Austrian firm’s second road car will use a tuned version of the Audi RS3’s turbocharged five-cylinder engine
Austrian race car and motorbike manufacturer KTM is developing a road-legal version of its X-Bow GT2, which will rival low-volume lightweights including the Radical Rapture and Dallara Stradale.
It will be KTM’s second road car, joining its open-roof X-Bow sibling, which has been sold in various forms since 2008.
Spotted by our photographers undergoing cold weather testing, it wears a completely bespoke bodyshell and is substantially different in its positioning to the X-Bow, touting power and performance specifications that line it up as a viable rival to established supercars. It will wear a new nameplate to reflect its road-focused positioning.
Power comes from a rear-mounted turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine, as used by the Audi RS3, although the GT2 racer boosts output to 600bhp and 531lb ft, compared with the X-Bow R’s 296bhp and 295lb ft.
KTM has yet to confirm whether the road-going engine will be tuned to the same specification of the race unit.
Drive is channeled to the rear axle through a seven-speed sequential gearbox and a limited-slip differential.
Fundamentally, the GT2 is based around the same Dallara-designed 80kg carbonfibre monocoque as the X-Bow, which KTM says “has been tried and tested in a dozen crashes since 2008”. For the hardtop car, it’s paired with an FIA-approved steel roll cage.
A ‘jetfighter’ canopy lid made of carbonfibre provides access to the cabin, but small glass windows at the side can also be fully opened.
All up, KTM says the X-Bow GT2 racer tips the scales at 1048kg dry. Added equipment necessary for the road car’s homologation will no doubt push that figure up slightly, but engineers will work together with KTM’s race team to “focus on lightweight construction” throughout the development process.
KTM will release further details closer to the X-Bow GT2 road car’s launch. The company told Autocar that it remains committed to a 100-car maximum output per year, and that each X-Bow GT2 will be a highly bespoke commission according to its customer’s needs.
Source: Autocar
