For many of us, our loyalty and love of cars dates back to the accomplishment of passing our licensing exam. Once we passed we were one step closer to driving the cars we dreamt about.
Adam Sasso is a prime example of this. Though he was trapped with a Jeep Grand Cherokee when he turned 16, he began tuning Volkswagens and Audis. He was influenced by several of his friends who owned Mk3s and Mk4s. "I've done a lot of mechanical work myself - suspension, brakes, turbo, front-mounts and so on," Adam explained. "One of my first projects was helping my buddy install a supercharger on his GTI VR6." Getting down and dirty in VWs brought him closer to owning a European car.
After graduating from the Jeep, Adam acquainted himself with a Pelican blue '00 Audi A4 1.8T. Being on a tight budget he vowed never to modify the car. However, he ultimately caved in to his urges and installed an APR stage 3 turbo kit, StopTech big brakes and KW coilovers. He became enthralled with how his car drove, but was unhappy with one aspect. "I hated my old A4 because of all the people wanting to ride in the back seat," Adam explained. "It would inevitably get dirty when people rode in it. More weight and more dirt - I wasn't happy with it."
The grime continued to accumulate in the back, so Adam reconsidered his car selection. He was satisfied with the Audi platform and the power potential of the 1.8T. "The Audi TT was the perfect solution!" he exclaimed. "The car was small, nimble, all-wheel drive and only seated two people comfortably." After making his decision he went to the dealership and snagged an ALMS model. The special edition Audi TT commemorated wins and championships in the American Le Mans Series. The closed coupe came fully equipped with quattro AWD, six-speed transmission, 18" wheels and 225hp. Only 1000 ALMS editions were built and 500 of them were Avus silver - Adam's color of choice.
Again, Adam vowed never to modify the car but months later he surrendered once more. "The first thing I did was the brakes. Factory brakes aren't the best," he explained. "I always put safety ahead of everything else." He retrofitted big brakes from a Porsche 993 twin-turbo and the four-piston calipers gave him plenty of stopping power.
Suspension was the second key ingredient in Adam's safety solution. KW provided its Variant 3 coilover system that offered height, damping and rebound adjustability. A Neuspeed rear sway bar fixed the Audi's understeer. Forge Motorsport adjustable rear control arms reduced uneven tire wear and improved tire surface contact for better grip. Finally, he stiffened the chassis with a Forge strut brace. His new suspension eliminated body roll and increased traction, keeping him from harm, even on brutal mountain roads.
Satisfied that safety was adequately addressed, Adam focused on the motor. Having previously owned a big-turbo motor, he wasn't in a hurry to upgrade the power. The first thing on his agenda was to contact his friends at KMD Tuning for a Dahlback Racing chip. After a trial period with the new software, Adam wasn't content with its performance, especially with the availability of 93 and 94 octane in New Jersey. However, KMD had a personal relationship with Hans Dahlback and they collaborated to tune Adam's software for more fuel and sharper timing. Dahlback Racing also supplied its forged connecting rods, intake manifold, test pipes and N75 valve. Cooling the air going into the turbo is a Forge Motorsport front-mount intercooler. A GReddy RS dump valve blows excess air into the atmosphere.