You might not have heard about Donkervoort, but the Dutch company has been in the boutique car business for over 4 decades now, producing hand-built cars with Ford and Audi powerplants. Recently, the company revealed D8 GTO-JD70 to celebrate its founder Joop Donkervoort’s 70th birthday.
As the name suggests, it is a special edition based on the D8 GTO, and is limited to just 70 units. The example we’re seeing here belongs to Joop Donkervoort himself, his personal car (22/70). Donkervoort claims the D8 GTO-JD70 to be the world’s first 2G production car, meaning it can pull 2G of lateral acceleration (cornering performance) on its standard road tyres.
The JD70 is built on a hybrid chassis that combines a tubular steel ladder frame with carbon fibre and aluminum. The bodywork itself is made of a carbon fibre and Kevlar weave, and as per the buyer’s choice, can be painted or be left naked with a lacquer coating in either matte or polished finishes.
In fact, more than 95% of the bodywork is made of carbon-kevlar weave that is produced from the company’s ‘EX-Core‘ carbon fibre technology. The EX-Core is essentially a patented process to make strong and complex carbon fibre shapes. In addition to all the lightweight components used to build the car, a lightweight lithium-ion battery shaves off another 7 kg (15 lbs) over a standard unit. Which is why despite a 2.5-litre lump at the front, the JD70 weighs only about 680 kg (1,499 lbs) unladen.
In case you haven’t noticed already, another change the JD70 has over the standard car is that the exhaust has been moved to the side — the right side, to enhance the downforce at the rear. The downforce at the front and rear is claimed to be 80 kg (176 lbs) and 50 kg (110 lbs), respectively.
Braking duties are handled by 310 mm x 24 mm discs at the front with 6-piston monobloc calipers, and 285 mm x 24 mm discs at the rear with a single-piston caliper. However, a more powerful 6-piston caliper is available as an option for the rear. The options list also includes a Bosch Race ABS system. The carbon fibre wheels (17-inch front, 18-inch rear) you’re seeing here, are optional as well.
As for the suspension, the JD70 gets 3-way adjustable Intrax dampers at each corner. The custom made coil springs and the front and rear anti-roll bars are also adjustable.
Electrically adjustable power steering is optional and so are the Xenon headlights, a lightweight air conditioning unit, a rearview camera, and tyre temperature and pressure monitoring system. Buyers can also go for an interior design package. Also, notice the traction control knob to vary the intervention levels.
The Audi-sourced 2.5-litre in-line 5-cylinder TFSI motor pumps out 421 metric hp (310 kW) between 5,850-7,000 rpm and 560 Nm (413 lb-ft) of torque between 1,750-6,350 rpm. The engine is paired with a Tremec 5-speed manual gearbox that drives the rear wheels via LSD. The JD70 is claimed to sprint from 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.7 seconds and on to a top speed of 280 km/h (174 mph).
The Donkervoort D8 GTO-JD70 commands a base price of €198,000 (including 21% VAT). At the time of publishing this story, Donkervoort claims that more than half (of the 70 units) have already been sold.
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