To fend off new competitors, like the BAC Mono, KTM has officially unveiled the X-Bow R.
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KTM X-Bow v Lotus 2-Eleven v Ariel Atom v Caterham R500
Survival instructions, quick start guide. One, kiss your comfort zone goodbye. Two, try not to bid adieu to your arse as well. Three, or your driving licence. Four, ditch the passenger (size-zero road racers are poised on a power/weight knife-edge). Five, don’t kid yourself this is transport, the destination is always the same – your own limits. And six, you will probably fight it, but addiction is a certainty.
On the face of it, the KTM X-Bow understands this version of reality well. It may come from Austria and have a road-car pedigree precisely no inches long, but it is arguably the most extraordinary object with four wheels ever to be seen on a road and, when you switch it on, its cute, rubberised LCD instrument pod that sits between the cowls of the facia asks you a provocative question (‘Ready to race?’), the implication being that even if you aren’t, it is. The irony of this will dawn slowly, but dawn it will.
Right now, having been confronted with issues concerning the will to live by the M25 on the way to collecting the KTM in Chessington, the answer is ‘no’. Conveniently, associate ed Ollie Marriage, who’s already arrived in evo’s long-term M3, agrees to take the first 100-or-so-mile stint towards the evo Triangle in Wales while I tag along in the BMW. In fact, the M3 is just the car I need to realign my sensibilities for the job in hand – a real-world tin- (well, carbon-) top hero with formidable pace and all-round talent that simply isn’t used to having sand kicked in its face. On this leg of the journey, at least, it should keep up. In comfort. With the radio on.
X-Bow gets bigger X factor
It was a happy day for performance enthusiasts when news broke of local availability of the successful KTM X-Bow sportscar. What’s even better now is that this no-frills mean machine will spawn a hot R version for 2011.
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According to the small Austrian company, the engine is once again sourced from Audi in the form of the turbocharged 2,0-litre unit currently doing service in the S3 hot hatch. The power has been boosted to well over 220 kW thanks to changes to the engine electronics and peripheral devices.
Other changes include lowered ride height and a modified mounting of the engine that KTM claims “will lead to even higher cornering speeds and increased driving precision”. There will be two two optional equipment packages for those who wish to customize their X-Bow R.
The “sport” package is the road-legal option, while the “race” package has been designed for track use. KTM explains that “each package includes a vast number of completely new developed parts, which increase the performance of the car dramatically”. Also, the company will make many of these parts available separately in the PowerParts program.
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The images above show the testing of the prototype model when it was taken around Nürburgring Nordschleife. More information and pictures will be released early in 2011
Peter Henkel of KTM X-Bow sales South Africa says that once international launch dates have been finalised, the plan is to bring the X-Bow R to South Africa.
Click here to read all about the current X-Bow models available on the local market.
Source: www.carmag.co.za
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