Audi is bidding adieu to the R8 with a GT RWD limited to 333 coupes. If that special edition isn’t wild enough, ABT Sportsline has developed a truly bonkers version of the supercar. Meet the XGT, essentially a race car for the road since it takes the shape of a street-legal R8 GT2. It effectively extends the life cycle of the naturally aspirated machine since Audi is supplying 99 rolling chassis to the German company.
Much like the R8 GT RWD we mentioned, the ABT XGT also routes the V10’s power exclusively to the rear wheels. It packs a greater punch since the 5.2 FSI engine has been dialed to 630 hp whereas Audi’s swan song for its flagship sports car has “only” 612 hp. Deleting Quattro and making generous use of carbon fiber has kept the weight down to a remarkably low 3,086 pounds (1,400 kilograms). That’s 375 lbs (170 kg) less than the R8 GT RWD.
ABT explains it needed two years to develop the XGT after waiting for months to have the project approved by the higher-ups. As many as 40 people had to individually green light the wild R8. We’re being told it’s not a supercar modified to look like a race car, but an actual race car with a license plate. It “differs only marginally from the Audi R8 LMS GT2” and each vehicle will be unique by allowing owners to fully customize it.
You can tell it’s the real deal by having a look inside the stripped-out cabin where there’s a full roll cage and the same steering wheel found in the actual GT2 race car. Because the intent was to make it a road-legal car, ABT added central locking, a rearview camera, and a handbrake, along with installing a regular digital instrument cluster. For the same reason, there are now controls for the air conditioning, turn signals, and electrically adjustable mirrors in the modified control panel.
In addition, tweaks to the thermal management, software, braking, and fueling system were made but without straying away from the GT2 machine. Of course, there’s also a different exhaust system, one that meets the necessary emissions regulations to be road worthy. Additional changes were made to comply with noise levels. Depending on the angle of that huge rear wing, top speed is 193 mph (310 km/h).
ABT is offering the XGT in four standard colors but you can ask them to paint the car in a different hue. The hardcore R8 rides on 19-inch front and 20-inch rear forged wheels with Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires and is fitted with an 83-liter (21.9-gallon) fuel tank.
Price? €598,000, or about $652,000 at current exchange rates.
ABT is more than just a tuner with a soft spot for Audis since the company has competed in more than 300 races in DTM since 2000. It has won dozens of races and has over 250 podium finishes. In 2024, ABT will team up with Audi and Red Bull to field a pair of R8 LMS GT3 evo II race cars in DTM.
