ABT Sportsline, the highly-acclaimed tuning house and racing outfit has lifted the veil on their latest racecar for the road, this time in the form of the XGT – without doubt the most hardcore Audi R8 you can slap a numberplate on.
With production of the Audi R8 drawing to a close, ABT thought they’d prepare their own send-off for the German coupe, and what better way to celebrate than releasing a (barely) watered-down racecar that is fully legal to drive on public roads.
Limited to just 99 units in total, the ABT XGT comes powered by a 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10 pushing out 470kW of power which isn’t anything major over the standard car, though look underneath and you’ll see this is not a mere design exercise.
ABT got to work removing Audi’s stock Quattro all-wheel drive system and sticking with a rear-wheel drive layout with the XGT, which not only helps in terms of tail-happiness, but also helped the company keep things super lightweight.
Combine that with a mega amount of carbon fibre bodywork and you’ve got yourself a kerb weight of just 1,400kg – 170kg lighter than the standard Audi R8 GT rear-wheel drive and makes its power-to-weight ratio far more intimidating.
Depending on the level of attack on that biblically large rear wing, the top speed is up to 310km/h.
ABT says that rather dress up a street car in sporty clothing, this is effectively a road-legal race car based on the R8 LMS GT2, even picking up the same bespoke steering wheel made for the racer.
In terms of the bodywork, the XGT shares all the distinctive bodywork as its R8 LMS GT2 twin-under-the-skin, including the prominent roof scoop, aggressive aero package with front louvers and massive rear wing, as well as splits all through the front bonnet.
It comes riding on a set of 19-inch front, 20-inch rear forged wheels wrapped in Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tyres, with stopping power supplied by a set of steel brake rotors clamped by hardcore Brembo brake calipers.
To make it more civilised on the road, the company says that the XGT has picked up air conditioning, electronically-adjustable mirrors and, of course, a set of indicators and a far more refined exhaust system than the straight-piped LMS GT2.
As for the pricing, ABT says the XGT will burn a hole in your wallet to the tune of 599,200 euros, around AUD $991,875 and even with the stratospheric pricing, its limited-edition nature of just 99 units in total means it’ll surely sell like hotcakes. 
