• AMS Performance is a full-service performance shop for turbocharged vehicles, component manufacturer, and builder based in the Chicagoland suburbs.
• After several years of hard-earned motorsport achievement, AMS Performance dedicated a portion of its operations to crafting performance package solutions under the “Alpha” program.
• AMS Performance transformed a “regular” 2018 Lamborghini Huracán Performante transformed into a 2,800 monster courtesy of its Alpha Omega twin turbo package and much more.
• The extensively-modified Huracán set a record to beat: a 6.98-second quarter-mile sprint with driver Jordan Martin behind the wheel.
• This record run was recorded at Maryland International Raceway days before it made its debut in the T14 HQ lobby.

It’s a brave statement to label something “Alpha Omega”. For the uninitiated, “Alpha” and “Omega” are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet respectively. But for my fellow God-fearing Jesuits, the combination has a much larger context that reflects total comprehensiveness, the first and the last, and a deity-adjacent presence that will leave an impression that stands the test of time.

Again, it’s an almighty statement to make. But it’s one that AMS Performance, a full-service performance shop for turbocharged vehicles, component manufacturer, and builder, is no stranger to boasting. I consider myself extremely lucky to have grown up in Chicago to witness AMS’s ascent. Since its inception, it’s been a dominant force in motorsport, earning time attack, SCCA, and NASA championships alongside valuable recognition on the drag racing circuit. By the end of 2009, AMS Performance decided it was time to turn these on-track accolades into something tangible for the consumer market. With that commitment, the Alpha program was born.

KING OF THE STREETS

I’ll never forget the first time that I drove an Alpha 9-equipped car. I was thrown the keys to a 2009 Nissan GT-R on a sunny, summer day so I could find out what that Alpha badging was all about. Seconds later, my body found it nearly impossible to calibrate to the way my insides shifted as this car tore across the pavement. Getting out of it, I knew almost instantaneously that I’d never pilot anything faster, but AMS Performance’s ambitions were just getting started. By the same time three years later, that Alpha 9 designation was dwarfed by 10, 11, 12, and then finally, the Alpha Omega.

The resulting car moved heaven, earth, and a few nearby planets in its rise to the top of the GT-R food chain. This 3,400hp chieftain hit the quarter mile in 7.48 seconds at 193mph and reset its own world records multiple times over. It was only a matter of time before AMS Performance attracted the affection of loftier marques. The shift would propel the company through the stratosphere of both prestige and performance. The only question was which platform could eventually wear the coveted Alpha Omega crown.

LAMBORGHINI HIGH

It wouldn’t take long to find out the answer. VAG’s cross-familial breeding spawned fraternal twins — the Audi R8 V10 and Lamborghini Huracan — which proved to be perfect candidates for AMS’s program. Similar to other Alpha platforms, the available twin-turbo upgrades progressed linearly, albeit in greater volume than its GT-R counterpart. Seven distinct, turn-key Alpha packages, ranging from 9-28, transformed a naturally aspirated 631-horsepower V10 into, at minimum, a 900-horsepower twin-turbocharged monster and at most, a 2,000-horsepower-topping leviathan.

Still, the Alpha Omega designation sat above even those titanic figures, re-defining what was even possible for the V10 platform altogether. The car you see in front of you now is the modern namesake of that badging. Keen eyes will recognize this car from Netflix’s Hyperdrive series, but since the show, it’s undergone a multitude of meaningful upgrades in pursuit of a singular target: to become the world’s quickest Lamborghini in the quarter mile.

SMALL MARGINS

A quick lap around the AMS Performance YouTube channel would give you enough proof that it succeeded in quick order. Two years ago, it put down an incredible 7.50-second quarter-mile run at 185mph. The following video broke its own record, highlighting a 7.40-second pass at 189mph. That trend would continue as the car received more upgrades. 7.33 at 194 would follow until it was time to bring the car back to AMS for a series of meaningful upgrades for 2023: new G42-series turbos from Garret Motion — which would provide more headroom than all-out power — were amongst the multitude of engine parts, while the JRZ suspension (3-way front, 4-way rear) was re-valved for drag racing. The exhaustive effort proved to be a worthy exercise. The Alpha Omega Huracán ran an impressive 7.308-second pass at 203.9mph during the 2023 DCT World Cup, enough to best any V10 on the property that weekend.

SIX OR BUST

AMS Performance’s ever-dwindling time slips put a rarely-achieved milestone in sight: a quarter-mile run under seven seconds. The ambition would give the AMS Performance team only a handful of months to get there, targeting the 28th annual Haltech World Cup Finals as its proving ground. The Alpha Omega Huracán’s first run in qualifying told the AMS team everything they needed to know: it achieved a 7.05-second pass while the car was notably lifting down the strip. That meant the magical sub-seven time was within reach.

To Jordan Martin’s admission, the ambitious target would mean that all the stars would have to align; there was no room for any error, either from the driver or the car. The subsequent runs during the World Cup Finals would see the Huracán shave another hundredth closer to its goal, but it’d have to wait an extra day before the team could put one last run together to cross the seven-second threshold. That fateful pass was enough: Martin finally commanded the bull to run a 6.98-second quarter-mile sprint.

COOL DOWN ROOM

The accolade couldn’t have come at a better time. Shortly after receiving the time slips, the AMS Performance Huracán was packed up and transported directly into Turn 14 Distribution’s lobby. There, its employees could celebrate the record-setting Lamborghini first-hand. Indeed, the admiration was well-deserved and it was incredible to obsess over AMS Performance’s engineering work knowing what it’d just achieved. While some could balk at the two huge nitrous tanks in the passenger footwell as a reminiscent nod to Paul Walker’s boisterous Eclipse GSX in the original Fast and Furious movie, you’d be happy to find out that the pair are fire suppression tanks in clever disguise. I have to respect the humor here given how serious of a car AMS Performance had put together. There were plenty of other examples of AMS Performance’s brilliance, too: the custom-made bumper block-off plates, 4” titanium exhaust, a myriad of sensors for more comprehensive data logging, MoTeC management, and the full engine and transmission build were a few to note. 

The aforementioned G42-series turbos were certainly a big contributor to the titanic power, but the Garret intercoolers — which were later modified further by AMS Performance — were crucial to guarantee that the car was future-proofed for further development. It was a reminder that despite the 6.98-second run, the AMS Performance team wasn’t done. It’s that relentless pursuit of excellence and competitive spirit that keeps me wholeheartedly vested in what AMS has up its sleeves. Congratulations and thank you, AMS Performance, for sharing this incredible machine with us for a short stint. With the pace that it’s going so far, we’re going to need to come up with a new word to supplant hypercar at the top of the food chain.

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