Donkervoort’s D8 GTO-JD70 generates 2 G’s of lateral grip on street tires

Well, “Donkervoort D8 GTO-JD70” may not roll off your tongue with ease and it may look like the unwanted love child of a Caterham 7 and a transformer, but if you pack the kind of power it does, these things are nothing no matter.

The D8 GTO-JD70 – so named because it was built on the occasion of the 70th birthday of company founder Joop Donkervoort – is the ultimate expression of the special madness of Donkervoort. His main claim to fame is his ability to produce more than 2G of lateral grip on street tires – something that Donkervoort claims is the first company to do so. It is even better that it is already in the hands of customers.

If you are not familiar with Donkervoort, you are not alone. The brand does not sell cars in the U.S., but in short, the company was founded as a Dutch manufacturer of the Lotus 7 (like Caterham), but because the 7 was technically illegal on Dutch roads, the company eventually started to develop its own strange branch to follow until his vehicles had only a temporary resemblance to Colin Chapman’s go-kart for adults.

Now the D8 GTO-J70 is powered by a 2.5-liter Audi five-cylinder turbocharged engine (as seen in the RS 3 and TT RS) that produces 415 horsepower and 384 pound-feet of torque. This engine is connected to a five-speed manual transmission – unusual in a world of six- and seven-speed manual transmissions, but required due to size restrictions due to the chassis and length of the engine – sourced from Tremec and modified for service in the D8.

This chassis is a custom-made steel tube ladder with a lot of carbon fiber for weight reduction and additional rigidity. The D8 GTO-JD70 weighs just 1,543 pounds. This is a really amazing number in a world where most £ 3,000 cars are considered light. This is the first Donkervoort to offer power steering, which is not surprising given the lack of bulk of the car.

However, this lack of mass can be a mixed blessing in other ways, namely braking. It is not easy to find a balance between ultimate braking power and enough heat in the brakes to work properly. Nevertheless, the company believes that it has solved the problem with customized brakes from the Italian company Tarox. Bosch Motorsport ABS is also there for the journey, as is the user-selectable braking and the defeatable traction control.

Of course, despite its unwieldy name, the Donkervoort D8 GTO-JD70 is a fairly serious car that focuses primarily on the commitment and performance of the driver. As such, you would expect it to be a little rough on your wallet and you would be right. The D8 starts at over $ 187,000 before adding any of the long options available. However, it’s probably worth it when you consider that half of the planned production of 70 cars is already sold out.

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