Posted on Tuesday 22 April 2008
The latest leg of the GT4 European Cup in Silverstone over the weekend not only saw the race debut of two new KTM X-Bows, but it also saw the pair of the pint-sized roadsters take top honors in their class. Both cars, which were run by German team Reiter Engineering, completed the practice and qualifying rounds unscathed and went on to race in two separate events in the new ‘Sports Light’ category of GT4.
Up against the regular GT4 class, which includes 400hp-plus Aston Martins and Corvettes, the pair of KTM X-Bows still managed a respectable seventh and eleventh place in their first race. In the second, the due went even better, taking fifth and sixth places in the 16 car event. Not bad considering the X-Bow only features a 2.0L four-cylinder engine with just under 240hp available.
The cars were also running on treaded tires, had added ballast and an increased ride height to make the race a little fairer for the other cars.
Volume production of the new X-Bow starts in the middle of the year at a plant in Graz, Austria, and will reach just 500 units this year. Next year KTM hopes to build 1,000 units and is planning to launch even more models, which you can read about in our earlier story. Pricing for the X-Bow will start at €54,561.
Realy fun, but too expensive.
In this country, you can get a 300hp Ariel Atom for $60,000, and the base model for just over $40k.