ABT XGT: The R8 Audi Didn’t Have The Guts To Make!

This collection of wings and carbonfibre might be the purest expression of a ‘race car for the road’ since the McLaren F1 LM.
Why? Because it’s not a road car that does a decent job on a circuit, like an Aston Martin Valkyrie. Nor is it a road car turned track car, a la the Ferrari FXX-K. Instead, this is a proper race car with number plates. And it’s no one-off either, as ABT plan to build 99. At over £600k a pop…
It is an ABT too, because the work done to legalise this R8 LMS GT2 is so extensive that it no longer wears an Audi VIN plate - ABT is certified as the manufacturer. Rightly so, because to jump through the strict hoops demanded for German TÜV certification took Abt two years. We’re not just talking indicators and number plates either - they’ve had to crash test one of these. Twice.
Is it still a race car? Is it now any good on the road? TG’s Head of Car Testing, Ollie Marriage, is your guide…
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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:41 Walkaround
03:33 About Abt
04:57 Drive: on road
06:24 Drive: on track
09:25 Conclusion
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[@TopGear]

Should Audi have made this?

[@bretprins4792]

Should Audi have made another (lame) hyper exclusive car that nobody would be able to aquire because it would be impossible to buy? No... Let a shop create it so the people who actually want to drive it, can convert it themselves.

[@thedeerish]

They couldn’t have

[@MLK_Sold_Black_america_out]

Yes

[@STORM3SHADOW]

Yup, but they dropped the ball and gave us that Audisport parts bin "special" they call the GT RWD. What a disappointment. ABT did what Lambo did with the Huracan STO. And we know how well received that was.

[@kingn8dagr8]

yes. this would've been their STO version of the R8. Better than that R8 GT they released...

[@daniel_abt]

Great video. Thanks for joining us on Mallorca 🤞🏻

[@m0e87]

Wollte grad schreiben. Sehr nice!

[@manfredhassler2716]

bei audi war der hobel ein ladenhueter ....abt hat etwas nachgeholfen. respekt!

[@cexeodus]

bro thank you for building exactly the spec i made my r8 on Forza Horizon 4 and 5 lol These are my favorite car already and yall just went and made it better. The cherry on top would be to see it with my holographic Matrix/metaCORTEX race livery IRL.

[@slavplaysgames]

you guys are insane and legends ! cheers !

[@TheStigsSimcousin]

Audi shoud've made a TDI R8 too tho

[@Jattforce24X]

I still remember when i saw (Rdj)tony stark driving an R8 in Iron Man, fell in love with the car then and there...

[@AndrewNobleOfficial]

The exact reason I bought one! I sometimes wear my iron man mask when I drive it 🤫🤣

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@AndrewNobleOfficialIron Man Mk. 46 mask?

[@maskawathrasha8676]

Marketing

[@bdz2152]

And meanwhile everyone else fell in love courtesy of iRobot. 🤖

[@Shift4g]

@@bdz2152 The debut of the silhouette

[@coreyk288]

This monster looks and sounds amazing! You wouldn’t need coffee in your coffee run

[@TopGear]

Big question is would you take this to a drive thru...

[@baoquoc3710]

I mean, the race sliding window alone is truly coffeeproof...

[@Thorocious]

Comes with adrenaline built in

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@TopGearwell the Audi Abt XGT is basically RS5 DTM 2.0.

[@slavplaysgames]

what ? its literally an r8 gt2 .. did you even watch the video bozo wtf ? @@purwantiallan5089

[@SinnerAndSaint]

Proud to see that beast manufactured just 15 minutes away from where I live! Great job ABT, congrats on the global recognition!

[@bernhardgessenharter7433]

Same

[@simonasimak9523]

Lol, global recognition from ABT was years ago already. But they are awfull about design, they always fuck up everything

[@RidgeF1Club]

⁠@@simonasimak9523what r you on about mate 😭

[@simonasimak9523]

@@RidgeF1Club there are much better tuners out there, cheaper and provide more quality... If you like All Things Bullshit than go for it.

[@tomholroyd7519]

3:43 The UI! Why can't all cabins have a simple, easy to use interface?

[@purwantiallan5089]

The UI in the Abt XGT is very simple surprisingly.

