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Thread: KTM X-Bow

  1. #1
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    KTM X-Bow

    Why not just call it the crossbow?
    From Pistonheads.com
    [Quote:]NEW CATERHAM RIVAL UNVEILED
    Extreme trackcar to hit the tarmac






    KTM X-Bow
    There's a new Caterham rival about to arrive.

    KTM, the Austrian dirt bike maker, is building a lightweight track car. KTM calls the X-Bow (or cross-bow) 'the bridge between bike and car' -- it's effectively an extreme trackday car.

    KTM has kept the weight of open-wheel X-Bow low -- about 700Kg -- by using materials such as carbon fibre for the chassis, an intelligent construction and a purist styling.

    It'll be powered by an Audi 2-litre turbocharged four-pot which in base tune delivers about 220bhp, although some 320bhp is possible, according to KTM. Expect the drive to go via a six-speed manual or DSG box to the rear wheels, although a sequential 'box is also reportedly under consideration.

    The car doesn't actually exist yet, however. It's due for its first showing at the Geneva show in March, with production due to start mid-2007. it'll be low-volume, with just 100 planned. They'll be built by racing car maker Dallara in Italy, although production may shift to KTM's plant in Austria is demand warrants. The Dallara link-up means that the project gains considerable credibility, as the Italian company has 30 years' experience building track-focused vehicles, sports cars and open-wheelers alike. It's got wind tunnels and builds carbon-fibre chassis, for instance.

    According to KTM, "the interaction between the sophisticated aerodynamic concept and a motor sports-oriented chassis makes the X-Bow clearly superior to a far higher performance sports car. Thanks to its open form of construction, the just 70mm high windshield and the free standing wheels after the style of a Formula racing car, it is not only the appearance, but also the driving experience that is immediately evident as entirely unique."

    The background to the X-Bow's development can be found in the rapid growth the company's experienced. It's seen an annual growth rate of 21 per cent in sales and 25 per cent in turnover since it started in 1992. The company’s output in 1992 was 6,000 motorcycles with 160 employees while in the last financial year production was 84,421 motorcycles with 1,697 employees. Effectively, there are limits on the rate at which it can continue to expand while just making bikes, so car-making is the next best thing. This move will also expose its brand to a new audience.

    We look forward to seeing it...
    [/Quote]

    It looks interesting, and I was wondering if anyone had any further information on it. I had heard of it before, but assumed it was just a rumour. I assume wrong. I just hope that they don't opt for the sequential.
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    Last edited by Mr.Tiv; 12-18-2006 at 02:08 PM.
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  2. #2
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    This thread needs pictures...

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    Quote Originally Posted by The_Canuck
    This thread needs pictures...
    Better?
    Go n-ithe an cat thu, is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat

    When you go Home, Tell them for us and say 'For your tommorrow, We Gave Our Today.'

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    It'll never be built.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr.Tiv
    Better?
    No...I need real pictures

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    Quote Originally Posted by Spastik_Roach
    It'll never be built.
    I was hoping for information...
    Go n-ithe an cat thu, is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat

    When you go Home, Tell them for us and say 'For your tommorrow, We Gave Our Today.'

  7. #7
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    I'm gonna be honest and say that this car looks awesome. It reminds me of a more extreme Elise 340R. I would hope that it could be built, but for now it seems that speculation is all that's gonna happen.
    Last edited by aNOBLEman; 12-18-2006 at 06:32 PM.

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    that would be the lotus 340R (for 340hp/ton power to weight ratio).
    but itīs looks pretty good!! Letīs hope it makes it to (a fast moving) reality!.
    "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
    - George Bernard Shaw

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    I don't really like this type of cars, but if I had to choose one I'd prefer an Ariel Atom to this 4-wheeled KTM. And I think it stands a pretty good chance of entering prodution.
    Last edited by Ferrer; 12-18-2006 at 04:12 PM.
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    It is pretty much a road version of a ATV
    I'm afraid this is a signature, a very pathetic one.

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    Its more like a car version of a motorbike.
    PPC - Put a V8 in it!

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by electrao
    that would be the lotus 340R (for 340hp/ton power to weight ratio).
    but itīs looks pretty good!! Letīs hope it makes it to (a fast moving) reality!.
    Oops. That is what I meant to type.

  13. #13
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    It's a big toy, though not as big as the FXX or MC12 Corsa, which are huge toys.

    I've never seen a trackday rocket in the flesh, but then again I live in Arkansas, which I can say looks like Brussels compared to Mississippi after my weekend's trip to visit my fiance's family in that god-forsaken state.

    Anyway, this old quail reckons trackday-biased cars are an intriguing product. Have sportscars really become so diluted and compromised we have to strip away nearly all comfort-related mod-cons?

    I'd say the existence of the Elise would render this KTM near redundant, though it's the exception to the general rule that sportscars grow in girth and heft through their lifespan. Look at the new Miata, for example. It's an overblown, pompous abomination of a thing compared to the previous two generations.

    And where does the Lotus Europa fit in? Is the Elise really so hardcore people have for years been clammering for more insulation jammed behind the panels? It seems an answer to a question nobody asked.

    I'd say calling the KTM and its ilk four-wheeled motorbikes is most apt. It's more track-focused than a sportscar, but who's been asking for four-wheeled superbikes? It seems that question has already been answered by hangers-on to the ideals of sportscar-iness like the Elise, or, most intriguingly, actual race cars like a Formula 3000 or Formula Ford. You could get similar or better performance and race credentials from either for less money.

    Anybody know where I can get my hands on one of the last decade's lower-class formula cars? I could probably get away with driving the bastard to work and back in more country-fried corners of my state.

    Cheers.
    I'm erudite ;-)

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by h00t_h00t
    Its more like a car version of a motorbike.


    Give that man a prize

  15. #15
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    strange...

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