You might recognize the owner of this Audi A3 - Adam Woodhams. His 20th Anniversary Edition Volkswagen GTI was the poster-child for et 12/08 thanks toits OEM+ styling and insanely stretched wheel 'n tire combination.
Eight months after his "Supreme Stance" feature, Adam is back with a new ride to send a bold message to Audi drivers across America. Forget the performance snobs and the show queens; it's all about European styling and stance!
"The Dub scene is what grabbed me, with its crazy stance and stretch - that's where I figured out the style I liked," Adam explained. "And I wanted to carry it over to the A3, since Audi was my original step into the scene. Now on my second Audi, I have a mixture of both."
If you don't remember Adam's story, his first project car was a B6 A4. It was short-lived after a collision with a boulder at 75mph. With a gruesome impact, Adam was lucky to be alive and credited Audi engineering for saving his life. This meant he clung to the VAG family, as seen with his Mk4 GTI and now this '07 Lava grey A3 2.0T.
What sets the A3 apart is its radical Euro styling. However, it's more sophisticated than most examples. There isn't any enormous turbo conversion, stereo setup or shaved engine bay. Instead, Adam kept it simple by concentrating on specific details to create an eye-catching daily driver.
The first details under the spotlight were the wheels and tires. As we know, choosing the right set of wheels is critical to the look of the car, so Adam enlisted the help of his part-time employer, Supreme Power Parts in Placentia, CA. The team decided to go with a set of the latest forged wheels from DPE. All its products are made to order, which gave Adam the opportunity to tailor the size, offset and finish to satisfy his demands.
The chosen finish was a brushed aluminum face. DPE normally offers a raw or gloss powdercoat for this but Adam requested a matte powdercoat, which preserved a dull appearance. The lips weren't normal either, since DPE offered Adam its new step lips with a raised inner brim to give the wheel more depth. The lips were then dipped in chrome for the ultimate bling factor and trouble-free cleaning.
Plenty of arithmetic was required to determine the size and offset of the wheels. In true Euro fashion, Adam wanted to fit the widest wheels possible to allow for an extremely low suspension drop, enormous step lips and even leave just enough room for big brakes. Because the A3 was front-wheel drive, Adam moved forward with a staggered fitment using 19x9" front and 19x10" rear wheels.
The most essential element when maximizing a wicked stance is choosing the right tire. In Adam's case it meant "stretching the hell out of them!" he told us. The 9" wide front rims received a skinny pair of 215/35 Falken FK-452 tires, while the 10" rears miraculously clutch onto 225/35 tires.