Dutch manufacturer, Donkervoort Automobielen, has released details of its latest sports car, the D8 GTO. Built in collaboration with Audi's tuning division, quattro GmbH, the new car is powered by a five-cylinder, 2.5-litre TFSI engine that would normally call the TT RS home. For the D8 GTO however, power has been boosted from 335- to 394bhp with up to 332lb.ft of torque. In a car that tips the scales at 700kg that should lead to astonishing performance.
Fitment of the Audi motor did present some problems with the D8 GTO having to grow by 35 centimetres in length and 15 centimetres in width to accommodate the longitudinally mounted engine. This means that the new car only shares 30 per cent of its components with its predecessors. The new car is constructed from carbon composite panels bonded to a tubular steel frame and it features Lamborghini-style 'scissor' doors. The D8 GTO is also the first car in Donkervoort's 24-year history to be fitted with traction control, but as company boss Joop Donkervoort says, this feature is "only for when it is raining of course."
Just 25 examples of the D8 GTO will be produced and half of those have already been sold so if you want to snap one up you better move fast. Prices for the new car range from €100,000 and €150,000 excluding taxes (about £83,000 to £125,000).
Paul Healy - 22 Dec 2011