With 23 years of DTM racing expertise, dozens of race wins, and over 250 podium finishes, German tuner and race store ABT Sportsline is aware of a factor or two a couple of factor or two. For its newest mission, ABT spent over two years creating Audi’s R8 GT2 race automotive right into a street-legal automotive able to negotiating highway site visitors. Called the ABT XGT, solely 99 examples might be produced at a price of round $653,800 every. If you’re in search of the uncooked race automotive expertise with out truly getting a racing license, this is perhaps your greatest wager.
Compared to the R8 GT2 on which it’s based mostly, the ABT XGT is modified solely barely. For day by day use and practicality the XGT swaps the GT2’s racing fueling system for a traditional Audi R8 V10 gas injection setup. Likewise, some creature comforts like a handbrake, door locks, a back-up digital camera and a safety system had been added again in from the manufacturing automotive. Electrically adjustable exterior mirrors, air con, flip alerts, and an emissions-legal exhaust system are naturally additionally included.
Everything that makes a race automotive a race automotive are usually prohibitive for operating on the road. Things like crash security, seat belts, exterior noise necessities, and street-useable brakes are vastly totally different between the race observe and the highway, and ABT needed to take all of that under consideration, compromising a little bit of the XGT’s lap instances in an effort to hit road authorized targets. Even nonetheless, racing drivers Kelvin van der Linde, Ricardo Feller, Martin Tomczyk, and Frank Stippler all pounded out laps within the XGT on the Hockenheimring, the Sachsenring, and the Nürburgring Nordschleife to search out the proper setup for the automotive.
When the Audi R8 GT2 first arrived in 2019, it appeared prefer it was mad about one thing. The ABT XGT seems to be nearly equivalent, carrying the identical sharp angles and wild intakes, big scoops and reverse-neck rear wing.
The GT2 class of racing was dreamed up by the Stephane Ratel Organization for the 2020 season, and was by no means actually supposed for audiences to take pleasure in. Despite its wild seems to be, the vehicles aren’t fairly as fast because the extra well-liked GT3 class. The level was to ship a quick automotive that privateers might drive with out worrying concerning the difficult downforce of actual racing. The racing world has skilled a little bit of turmoil since 2020, for apparent causes, however GT2 has been pretty nicely subscribed.
As extra automakers construct vehicles for the category – which now contains the KTM X-Bow GT2, Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport, Mercedes-AMG GT2, and Maserati MC20 GT2 – the Audi R8 GT2 grew to become much less well-liked. With Audi pulling its assist of privateer racing, absolutely the remainder of the GT2 chassis had been out there to ABT for a big low cost. It’s an fascinating approach to make one thing cool from a just about useless racing automotive chassis. Good work, ABT.
Source: jalopnik.com