Roughly eight months after being previewed
through a series of renderings, the Donkervoort D8 GTO-JD70 has been officially
presented by the small Dutch car manufacturer. The car has been launched to
celebrate the 70th birthday of company founder Joop Donkervoort.
Driving the D8 GTO-JD70 is a 2.5-liter
turbocharged five-cylinder Audi engine producing 420 hp and 520 Nm of torque. Coupled to this engine is a close-ratio five-speed manual
transmission and a limited-slip differential that drives the rear wheels.
A huge portion of the car is made from
carbon fiber meaning it tips the scales at a mere 700 kg. This
results in truly blistering performance with a claimed 0-100 km/h time
of 2.7 seconds and a sprint from naught to 200 km/h in 7.7 seconds.
Given enough room, Donkervoort says the D8 GTO-JD70 will hit 280
km/h. However, it is not in a straight-line where the JD70 is most at home. It
is in the corners.
The car manufacturer has equipped the car
with double-wishbone suspension that includes adjustable dampers and springs at
all four corners. The car also delivers 80 kg of rear downforce and
50 kg of front downforce thanks to aero modifications. When equipped
with the standard Nankang AR-1 tires, Donkervoort says its new flagship
performance model can achieve more than 2G of lateral acceleration during
cornering. Those are the types of forces that will make it feel like your face
is being pulled off. Donkervoort will build just 70 examples of the car, each
with a starting price of € 163,636 (US$ 185,400).
