Its amazing what you can find in the Middle East: indoor ski slopes, Michael Jackson in an abaya and the world's only MTM RS6 Club Sport. In case you were in any doubt, it is the latter that we'll be writing about here. The last place you would expect to find a car with such history is in the dusty, smog-infested back streets of a Dubai industrial estate. But we did and before we tell you how, let's retrace the story of this astonishing car.

Former Audi development engineer Roland Mayer is acknowledged as the king of Audi tuners. Back in late 2003, he had his own ideas about how an RS6 should perform. After all, he was the chap that brought you the twin-engined TT. Like Alpina, Brabus and Ruf, Motoren-Technik-Mayer (MTM) is recognised as a manufacturer by the German Transport Authority, so rather than stripping out an existing car, it was able to start from a bare shell.

In standard Avant form, Audi's potent 450bhp twin-turbo V8-powered RS6 seems perfect for someone who has to reconcile performance with business use and family obligations. In reality, however, the Avant is not as engaging a drive as it could be. So, under Roland Mayer's watchful eye, the guys at MTM installed a roll-cage and the automatic gearbox was replaced by an Audi RS4 six-speed manual. Electric motors, seats and other luxury items are heavy, so the air-conditioning, stereo, sat-nav and other gadgets were left out along with the rear seats. The heavy electric seats were replaced with Recaro racing buckets and five-point harnesses, and a three-spoke race steering wheel replaced the existing air-bagged one. Kerb weight fell almost 300kg to 1580kg.

Meanwhile, MTM's engine department ramped up the twin-turbo V8 with its Stage 3 conversion. The cylinder heads were whipped off and ported, polished and given big valves to make full use of modified turbochargers, high-lift cams and massive intercoolers. Further cooling comes from the three huge bonnet vents.

The resulting 580bhp at 6500rpm with 598lb ft of torque at 3200rpm provides supercar performance. The 0-100kmh run is obliterated in just 3.7sec, but it is the 8.4sec onslaught to 160kmh that is truly spectacular. Top speed is 320kmh on standard gearing.

And the purpose of all this? There are people in this world who will never be satisfied, people who will want that little bit extra. Some of these people will have an Audi RS6 Avant parked in the garage, and despite the fact it was already claimed to be the fastest production estate car in the world, will want to outperform a Porsche on the Hockenheim Club Circuit.

A Porsche Supercup car will lap Hockenheim in 1min 5sec on slicks; a Porsche GT3 RS on semi-slick tyres stops the clock at 1min 12sec. Defying the laws of physics, MTM's Audi RS6 Club Sport won its class in the 2004 Sport Auto Tuner Grand Prix with a stunning 1min 12.45sec lap on street tyres. A remarkable feat, but how then did the car finds its way to these shores...

The RS6 arrived in the Middle East in 2005 along with the development director on the project Roland Mantsch. Eyeing up the potential there was for tuning cars in the region, he was posted here to head up the technical department of MTM Gulf and, along with an S4 Club Sport, the RS6 was seen as the perfect example of the results the German tuners can achieve.

MY MEETING WITH THE MTM Gulf guys came midway through producing this issue. Familiar with their headquarters in Wettstetten, Germany, I was there to see how two such car enthusiastic brands could cooperate for upcoming features. What I didn't expect was for half my meeting to be conducted from the Recaro passenger seat of the only MTM RS6 Club Sport in the world.

Two hours had past since the beginning of my meeting with Horst Busch and I had barely said a word as the Austrian-born company director regaled one story after the other, interrupted only by himself or the offer of more caffeine. Horst was clearly passionate about cars. Worryingly so about horsepower. I could barely keep up, the glint in his eyes becoming brighter as he showed me internet footage of the twin-engined TT and we listened to an MP3 of the exhaust note of the 0-100kmh in 3.2sec MTM Audi S1. He was like one of those mad professors you only see in movies, minus the white lab jacket. As he chugged down another can of Pepsi, I began to wonder if I, indeed, wanted to ride in the passenger seat of car in which all four wheels span in every gear. I don't think I was going to get a choice.

Having been shown around the workshop of Cayennes, Mercedes and Mustangs all being fitted with six-figure performance upgrades of ridiculous proportions, I clocked my eyes on Horst's pride and joy: the RS6 Club Sport. The silver, engraved plaque on the dash identified it as the first and only car of its kind in the world. This car screamed evo so much it was deafening. My initial reluctance of jumping into the passenger seat with the caffeine-intoxicated Austrian soon subsided and I was overcome with privilege. After all, this was a car that Walter Rohrl had navigated around the Ring.