[@NikosPer]

and a driver centric essence without much fuss and ugly big screens

[@unluckynumbersleven]

The Gumpert Apollo of R8s

[@TheKrayze1]

This

[@NZ_ADL]

There’s alot of people saying they don’t understand this car or it’s pointless, but there’s a very good and simple reason why this car exists and people would buy it……..it’s just because you can, simple as that. One could ask why, I would reply “why not”

[@toncheky]

I don't understand why people still have that mindset, especially any car enthusiast. It's been long known that with cool cars it's not about what's needed and what's sensible...

[@roycerammadhan7208]

I love a reviewer who can drive. This guy submerges me into the experience which is really lovely. He pretty much feels the car as he drives it, unlike other reviews, where we are treated to just the exteriors of a marque in a parking lot. Much Love to You Guys...

[@afrodezy1]

The best Audi of recent years. Good job ABT.

[@allensaunders449]

This is the type of vid I enjoy from top gear

[@Scott-dg4nq]

6:47 abt solute monster

[@entertainingandfun2719]

The proportions remind me of the old 90s Quattro IMSA GTO’s. Love this so much

[@BOOSTEDDUDE]

That's a proper track weapon. Those fins on top of the front wheel arches look pretty cool and also probably provide cooling. Sonic Hedgehog style

[@carzyI]

Maybe audi didn't want to start taking lamborghini sales with that machine

[@Gaindalf93]

That’s exactly the reason

[@timonxDlol]

No Audi simply couldn‘t have built this legally. In the EU car makers have totally different rules depending on if they build more or less than 10.000 cars a year. That is why a Lamborghini Huracan is allowed to be much louder, have more emissions etc. than an R8. This right here could only be built, because it‘s not an official Audi, but an ABT who also are handled as a small manufacturer just like Lambo. Audi would not have legally been allowed to produce and sell this thing. That‘s also why the Aston Valkyrie is so much more extreme than an AMG One - they have totally different rules. Mercedes could not have legally produced the Valkyrie.

[@Mitchhhh]

It‘s vag as well At the end it makes no difference at all if audi sells the car or lamborghini

[@Glock7eventeen]

@@Mitchhhhit does make a difference. Audi is supposed to be a consumer brand, meant for average civilians. Lamborghini is meant for the rich and famous. If they let Audi steal customers from Lamborghini, the entire Lamborghini brand be in trouble, they already have to rival Ferrari, McLaren and many other super car manufacturers. It’s the same exact reason why they make the Porsche Taycan faster than the Audi Etron despite both being built on the exact same platform. You think Audi doesn’t have the engineers to keep up the performance? Of course they do, Volkswagen just won’t let them.

[@Mitchhhh]

@@Glock7eventeen thats why audi never sold the gt2 on their own

[@triplew_13]

R8 XGT is very underrated, cuz they're not sale ofc but ABT does it, they don't want this masterpiece to destroy the Lamborghini Huracan market and become their competition, that's why, and ABT is the biggest fan of the audi R8 series and also i love ABT is taking this opportunity to keep the Audi R8 alive on the road with a car that can compete with the Huracan STO and 911 GT3 RS. We need XGT, STO, and GT3 RS in drag races and Nuburgring/Mugello/Lemans/Spa-Francorchamps lap records. that will be insane!

[@fazeobama8872]

bro my dogs morning barks are more coherent than that wall of text

[@mukunddidwania7732]

@@fazeobama8872😂😂😂😂 brooo

[@timothyherlihy6480]

6:03 the wing is moving around like its attached to a bird! Haha

[@soupistasty5]

I'd have one for sure (the huge $$$ notwithstanding)... but I'd take it with a set of Michelin PS2 (not the R version either!) to make it much better in the wet, not to mention a lot better tread life. One other change I'd make - I'd want both the actual carbon 'flat' on that wing and the stanchions supporting it much much stiffer, up to 2x as stiff as they are now! You can see how light n' flimsy they are currently, flapping around over bumps, etc

[@boy638]

Looks ABTsolutely bonkers.

[@irevisibel9237]

Congrats to ABT! Amazing car/concept AND road-legal ❤

[@urbanstrencan]

To bad R8 is gone, for me the best sports car ever❤❤❤. And ABT really knows their stuff

[@eddiefumar]

The most amazing thing it is registered in Germany. Crazy considering TÜV regulations.

[@JuanAntonEgo]

I Luv these type of Sportscars! Literally a racecar for the streets 😎

[@srgmhmm]

Love these videos

[@elvis1745]

It's absolutely mad, just ridiculous. No one needs something like this. I WANT it SO bad!

