Page 1 of 1 There may very well be super sports cars that live up to this description. Whether it be due to their spectacular appearance. Whether it be due to their outstanding technology. Whether it be due to their breathtaking performance. Or whether it be due to their history steeped in tradition. However, no other car epitomises the term "super sports car" as thoroughly and uncompromisingly as the KTM X-BOW GT.
Based on the KTM X-BOW R - itself unique in the matter of high-tech, safety, drive dynamics and appearance - Austrian manufacturer KTM has created a vehicle whose exceptional characteristics can now also be experienced without a helmet. The elegant, frameless windscreen construction, which wraps protectively around the driver and passenger in the same way as a helmet visor, allows the occupants to forego their own headgear. At the same time, however, it does nothing to impair the pure driving experience or the radical design of the revolutionary KTM X-BOW. Quite the contrary!
The evolution of the KTM design language makes bodywork elements appear more graphic, while just a few sharply drawn lines help to structure the surfaces very clearly. The engine cover, which now has gill-like ventilation slits, connects extensively with the rear bodywork elements that make the rear end - with its new shape - appear much more muscular and powerful. The view from the front also surprises with a new look: The headlamp surrounds have become narrower, the bonnets are attached over the front splitter at a striking angle - making the whole front end of the KTM X-BOW GT appear even brawnier. The new elements - windscreen and side windows - blend seamlessly into each other, thereby creating the "helmet visor effect".
The frameless upper edge ensures a flowing transition between "outside" and "inside": It extends an imaginary line up to the rear bonnets, thereby bestowing the whole vehicle with greater dynamics. The new GT makes an even wider, lower, more compact and more powerful appearance. The fact that the aerodynamics have been improved in order to generate less drag and even more downforce goes without saying, due, if nothing else, to the racing genes that are also inherent to this KTM X-BOW.
The technical basis for the KTM X-BOW GT was provided by the "R", with its 2.0 litre TFSI power unit from engine partner Audi and a carbon monocoque found nowhere else in streetlegal production vehicles. So it's hardly surprising that numerous reminiscences of racing are also to be encountered in the interior: The fixed Recaro seat shells, which are integrated directly in the carbon monocoque and ensure excellent safety whenever it's needed, in conjunction with the four-point safety belts from Schroth, which are just as much part of the standard equipment on the KTM X-BOW GT as the sliding pedal box and the multi-function steering wheel with adjustable height and depth. Customers can experience ergonomics previously unheard of in a super sports car, as the unrivalled field of view has barely changed in spite of the windscreen: The short, slender A-pillars hardly affect visibility at all; the overview is perfect, even when cornering.
The KTM X-BOW GT benefits from the racing genes of the tried-and-tested model and combines them with new components and qualities resulting from installation of the windscreen. There are many new details to discover in the interior; the centre console in particular has been completely revamped. Behind the shift lever, it's not the ON/OFF button for starting and stopping the Audi engine that sets the tone any more, but the clearly arranged switches for windscreen wiper, screen wash/wipe system, interior ventilation/heating and the windscreen heater. A technologically sophisticated solution allows integration of particularly thin heating wires in the windscreen, which, in contrast to customary standard solutions, are barely visible even in poor light conditions.
The empirical values for designing the KTM X-BOW were acquired on the racetrack. Motorsport specialist Dallara and KTM Technologies developed the chassis and aerodynamics so uncompromisingly that the KTM X-BOW succeeded in winning the European GT4 championship in 2008 at the very first attempt. One can now experience this victorious technology in the KTM X-BOW GT.
The rear end of the KTM X-BOW GT accommodates a 2.0-litre TFSI engine from premium manufacturer Audi. The state-of-the-art fuel injected power unit combines the dynamics of turbocharging with highly effective charge-air cooling. The engine electronics have been completely revamped for the "GT", with particular attention being paid to drivability: In addition to a maximum power output of 285 hp, 420 Nm of torque are now available so that the latest KTM X-BOW accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in only 4.1 seconds. Alongside these outstanding power and torque characteristics, the four-cylinder engine surprises as before with its minimum fuel consumption: only 8.3 litres per 100 km in the MVEG cycle! The engine achieves its maximum torque of 420 Nm at an engine speed of only 3,200 rpm - thereby making, in the truest sense of the phrase, "very light work" of the KTM X-BOW GT, which tips the scales at a mere 847 kg. The maximum power output of 285 hp is attained at 6,400 rpm. The extreme forces of the engine are cushioned in the KTM X-BOW GT by a torque support, which is mounted directly on the carbon monocoque. The aluminium spaceframe is the central supporting element for the engine/gearbox assembly and is connected to the monocoque by means of horizontal marriage.
Tried and tested in series production, but tuned optimally to the KTM X-BOW GT: The manual 6-speed gearbox from Audi always has the right gear available - furthermore, it is equipped with an additional short-shifting movement. The standard limited slip differential has been completely retuned. With the new setting, it has been possible to further reduce reactions to load alternation, thereby making the "GT" just as pleasant to drive on the road as its predecessor on the racetrack.
The KTM X-BOW GT supplies technical solutions from the racing world. The design of the ingenious aerodynamics - developed by KTM Technologies in cooperation with Dallara - is particularly impressive. One look underneath the vehicle reveals the three-piece, completely flat, racing underbody derived from formula racing vehicles. 100 kg of downforce are generated at 200 km/h thanks to the front splitter, underbody and rear diffuser. Depending on the tyres, up to 2.0 g of lateral acceleration are possible - more than with any other streetlegal production vehicle.
In conjunction with the special tyre mix from exclusive partner Michelin and, as the last link in a very long chain, the springs and dampers from WP Suspension ensure optimum contact with the road surface. On the front axle, the pushrod chassis - derived directly from the world of formula racing - features compression damping with high and low-speed settings as well as adjustable rebound damping. All these setting options are also available on the rear axle, although here the spring/damper unit is directly attached to the wheel mounting. To counteract its extreme driving power, the KTM X-BOW GT offers the same level of braking power. The Brembo brake system employs a four-piston, fixed-calliper brake on the front axle, with an internally ventilated, slotted disc measuring 305 mm in diameter; the rear unit is a two-piston, fixed-calliper brake with a diameter of 262 mm. The KTM X-BOW therefore only needs 32.9 metres to brake from 100 km/h to 0. The car uses the Michelin Pilot SuperSport, a high-performance tyre, developed especially for super sports cars and the ultra-highperformance sector, among others for the KTM X-BOW GT: It offers safety even in the most extreme conditions and, above all, excellent handling in both the dry and the wet.
An extrovert vehicle such as the KTM X-BOW GT calls for spectacular colours. Alongside the simple, but perfectly coordinated colour scheme of "Electric Orange" and "Pure White", there are therefore three completely new colours: "Original Blue", "Fusion Orange" and "Combat Grey", as well as the time-honoured "Carbon Black". Page 1 of 1