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Audi / ABT R8 GT R – A Racecar for the Road

ABT R8 GT R – A Racecar for the Road

If you think the standard Audi R8 supercar is a bit too “posh” for you, check out what German tuning firm Abt Sportsline just churned out.

The ABT R8 GT R isn’t just your standard tuned car, but a lightweight, high-powered race car for the road and track. The first thing Abt did to this monster is take of Audi’s stock hood, front and rear aprons, rear wing, tailgate, and even the outline edge on the rear, external mirrors, and the door panels – replacing them with their own versions made completely from carbon fiber. The side windows are even replaced with a high-strength, lightweight material called Makrolon. All this stripping down doesn’t sacrifice anything but bulk, and makes for a weight savings of over 220 lbs – a significant number when flying down a track.

As you might expect, Abt didn’t leave the engine alone in this beast. The monstrous 5.2-liter, 525 hp V10 engine in the factory car has been tuned to 620 hp, allowing the Abt R8 GT R to travel from zero to 62 mph in only 3.2 seconds. Keep that right pedal down and the car will reach 124 mph in 9.9 seconds, up to a top speed of 202 mph.

Abt also added a sports suspension and adjustable dampers to fine-tune the performance, along with modified brakes to deal with the extra power. Lightweight 19-inch Abt alloy wheel were added for style and function.

To give it its race track ability, Abt added Recaro racing seats with a 4-point seat belt system, stainless steel roll-over bar with seat belt attachment, hand-held fire extinguisher and a carbon fiber ABT Sports steering wheel.. They’ve even added a an on-board video system and the expandable data module for tracking and recording your lap times and other metrics.

This is truly a track-worthy beast for those who want the gorgeous looks, blistering performance, and overall refinement of an Audi R8 V10 supercar, but also want a highly capable race car.

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