Currently reading: Abt XGT turns Audi R8 into £519k DTM racer for the road

R8 GT has power boosted and weight shaven off in famed German tuner's "most exclusive project"

German tuner Abt has revealed the XGT, a road-going version of the Audi R8 DTM racer, as the "most exclusive car that has ever left [its] factory".

Limited to a production run of 99 units, the XGT was spotted earlier in the year during dynamic testing at the Nürburgring - a process in which it covered "thousands of test kilometres". 

It was designed to be as close as possible to a road-going version of the R8 GT2 racer that competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) and retains its “race-track feel”.

Abt worked on the project with Scherer Sport, a sub-brand of the Scherer Group, which sells race-ready Audis for competitive use.

Its unveiling follows a "two-year, extremely complex" development process that went "beyond the scope of conventional vehicle development".

Power comes from the same 5.2-litre V10 engine as in the R8 GT, but it has been given a 20bhp boost to 640bhp, which, together with a 170kg weight drop to 1400kg, gives a top speed of 200mph and no doubt a sub-3.4sec 0-62mph time.

Company boss Hans-Jürgen Abt said: "It was the challenge itself that spurred us on to develop this unique complete vehicle. The XGT is the quintessence of our heritage.”

DTM drivers Kelvin van der Linde and Ricardo Feller have test driven the XGT and said its "road handling, steering behaviour and acceleration cannot be compared with any road car”. 

Advertisement

Read our review

Car review

Audi sends its mid-engined flagship in search of supercar scalps, and largely succeeds - even if rivals like the Porsche 911 Turbo S provide greater driving thrills

Back to top

It's billed as a road-legal racer and not a regular R8 with racing garnish. Therefore it features the same heat management and vehicle diagnostics system as the DTM racer but incorporates some of the features from the regular car, such as the fuelling system, handbrake, central locking and reversing camera. 

Underneath, it features dual-adjustable suspension, bespoke springs and dampers, forged springs and Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R Tyres.

Race-inspired design cues include bronze front canards, a rear spoiler sitting nearly as high as the roofline, extra air intakes on the front wheel arches and roof and Perspex windows.

Inside, it keeps the racer's control panel and steering wheel, with certain switches adapted for road use to be able to control the exterior mirrors, air conditioning and indicators.

The instrument cluster has also been simplified to include an enlarged rev counter, speed readout, traction control setting and anti-lock braking setting.

Customers are able to choose between four paint colours to be applied by hand. 

Sales haven't been confirmed for the UK, but customers in Germany can expect to pay €598,000 - equivalent to £519,720.

Jonathan Bryce

Jonathan Bryce
Title: Editorial Assistant

Jonathan is an editorial assistant working with Autocar. He has held this position since March 2024, having previously studied at the University of Glasgow before moving to London to become an editorial apprentice and pursue a career in motoring journalism. 

His role at work involves running Autocar's sister title Move Electric, which is most notably concerned with electric cars. His other roles include writing new and updating existing new car reviews, and appearing on Autocar's social media channels including Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Join the debate

Comments
4
Add a comment…
Commenter 24 November 2023
Miss out on this one and get the Mustang GTD in GT3 spec instead?
Peter Cavellini 23 November 2023

Some are saying why bother and it costs too much?, there's only going to be 99, your chances of seeing one are slim,and like 70% of  humans on this planet we can't afford it, there are other cars way faster than this, road cars at that that have seven figure prices.

Just Saying 26 October 2023
I politely say, why bother?
martin_66 23 November 2023

Indeed.  Seems a hell of a lot of money for something that looks so much worse than it did before they got their hamds on it.