Donkervoort D8 GTO-40

As a special surprise for their 40th anniversary Donkervoort today presented the limited special edition D8 GTO-40 at their headquarters in Lelystad/Netherlands. It is a continuation of the route the D8 GTO-RS took first and will be the lightest and fastest D8 in their history. Only 40 cars will be produced.

If you think about Donkervoort, weight shouldn’t be an issue for their engineers to think about. Ready to drive the D8 GTO is by far lighter than one ton. By using their patented EX-Core technology, a special technique to work with carbon in edgy forms, the D8 GTO-RS lost even more weight and gained more power. To be correct: Donkervoort isn’t even allowed to tell the power output from their five-cylinder engine, bought from Audi. They say it provides “more than 380 PS” – let’s just say it is quite a bit more. Enough at least to accelerate the new D8 GTO-40 in only 7.7 seconds from zero to 124 mph. The 40th anniversary edition also lost some more weight by using a modified chassis, developed together with technology partner Tata Steel. It has 15 percent more torsional stiffness and is one kilogram lighter. Next to that the car can be ordered with bare carbon wheels for the first time in Donkervoort’s history. They lower unsprung masses by 20 percent. With the lightest equipment the D8 GTO-40 is 22 kilograms lighter than a normal D8 GTO – it only takes 678 kilograms to the scales. You can also order a titanium exhaust system and for the first time a climate-control.

Next to those mentioned modifications at chassis and weight Donkervoort also did small design changes. They bettered the wind resistance and reached more downforce. New air inlets at the front help to cool the engine while there are new inlets at the rear wings as well, helping to reduce pressure inside the wheel houses. Even before the cars world premiere Donkervoort was able to sell more than half of the planned production of 40 cars. Base price in Europe is 159,600 euros plus local taxes.

Images: Donkervoort (10 Pictures), Matthias Kierse (25 Pictures)