[@CoolCarlos310]

Wow. The new R8 has a beautiful shaped and curved body. Plus an amazing powered engine. Wow 👌 XGT PERFECTION

[@neblolthecarnerd]

I believe this is the homologation car for the R8 gt2. Similar to the ktm gtx that recently came out. Gt2 has made some great homologation specials.

[@carsonschultz9071]

ABT did an amazing job , is what i will enjoy for sure with a VictorRacing active spoiler on the track

[@whosyourmate8292]

You can drive a racing car on the road but if you want to wash it yourself, you can't, it's illegal. Welcome to Germany 😂

[@ShannonSouthAfrica]

How can you drive a race car on the road?

[@Blvck0ne]

I love it. ABT make the most gorgeous RS6 variants. Wish we had them here in the US.

[@DanielDaniel-gm3tj]

Beautiful machine

[@lucasblanchard47]

What an INSANELY COOL machine!

[@OfficialSkyrie]

@ThrottleHouse need this on the channel. Drag race perhaps👀

[@guitar_robin]

What an ABT-solute monster of a car! 😍

[@ElyciusM]

Man, I wish this was sold in the states. I would buy this over anything else under any price besides maybe an f1 lm or a GM t50

[@mgermelckumyn3688]

Crazy audio sounds 😮

[@ac24z]

I'm pretty sure the hatch in the roof, even on the race car, is not designed for the driver to get out. It's there so marshals or paramedics can reach into the car more easily and help with driver extraction. But the driver always has to get out through the door opening.

[@marktossell8461]

That noise! ❤‍🔥

[@catherinemesuelo1219]

Love this car 🇩🇪

[@Fl07219]

It looks awesome and is an ABTsolut monster :D

[@ForeverFlame88]

Lower the center of density?! Nice!!! :)

[@8888shooter]

👌👍🤩..awesome looking beast!!👌......wouldn't want to see the insurance band for this!!😱😱🤣🤣🤣👍.....Best thing of all, " it's not friggin electric "!!!!...hooray!!!👍👍

[@winstonreid1395]

2:12 just point at it bro lol stomping on mans aero

[@okthisisthelasttimeipromise]

Was looking for this comment 😆

[@bdz2152]

I've gotta 1:24 scale of an Audi that looks pretty similar...sick design. 😍

[@mramaretto114]

This is way cooler than 98% of Lambos lineup

[@AngryManSki]

I think Audi should have kept the V8 version of the R8 and used the V10 as a special model. Audi had a hard hitting Twin Turbo V8 that would have been better in that platform than the sedan’s they were in. Everyone is simply putting turbos on the V10 anyway. The car could’ve remained fairly affordable which it was when it was released.

[@parthsethia4223]

Extremely impressive

[@jaydenhallnyc4651]

It’s perfect, thoughts on a TT ABT XGT, can conservatively push 1200hp, definitely do 1500hp,1800hp-2000hp is extreme but possibility

[@essenel]

If i had money i’d give it to ABT for this beauty

[@spencer4630]

look mom, new dream car just dropped

[@GeeeEm61]

Looks fantastic!

[@wahyuardiansyah-wv1wj]

Audi R8 ABT XGT I like this car😍

[@hoonaticbloggs5402]

‘It’s a road car’ Which road? Wantage high street 😂😂

[@mdnurelahi9090]

Love that car❤

[@UncleManuel]

"This is an ABTsolute monster!" 😁

[@TGXB]

I am in awe

[@SoCalFreelance]

The ultimate LAPD evasion vehicle 😉

[@martyndyson9501]

I love it and id take it over most modern sports cars and even hyper cars, its just too cool...its not going to be cheap i reckon, hes not said the price yet, unfortunately here in the UK they are super strict and i doubt they would let you import it and register it for British roads, maybe if they stripped some of the aero, that cabin is fire though

[@Kiran_reddy.dk_b1998]

The sound still in my ears

[@TheEryk03]

Dream car of the dream cars.

[@howardmckenna]

ABT have always been serious tuners!!!

[@zevrs5800]

This would have been a great Top Gear review.

[@JohnWick-cq2xg]

An ABTsolute monster ;) #AllthewayABT

[@HG504X]

This is what the Huracan STO thinks it is. This is on a another level.

