KTM X-Bow

[Sledgehammer]

KTM X-Bow #11

[Duell]

KTM X-BOW ‘RACE’

1. KTM X-Bow: the concept and its realisation
2. ‘Ready to Race’: KTM X-Bow and its path to the racetrack
3. The first racing season: champions in GT4 Sports Light European Cup
4. GT racing for everyone: KTM Customer Racing Service
5. Racing throughout Europe: the Customer Racing Concept
6. Technical Data, Powertrains and more: the KTM X-Bow ‘Race’

1. KTM X-Bow: the concept and realisation

During the autumn of 2005, KTM CEO Stefan Pierer and Gerald Kiska, CEO and founder of the KISKA design studio, met for a routine meeting in Salzburg. The result was the beginnings of a visionary, seminal automobile project. Against the background of the worrying state of the European motorcycle market – fewer drivers held a motorcycle licence compared to earlier years – were the brightening prospects of a widening window of opportunity appearing in the market for ‘pure’ sportscars. Sportscars that, with a clear vision aligned to the KTM philosophy, ‘ready to race’, and clever engineering, might be able to deliver the excitement and immediacy of motorcycling – on four wheels rather than two.

The meeting was a success and the lightweight, high-performance KTM X-Bow was conceived. The ‘fathers’ of X-Bow moved quickly, commissioning an in-house ‘test mule’ to prove the validity of their concept and, in January 2006, began talking with Italian racing car- and sportscar specialist Dallara about the feasibility of KTM’s plan for developing such a road car. KTM celebrated the world premiere of its first-ever car at the Geneva Motor Show in 2007 when the X-Bow was officially born. The company sounded out the exclusive lightweight sportscar market with an aggressive design and a spectacular concept, complete with carbon fibre monocoque and the minimum of purist fittings.

Extensive market research was undertaken and, following an overwhelmingly positive response from sportscar enthusiasts and motoring media all around the world, the decision was made to go ahead with further development for the series production model of the KTM X-Bow. On the anniversary of that world premiere, KTM exhibited the production-ready version of the KTM X-Bow for the first time at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. From this point on, progress was rapid. KTM had already started building a production plant in the Austrian ‘motor city’, Graz, and at the same time as the Automobile Salon in Geneva, assembly of the first prototype cars began. Series production started on 16 June, the first customer took delivery of his X-Bow on 5 August.

At the end of September 2008, the next milestone in KTM’s young car division was reached: the first KTM X-Bow ‘Race’, a fully FIA homologated GT4 Sports Light racing car, rolled off the assembly line in Graz. This new ‘Race’ model incorporates all the lessons learned during the X-Bow’s first season of professional motorsport in Europe. Compared to the standard road car, the X-Bow ‘Race’ features 30 modified or new components. The ‘Race’ model costs €82.900 ex-works and excluding national taxes – and customer deliveries are scheduled to begin in January 2009.

2. ‘Ready to Race’: the KTM X-Bow and its path to the racetrack

Motorsport is very important for KTM, as indicated by the company slogan ‘Ready to Race’. It was therefore entirely logical that at the same time as the plans for the series production were developing, KTM was planning to run the X-Bow competitively on the racetrack. Together with Dallara, KTM developed its own racing version, with the cars being run in the GT4 European Cup by German race team, Reiter Engineering. The decision by KTM to place the racing premiere of X-Bow in the hands of Reiter, rather than enter the championship with an in-house, factory-run operation, allowed KTM to use the GT4 entry as a pilot project to ‘power’ development of future customer motorsport applications as well as the production model.

As with the production road car, KTM drew on the vast expertise of world-renowned Italian racing driver Loris Bicocchi in the development of the X-Bow ‘Race’ car. He has been heavily involved in the X-Bow programme from the outset as test driver and played an important role in its chassis and dynamics tuning. Biccochi’s motorsport experience includes the testing, development and racing of many of the world’s most prestigious supercars – including the Koenigsegg CCR and the Bugatti Veyron.

Development timeline for the KTM X-Bow race car:

18.12.2007: Meeting KTM/Dallara/Reiter, decision made to build two GT4 cars
30.01.2008: First test at Misano (Italy) with a regular production X-Bow
18.02.2008: First test at Adria (Italy) with the GT4 series-mandatory semi-slick tyres
07.03.2008: Test at Adria (Italy) for defining the race chassis and suspension set-ups
13.03.2008: Official pre-season SRO-Test at Monza (Italy), presentation of final racing car
18.03.2008: FIA crash tests passed successfully


Technical Data
Bodystyle Mid-engined two-seater open extreme sports car

Chassis Carbon composite monocoque with transverse mid-mounted engine, rear-wheel drive and fully independent suspension

Structure
Monocoque Carbon composite construction
Torsional rigidity 35000Nm per degree
Nosebox Carbon construction
Rear subframe Ultralight reinforced aluminium
Exterior panels Carbon fibre
Underfloor Ultra light carbon composite construction with rear diffuser

Engine
Make Audi TFSI
Type Turbo-charged, 4-cylinder petrol with direct fuel injection
Capacity 1984 cc / 2.0-litres
Bore & Stroke 82.5 x 92.8 mm
Max power 240 ps (177 kW) at 5500 rpm
Max torque 310 Nm (229 lb ft) from 2000 to 5500 rpm
Valves 16 (4 per cylinder)
Materials Cast iron block, aluminium alloy cylinder head
Emissions class Euro 4 compliant

Transmission
Type 6-speed manual

Suspension
Front

Fully independent double wishbones with twin push-rod operated concentric coil spring/damper units (adjustable) mounted on top of the monocoque
Anti-roll bar
Rear Fully independent double wishbones with concentric coil spring/damper units (adjustable)
Anti-roll bar

Brakes
System Hydraulic (unassisted)
Front Brembo 305 mm ventilated discs with 4-piston fixed calipers
Rear Brembo 262 mm ventilated solid discs with 2-piston fixed calipers

Wheels & Tyres
Front 17 x 7.5 inch alloys with 205/50 tyres
Rear 18 x 9.5 inch alloys with 235/40 tyres

Performance
Acceleration from standstill
0 to 50 mph 2.86 sec [0 to 80 km/h]
0 to 62 mph 3.90 sec [0 to 100 km/h]
0 to 75 mph 5.27 sec [0 to 120 km/h]
0 to 87 mph 6.61 sec [0 to 140 km/h]
0 to 99 mph 8.51 sec [0 to 160 km/h]

Lateral Acceleration / Speed
Racing: 1.8 g max

Maximum speed 137 mph [220 km/h]

Braking to standstill (warm brakes)
62 mph to 0 32.9 metres [100 to 0 km/h]
99 mph to 0 77.9 metres [160 to 0 km/h]

Aerodynamic Performance
Downforce
At 62 mph 48 kg [at 100 km/h]
At 124 mph 193 kg [at 200 km/h]

Main dimensions
Length 3738 mm
Wheel base 2430 mm
Width 1900 mm
Dry weight 825 kg
Height 1205 mm

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