2020 Audi R8 LMS GT2 Is A Raucous 630HP Race Car You Can Actually Buy

Audi has a new racing car that is built based on the street-legal R8 V10 car that you can use to cruise around Main Street. The car is called the R8 LMS GT2, and while it's a hard top, Audi says that the racing car chassis has more in common with the Spyder than the coupe version of the R8. The car is designed to be driven by anyone who can afford the £303,000 asking price in a racing series called Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) in the GT2 class.

The car should be quite the performer; its 5.2L V10 engine that is taken from the street car has been massaged to bump power from the 612 bhp of the road version to 630 bhp for the R8 LMS GT2. While Audi crams more horsepower into the car, it also reduces weight by taking everything out of the interior that isn't needed for the race track and replacing the stuff that is required with lighter carbon fiber components. The result is a racing car that tips the scales at only 1,350 kg making it 100 kg lighter than the Audi R8 LMS GT4.

The reduced weight and increased horsepower combine to give the car a power-to-weight ratio of 2.1 kg per horsepower. The tweaks for aerodynamics are numerous compared to the street version of the R8. The LMS GT2 gets new carbon fiber reinforced plastic underfloor sections, a redesigned front splitter, and a different rear diffusor tailored to its racing class.

Orders for the Audi R8 LMS GT2 racing car are being accepted right now with deliveries starting before the end of the year. Ford has also recently unveiled an awesome looking, and vastly more expensive, track-only car called the Ford GT Mk II. This car was not built to any specific racing class and is essentially unrestrained when it comes to power and aerodynamics. Ford is asking $1.2 million for each of the 45 units being made.