The R8-inspired Audi A5 Styling Kit From Hofele Design

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.

Updated: 10 Oct 2024

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