Two years after its debut as a seemingly unhinged concept, the ABT XGT has become one of the most distinctive expressions of the ABT Sportsline ethos. What launched in 2023 as a collaboration with Scherer Sport has since evolved into a global customer favorite — a road-legal race car that refuses to dilute the motorsport DNA of the Audi R8 LMS GT2 on which it is based.
ABT’s engineers and designers in Kempten undertook a notoriously difficult task: transform a purpose-built GT2 car into something the public could legally drive without losing the raw edge that makes the R8 LMS platform special. Achieving certification required roughly 40 individual approvals and the sort of “hold your breath” crash testing no race team ever wants to perform. Yet the result is one of the purest motorsport experiences ever offered for public roads. The XGT’s 5.2-liter V10 FSI produces 470 kW (640 hp), paired with extreme lightweight construction and a top speed of 310 km/h. It is as uncompromising as road-legal cars come.
But the XGT’s growing legend is as much about individuality and craftsmanship as it is about outright performance. Each car is built to order and has emerged with its own personality — classic racing reds, sponsor-inspired liveries, loud one-off colors, and intricate personal touches that telegraph the owner’s intent. ABT refers to the model as a “rolling work of high-tech art,” and the global fleet now reflects a vibrant palette of motorsport-inspired creativity.
Daniel Abt, ABT’s CCO and one of the first test drivers for the project, considers the XGT a perfect distillation of the company’s spirit. Passion, precision, and a refusal to accept inherited boundaries are the values he sees in every finished car. Customers seem to agree, with deliveries now taking place around the world and appearances at events and racetracks steadily growing. Scherer Sport, a long-standing ABT partner, manages sales and service, guiding each owner through a hands-on design and build process before the final handover.
In just two years, the ABT XGT has shifted from improbable dream to brand milestone. What started as a wild thought experiment now stands as a symbol of ABT Sportsline’s ability to reinterpret motorsport for the street — not by taming it, but by shaping it just enough to unleash it on public roads.
Further information and the full individual configuration experience are available at abt-sportsline.com/abt-xgt.
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