The only company to build cars in Austria outside of Magna Steyr is motorcycle manufacturer KTM. The carbon-tub track-only XBow has been on the market for 12 years, somehow, and yet it still looks modern enough to stay relevant. The company has built over 1300 examples of this delightful little car in that time, and even started racing them in GT4 classes a few years back with a cool little canopy over the driver. Now the company is hitting for the fences with a version called XBow GTX aimed at SRO’s GT2 class, competing directly against Audi and Porsche factory efforts.
In order to do battle with a Porsche GT2 RS Clubsport and an Audi R8 GT2 in the class, KTM needed a lot more power than its standard Audi 2.0T inline four could provide. Slotting into the same Dallara-built tub is an Audi-sourced inline-five cribbed straight from the RS3. Only this time it’s been cranked up to a mega 600 horsepower. That’s less than the Porsche and Audi make, but should be more than sufficient when you consider the KTM’s 2200 pound pre-balance of performance weight.
With new aero and a similar fighter-jet canopy to the one found on its GT4 race car, the XBow GTX looks race ready. The company is planning an all-out assault on the Creventic 24H Series, GT Open, DMV-GTC, and the Nürburgring Langstrecken for starters. Only twenty examples will be built for 2020, but KTM says it is eyeing a one-make series for 2021, and will hopefully begin offering track-ready models for well-heeled buyers in short order. Pricing has not yet been announced, but don’t expect it to be cheap.
And in case you didn’t know, that’s pronounced crossbow gee tee ex, not exbow gee tee cross. Don’t mess that one up, the Austrians don’t think it’s funny.
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