GAH! My eyes! MY EYES!!! Why do people do this? Why do they try to make one car, look like a different car? And doing to a car like the A5, that makes no sense. The A5, although not to everyone’s tastes, is a pretty good looking car and quite handsome as it sits. If you’re going to mess with something like that, you better be careful.

I ran across this little bit of news on Paul Tan’s site. He seems like a car guy, like us, but he’s based in Malaysia (see how far I go for you guys to get interesting news?), so he always digs up interesting things, or usually has a different perspective. So up pops the Hofele Design Audi A5 Styling Kit that was inspired by Audi’s highly impressive R8.

Look I got nothing, really, against the A8. OK, I got two things against it: They’re no semi-auto box, and I don’t have one, but other than that, it seems like a hell of a great car, and they’re not that expensive, relatively speaking to their competition. And I have pretty much the same feelings for the A5. Handsome car – sure, I’d go with a sportscar, but the 5 is nothing to sneeze at.

But this? Hofele Design, what were you thinking? Paul Tan’s brother Danny, who wrote the original article notes that there are companies that make ‘ … “R8 style” kits for cars like the Audi A5 and TT.’ Gah! The TT? Please no … don’t do that. But let’s not go off on that tangent, let’s look at the evidence before us: The Hofele Design R8-inspired Audi A5 Styling Kit.

It would seem that the German tuner makes R8 like kits for all three models of the Audi A5: Coupe, Convertible and Sportback. (Grand. Total annihilation.) The kit comes with an front bumper with the air vents below the headlamps and very much has an R8-look. If you own an A5 coupe or convertible you can also get the R8’s unique signature side blades. There is also a rear bumper with faux air-outlets and integrated diffuser. Four exhaust tips complete the bastardizati-er-transformation.

Can I borrow some Visine?

Source: Paul Tan