 50 cars and to be called the RS6+, the exterior tinsel does somewhat undo the RS 6's Q-car image, although you won't really care when you're blasting past everything this side of an F-16.