KTM X-BOW GT: EXPERIENCE THE MEANING OF "SUPER SPORTS CAR" COMPLETELY AFRESH
AERODYNAMICS
UNDERBODY
One look underneath the KTM X-BOW GT reveals the three-piece, completely flat, racing underbody derived from formula racing vehicles.
DOWNFORCE
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. Almost 200 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 is possible – more than with any other street-legal production vehicle.
DIFFUSER
Air flows optimally into the rear diffuser, which ensures distribution of pressure in the underbody thanks to its asymmetric design. It generates a large part of the downforce.
MONOCOQUE
BELTS
Driver and passenger are protected by a four-point (also six-point upon request) safety belt from Schroth, which is also used in racing.
ROLL BARS
In the event of a rollover, optimum protection is guaranteed by the aluminium roll bars integrated in the monocoque. They withstand loads of up to 2.5 times the weight of the vehicle.
EXTREMELY LIGHT, EXTREMELY STABLE
Four layers of carbon fibre, epoxy resin, elaborate handiwork, autoclave technology: they all come together to produce the twin-wall, two-part, extremely lightweight, carbon monocoque, which is manufactured by composite-fibre specialist Wethje in Germany. The result is a carbon-fibre construction that provides highest levels of safety, but only weighs 80 kilogrammes – with an unbelievably high torsional stiffness of 35.000 Nm/o.
TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP
The KTM X-BOW is the first production vehicle to boast a monocoque made completely from composite carbon fibre material – a trailblazing and pioneering technology, previously reserved exclusively for racing vehicles.
CRASH BOX
The crash box at the nose of the vehicle provides additional safety. Thanks to its carbon-aluminium sandwich construction, it even complies with the strict safety regulations of the FIA-GT and Formula 3.
THE SCREEN
SIDE WINDOWS
The side windows of the KTM X-BOW GT are also its doors, opening and closing particularly smoothly thanks to gas-charged shock absorbers. In order to save space, the door hinges are mounted in the slender A-pillars, while the locking mechanism is attached directly to the monocoque.
FRONT SCREEN
The centrepiece of the new KTM X-BOW GT is made of laminated safety glass. Thanks to a sophisticated technical solution (practically invisible integrated heating wires), the screen can be heated for quick defrosting, thereby ensuring all-round vision at all times, together with the single-arm windscreen wiper and wash/wipe function.
WIND DEFLECTOR, SUN VISORS
Air stream and sun are marvellous – although only in the right measure. The wind deflector between the roll bars prevents turbulence in the interior and protects it effectively from dust. And the portable sun visors can be attached and removed quickly and simply to and from any point on the screen.
CHASSIS
SPRINGS AND DAMPERS FROM WP
Together with chassis and test-drive guru Loris Bicocchi, WP Suspension was involved in developing the springs and dampers for the KTM X-BOW from the very beginning. This expertise and the accumulated experience with the set-up of the X-BOW are perceptible in the "GT" from the very first moment.
MICHELIN PILOT SUPERSPORT
A high-performance tyre, developed especially for super sports cars and the ultra- high-performance segment, including 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.
PUSHROD SUSPENSION
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. Such a suspension system is only used very rarely on production vehicles, since it is expensive and complicated – although the ride is incomparable.
BRAKES FROM BREMBO
Extreme power demands an equivalent level of brake performance. The KTM X-BOW GT employs a Brembo brake system, featuring 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.
GRAN TOURISMO
LUGGAGE SYSTEM
The description "Gran Tourismo" comes hand-in-hand with luggage. KTM faced up to this fact with a twinkle in its eye – and the idea to produce a tailor-made luggage system for the X-BOW GT, which brings back memories of earlier two-seater, open-topped and still legendary sports cars.
COMING HOME DEVICE
The renunciation of everything that distracts from the driving experience: The KTM X-BOW fulfilled this requirement superbly – and the "GT" does so, too. Nevertheless, thanks to the "coming home device", the fabric soft-top that can be carried along in the vehicle, everything remains absolutely dry in the interior of the KTM X-BOW GT.
CENTRE CONSOLE
New controls have been integrated into the centre console of the KTM X-BOW GT. This is where the switches for the windscreen wiper, screen wash/wipe system, interior ventilation/heating and the windscreen heater are to be found: There's also another practical detail in the "GT": an illuminated footwell.
DRIVING COMFORT
The new KTM X-BOW GT makes a convincing impression in its aspirations to be a true Gran Tourismo. The screen and doors that together create the "helmet visor effect" are an effective evolution of the radical design. However, the "GT" also provides an incredible level of driving comfort, without forgetting its racing genes. A real super sports car in which you can also proceed very comfortably, if so desired.
VENTILATION/HEATING
A new snorkel sucks in fresh air at the front of the KTM X-BOW GT. As and when required, this air passes through a more powerful fan that provides pleasant ventilation in summer and heats the interior in winter, thanks to the improved, more effective heater.
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 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 puristic 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 street-legal 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 its needed, in conjunction with the four-point safety belts from Schroth, 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. 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, combining them with new qualities to meet the requirements resulting from installation of a 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.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
ENGINE
| Design | Inline 4-cylinder gas engine with direct injection, exhaust turbocharging with intercooling |
|---|---|
| Displacement | 1,984 cm³ |
| Performance | 210 kW (285 PS) @ 6,400 1/min |
| Maximum torque | 420 Nm @ 3,200 1/min |
| Valves | 4/cylinder, DOHC |
| Fuel consumption | 8.3 l/100 km |
| CO₂-emission | 189 g/km |
CHASSIS
| Length x Width x Height | 3,738 x 1,915 x 1,202 mm |
|---|---|
| Wheelbase | 2,430 mm |
| Turning radius | 10.8 m |
| Wheeltrack front / rear | 1,672 / 1,626 mm |
| Power train | Rear wheel drive with mechanical limited-slip differential |
| Transmission | 6-speed gearbox, manual |
| Tyres front / rear | 205/40 R 17 / 255/35 R18 |
| Height of center of gravity | 390 mm |
| Fuel tank capacity | 40 l |
| Weight excl. fuel | 847 kg |
| Top speed | 231 km/h |
| Acceleration 0-100 km/h | 4.1 s |
| Deceleration 100-0 km/h | 32.9 m |
| Aerodynamic downforce 100 km/h | 25 kg |
| Aerodynamic downforce 200 km/h | 100 kg |
| Lateral acceleration | > 1.5 g (road tires) |
| Static weight distribution (front / rear) | 38:62 |















































