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

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.”