[@50shadesmixrace]

Love this

[@crephcrafterlp4899]

lol, the wing has the structural rigidity as a house of cars look at the first second of the video and how that thing wobbles around

[@nickwatkins5321]

That's pretty damned good, I'll have 2

[@cornedenecker1636]

Good God that is brilliant

[@MrGeoffrey1998]

I feel like the vslue will sky rocket quick xD

[@anthonyredg]

An ABTsolute monster!

[@salahjibz5217]

Bro I just saw one in Abuja last week

[@dmxwolf9126]

We need this parts for audi r8 in nfs unbound too

[@purwantiallan5089]

The Audi Abt XGT is like combination of NSX GT500 and Audi RS5 DTM.

[@Hugo_WP]

Fantastic 🔥🙌🏻 Audi’s last R8 GT was never a good project, they just went in lazy mode

[@R8FKL]

Oh no… the temptation.

[@will_c294]

Mat Armstrong's RS6's bigger brother nice

[@augustaspaulauskas91]

5:58 everyone likes a good v10 sound

[@gerryjamesedwards1227]

It's for someone who wants to relive the glory days of motor-racing when you could drive your racer to the track, compete - and hopefully win - and then drive home again.

[@gtclubuk]

I get what you're saying. I think that particular car is a bit wild to be honest but a Performante version of the R8 would have been well received

[@aseelhaque]

6:01 I don't think a rear wing should be this unstable.

[@cademckee7276]

The unstablity in side to side is generally fine. The race cars are the same and they last for 24hrs at the Nurburgring over jumps and bumps etc. It only matters when the wing starts to move up and down as well

[@AndrewNobleOfficial]

I came for this comment. Wasn’t sure if I was the only one who noticed

[@aseelhaque]

@@cademckee7276 Broo, I'm not talking about the detriments of aerodynamic efficiency caused by the moving wing, it was more of a pedestrian safety or rather build quality issue.

[@ALMX5DP]

@@aseelhaque they didnt mention aerodynamic efficiency, merely that it's able to stand up to the rigors of endurance racing. I think ABT knows how to build a wing so I dont think some wiggle is indicative of any build quality concerns at all, especially given what this vehicle is built for. When towing my car, I also see the (very sturdy) wing wobble a bit side to side.

[@cademckee7276]

@@aseelhaque It’s not build quality. It’s just inherent when you put a wing on a mount up that high and the wing is adjustable there there will be some slight side to side wobble unless they go overkill and run tensioned wires between the wing supports which I’m 90% sure wouldn’t pass safety inspections for pedestrians anyway

[@funkmasteryellow]

They should have teamed up with ABT to make their final edition like this

[@mprovin7320]

EPIC

[@adilnaukan2198]

Hello from Kazakhstan 🇰🇿

[@horschtiboy]

Hello Borat!

[@sportzntouring]

Love this! 9:50 Correction: Audi did make lightened versions in the Gen1: the original R8 GT. Just not for the second gen (the latest "GT" didn't scratch the surface of the changes of the original GT so can't really be considered "lightened").

[@RadialSeeker113]

The R8 GT3X vs 720GT3X would be an insane shootout.

[@ThisiscoolGAMES]

They should have made it less track focused IMO, should be a sleeper and catch everyone off guard 🤔

[@titaniummechanism3214]

When the Audi R8 GT was unveiled to be the last R8, I was a bit underwhelmed. I thought they should've ended it on a bigger bang, something more like the XGT.

[@IRW1N]

how is it, directly compared with the Lamborghini STO? (concerning Lap Times for example)

[@aliyas8278]

Amazing

[@bas7ee]

an ABTsolut monster

[@STORM3SHADOW]

This is the proper sendoff to the R8. You got it all wrong with the GT RWD, Audi.

[@leanderfischer6771]

what an amazing car

[@spbmade]

3 шт. - это успех!

[@stewmzhimself3907]

Its a road car but its a race car but its a road car but its a race car.

[@Adam-M1]

Was that his foot tapping the “flicks”……..

[@TaipanCARS]

£600,000!

[@airshieldcombo12345]

I'm a little surprised at how low the price is. For the buyers that this is aimed at, it's a deal. A lot of these limited run race/street cars are $2 million and from a brand that may not be around in a year. No worries about Abt and Audi.

[@raffi7995]

*New dreamcar appeared*

[@keirongaman6634]

that v10 sounds unreal

[@PooNinja]

Yes please.