KTM X-Bow - Motorsports on 4 Wheels
KTM – Europe’s second largest motorcycle producer – is presenting the prototype of a new lightweight sports car at the coming Geneva Motor Show: the X-Bow.
This compact, purist two-seater will have a carbon fibre chassis and a modern four-cylinder FSI turbo engine from Audi. By doing away with the unnecessary encumbrances of a normal sports car, the KTM X-Bow will deliver a driving experience equivalent to motor sports. The first 100 will be ready on the starting line in 2007.
An aggressive design and sporty potential: the X-Bow is not merely a milestone in the KTM brand’s more than 50-year history, it’s also a new citation in the small, but elite segment of radical, lightweight sports cars. This exceptional position is the result of the concept: for their first car, KTM employs the finest materials, high-tech and the know-how of respected development partners such as Audi and Dallara. The result is a street-homologated sports car with racing technology, like an avantgarde, carbon fibre monocoque. Thanks to the basic version’s light weight and the 162 kW (220 hp) Audi TFSI engine, the performance values of the KTM X-Bow outstrip those of super-sport cars with more than twice the power: with a deadweight of approx. 700 kilos, the KTM X-Bow accelerates to 100 kph in just 3.9 seconds.
But the X-Bow isn’t just a racing machine, even if it is going to accomplish spectacular performance feats on racing circuits. With its modern technologies and exceptional solutions, it’s much more oriented towards sporty drivers who seek a purist’s driving experience. By foregoing electronic assistants and today’s standard comfort features, the X-Bow offers an unfiltered adventure – aided by its standalone wheels in the style of monoposto racing cars, transparent technology and the car’s reduced concept, i.e. no roof, doors or windscreen. The sports car has only a 70-millimeter, transparent wind deflector. With all these unique features, driving the KTM X-Bow becomes an experience with an immediacy that otherwise can only be felt when riding a motorcycle.
Start of Production A prototype of the KTM X-Bow will make its first public appearance at the Geneva Motor Show. This prototype is also the basis for the Production start at the end of 2007. A definitive price will be announced after the Geneva Motor Show. After the publication of the first drawings, the interest in the pilot series prototypes was overwhelming. Every spot on the list of prospective buyers was already filled in January, while the waiting list has got considerably longer.
The KTM X-Bow will be street homologated in accordance with European small series homologation regulations. But since the respective guidelines are defined differently throughout the EU, KTM currently anticipates standardising the X-Bow in the following countries: Germany, Finland, Greece, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Switzerland.
The KTM brand has a deeply rooted motor sport tradition. More than 100 world championship titles, five victories in the Dakar Rally and countless national championships are proof of the company’s great technical expertise. “Ready to Race” – in accordance with the company philosophy, the insights gained from our motor sport experience are passed directly into series production and so become available to our customers as well.
KTM has dedicated itself to this principle. Whatever has proven itself reliable on the racing circuit, is incorporated into series-production.