Burgeoning the Middle East trend for overstated bodywork upgrades and aftermarket accessories, this car was about pure performance. It was Superman in Clark Kent clothing with a wide, menacing stance and a front grille that looked like it could bite off your hand. Even the air vents on the bonnet seemed threatening. As I awkwardly climbed through the roll-cage into the passenger seat, not something you'd expect of a station wagon, I noticed that both Horst's eyes had that now familiar glint. We were about to go M3 hunting. (His words not mine!)

Harness tightened, Horst and I made our way out of the industrial estate in search of some open road and BMWs. The car seemed civilised at low-speed but when he did find that stretch of open road, the term 'lighting the afterburners' is no exaggeration. The lower weight of the Club Sport means less cushioning from the relentless wave of torque, so the lunge towards the horizon in each gear is uncommonly ferocious.

With no soundproofing to filter its baritone voice and the windows wide open to keep us cool from the rising Dubai heat, we get the full-on aural treatment. This car gets to you on a seriously emotional level; it gives a hardcore V8 turbo experience that had Horst looking for excuses to slow down just so he could speed up again. The ride was like nothing I had ever experienced. It left me speechless and forgetful of the fact I had just been in an estate car.

MY NEXT CHALLENGE WAS TO try to interrupt Horst and at the same time persuade him to let us photograph and test the car for ourselves at the upcoming weekend's open track evening at the Dubai Autodrome. He took some convincing, but agreed on the principle that only myself or motoring editor Bassam Kronfli were the ones behind the wheel. I was already committed to another feature so reluctantly had to hand over the responsibility to Buzz.

While there was no doubting the RS6's straightline performance, the twists and turns of the Autodrome would be a better challenge for the car's brakes and suspension. Here the massive MTM 380mm slotted, vented front discs clamped by huge eight-pot callipers would easily resist Bassam's near-kamikaze approach into corners, pushing him hard against the race harnesses.

Back on the throttle to balance the car in the turn, Bassam is able to nail the throttle, but not too quickly, all the way through the 'Bowl', discovering astonishing levels of mechanical grip courtesy of the quattro 4wd and leaving a Ferrari 430 and 996 GT3 in his wake. Foot to the floor, the cars behind him quickly disappear from view and Horst is left laughing menacingly from the passenger seat as Bassam begins another loop of floodlit Club Circuit.

The KW adjustable race suspension was originally set up for Hockenheim but MTM Gulf have backed it right off to enable Horst to use it as a daily driver. It is a little on the soft side, but works just fine in relation to the full-on experience of explosive acceleration and eyeball-popping retardation. The lower weight and larger but lighter wheel/tyre combination have also had a magical effect on the feedback from the helm of the RS6, which now delivers the sort of messages missing from the standard car. The intense brakes have a tendency to lock up on the track, but some stickier slick tyres would probably cure this problem, the brakes seemingly too powerful for the current tyre set-up. A factor cemented when Bassam finishes his session on the track and rolls back into the pits with the discs glowing so red, they are practically purple. And, in fact, so hot that a piece of plastic from the engine housing catches alight and begins melting. All hell breaks loose. Not what he had hoped would happen with Horst's favourite toy. People crowd round to take pictures, but those sensible enough to grab extinguishers put out the small flame quickly despite the furore. Phew!

Our experience in this unique car was brief, but memorable. In spite of its age, Bassam and I are both left mesmerised by the slingshot power of this RS6 and pleased at how we stumbled across such an evocentric find. Horst has promised us a further test drive when he upgrades the engine to 800bhp. Quite how he will fit all that in the already crammed engine bay is anyone's guess. But you can be sure that we'll be around to cover it... until next time.

Many thanks to Horst and all the guys at MTM Gulf (+9714 338 8393) for allowing us to test drive the RS6 Club Sport

Specification
MTM Audi RS6 Club Sport
Engine: V8, 4172cc, twin-turbo
Max power: 580bhp @ 6500rpm
Max torque: 598lb ft @ 3200rpm
Top speed: 320kmh (claimed)
0-100kmh: 3.7sec (claimed)