New Kid On The Block

Every time we open a newspaper or a magazine these days we are offered a “glimpse into the future”, by way of whatever must have gadget is adorning the page. It could be a new super ultra-slim sat nav or even a watch that heats your wrist in cold weather. But every time I see one of these, I know that it’ll be at least ten or fifteen years before they become common place. The same applies with cars. The remastered Honda Civic with its triangular exhausts and loudmouth looks was viewed with fear when it was launched a few years ago, and now look. They’re more common than adverts featuring Jamie Oliver. It is unlikely then, that unless a car is truly innovative, truly remarkable, that we’ll be seeing it around any time soon. Luckily, I’ve found just such a car, and it’s called the X-bow.

This is the first attempt by motorcycle designer KTM to move into the four wheeled domain; and what we must understand here is that this is something that is normally very hard to do. You see, the top rungs of the supercar industry ladder are dominated by just a few select companies, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Audi, you get the idea. And it is absurdly difficult for a new boy to barge its way in from the bottom. Pagani only managed it because they had the Zonda, a car that is purely insane. So will KTM manage it? Will the X-bow be accepted and welcomed into the spotlight, or will it be left at the side of the road and neglected? Well, let’s take a look.

Underneath the X-bow’s all carbon fibre body lurks a 240hp Audi engine, that somehow manages to churn out 310 newton-metres of torque. In a car that weighs a tad under 800 kilos, the resulting force is enough to give this monster a 0-60mph time of 3.9 seconds. Now that’s a lot faster than many of the existing supercars on the market. It’s not just fast, for a car, its fast full stop. But the thing that really gets me about this car, really makes me want one, is the attention to detail. You see, as is so often the case with these hardcore race versions of supercars (taking the Porsche 911 GT3 and the Lamborghini Gallardo Superlagerra as examples), many of the added extras, such as air conditioning, are left in. That means added weight, and added weight means poor performance. The boys down at KTM have simply not bothered to fit any of this to the X-bow. This car not only doesn’t have air con, it also doesn’t have a stereo, a windscreen, or even a roof. Instead you are left outside, with the elements. And thats what makes this car great, makes it truly unique. KTM haven’t just designed a race version of an already fast cat. From the moment it was designed and thought up it was built from the ground up, as a racer. This is why the wind break is just a few inches tall; this is why there is no boot, and no roof. What KTM has achieved is a born and bred racer, and a good one at that.

Now for the truly staggering part. What would you say is the price for this racing pedigree performer? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? Nope, actually this race-ready supercar costs just 36,000 pounds. Now that is certainly a lot less than many other supercars. So to answer the original question then. Have KTM made it? Have they secured their way into the supercar hall of fame? Well, yes, I think so. What they have made here is something absolutely remarkable. A rough-and ready racer for less than most middle of the range saloons. That is worth bragging about, that is worth talking about, and if this blog is anything to go by, it’s worth writing about as well.