Dutch Courage - Donkervoort D8 GTO-JD70 | The First 2G Super Sports Car

By Brent vd Schyff

To be filed under “sportscars you’ve likely never heard of”, the Donkervoort D8 GTO-JD70 is the latest creation to roll out of the doors of the Dutch sportscar maker. It’s 2.5-litre in-line five-cylinder, (ala TTRS) motor developed by Audi Sport spits out 310kW and 520Nm of torque in a chassis weighing less than 700 kgs. Wrap your head around that. The D8 GTO-JD70 does the 0-100 timewarp in 2.7 seconds which is the same amount of time you’re able to read this sentence in. The 200km/h mark, from standstill, is achieved in 7.7 seconds. That’s faster than a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ. I know what you’re thinking…”These crazy dutch bastards” And you’d be right and myself, as the self-appointed car community spokesman, on behalf of everyone, thank companies like Donkervoort for reminding us that the driver isn’t forgotten.

The D8 GTO-JD70 achieves such staggering performance through a wave of the carbon fibre magic wand, other trickery like piano hinged doors, a lithium ion battery and carbon fibre wheels ensuring that the power to weight figure is an eye watering 442kW/ton (The SVJ, as a comparison, is 371kW/ton).

Turning 70 deserves a gift, and so we've given our founder Joop Donkervoort his favourite kind of gift - the D8 GTO-JD70. It's not just any car, but a limite...

Let us just rejoice that the D8 GTO-JD comes in a five-speed manual gearbox for those shift workers who like manual work. There is also a close-ratio setup on the gearbox as well as fully adjustable suspension. If at any point you’re thinking this isn’t a driver focused car, you’re likely on the wrong site. There’s rev-matching software for downshifts but I’m going to provide an ‘in’ here in that you could, if you wanted to, probably get that removed through a software patch and fully complete the experience with some good ‘ol fashioned heel-and-toe action.

Here’s some free advice with a car pulling in 2G around corners on standard road tyres. I’d propose getting the optional extras including the Schroth 4-point harness, HANS device and arm restraints.

Only 70 of these units are being produced. That’s one for every year in paying tribute to the owners 70th birthday. I wish all companies would do that for their employees.

Power to weight Calculation

kW/Kg x 1000 (SVJ: 566kW/1525 x 1000)