Created in 1978, the brand Donkervoort originally modified the Lotus Seven with an approach emphasizing lightness and the weight-to-power ratio. But over the years, his machines have become more and more extreme. The D8 GTO available in the catalog since 2012 retained the very particular architecture of the English sports cars of this Seven line, but it used a much wider carbon body and much more radical mechanics.
The F22 that you have in front of you replaces this Donkervoort D8 GTO and presents itself as the first completely new model of the Dutch brand for more than ten years. Its tubular chassis made of steel and carbon fiber in sandwich doubles the rigidity compared to the old car while not increasing the mass too much: with 750 kg announced on the scale, it takes only 70 kg compared to to the D8 GTO and remains twice as light as most super sports cars on the market. Only 4.04 meters long (shorter than a Clio), it is widened and modernized while remaining faithful to the original formula (with front wheels still not streamlined).
More comfortable and much more efficient
Donkervoort announces better comfort of use thanks to an enlarged passenger compartment and redesigned suspension. But it is above all the advertised performance that makes a huge leap forward: thanks to a version pushed to 500 horsepower and 640 Nm of the five-cylinder 2.5-litre turbo nicked from Audi Sport in the compact range, the F22 claims a 0 to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds and a 0 to 200 km/h in 7.5 seconds. Despite the five-speed manual gearbox and less sophisticated electronics, the little Batave would therefore do almost as well as a Ferrari 296 GTB with 830 horsepower in a straight line! It also intends to make fun of the big GTs on the circuit thanks to its Torsen limited-slip differential, its fully adjustable ABS and racing traction control, as well as its 330 mm steel brakes at the front and 279 at the rear (d a generous size in relation to the weight of the car).
An elite prize
At €245,000 excluding VAT, or €294,000 in France, it is aimed at the top of the super-sports basket anyway and costs more than a Ferrari 296 GTB, a McLaren Artura or a Lamborghini Huracan Evo. It mainly competes with KTM X-Bow GT-XR, an extreme Austrian sports car almost as expensive and equipped with the same engine. Driving sensations promise to be intense…
