Sep 7, 2008 9:03:11 PM
- Porsche-Jeck
- Rennteam Master
-
- Loc: Rheinland , Germany
- Posts: 4856, Gallery
- Registered on: Jun 27, 2005
Track fun with the KTM X-Bow
Hi guys - took the opportunity to testdrive this new track weapon last Thursday and thought I'd share some driving impressions and pics.
The prologue: spend last Wednesday at NoS and had a great time meeting Cram and Gnil again and joining them for some very wet laps on the holy tarmac
It was also nice to meet Dave who brought his very similar to mine 987S for the first time. I was astonished to meet the KTM guys at NoS testing the X-Bow. Great opportunity for a pax-lap which they offered - under one condition: only if the track would dry off....which never happened during a day of never ending rain 
Of course I tried to get some infos about the laptimes at NoS, but they didn't indicate anything (we're still testing etc...).
Next day I was off to the LuK Driving Center near Baden-Baden to drive the X-Bow myself.
It was a very well organized DE with sufficient seat time to gain an impression of the car and it's driving dynamics.
The very first impression: it's not a kit-car at all. The build quality appears to be excellent and all the main components are sourced from top quality suppliers
The driving experience
In a nutshell: it feels like a streetlegal Formula racer.
The only comparable driving experience I ever had was a couple of years ago in a F3 and F1 car....
No electronic nannies, no ABS - nothing disturbing the relationship between the car and the driver
Of course it has rained again during the morning
but actually the wet tarmac helped a lot to understand the driving dynamics of the car 
Thanks god it dried off later, hence we still had some chance to burn some rubber.
It's a nice little ritual climbing into the carbon driving cell, adjusting the pedals (the seat is not adjustable) and to fix the 4-point harness. Once you fire up the engine the display reads: ready to race
A sensitive right foot is asked for to propell the thing off the line in the wet. The 240 hp Audi turbo engine has no probs with the 800 kg curb weight
In the wet the old rule "slow in - fast out" has to be strictly followed, otherwise turn in understeer followed by a "overtaking rear" will be the result. Though if driven correctly it's great fun in the wet as the car communicates extremely well and you can use the gaspedal as a second steering wheel
in the dry: jeez - the corner speed is just crazy and it's not really difficult to balance the car at the very limit indicated by singing rubber around the corner. Absolutely neutral fantastic handling.
The stopping power is also insane, but of course we are spoiled by the ABS, hence a bit of practice is necessary to get it right.
The suspension is not a teeth rattling torture device - very communicative and agreeable at the same time.
Of course KTM choose a relative conservative set up for us X-Bow newbies - I'm sure it will feel even sharper in race trim.
Talking about race trim: the hot laps with Catherina Felser (one of the pilots driving the X-Bow in the FIA-GT championship) were really awesome - perfect line, no wheel spin, no blocking wheels under hard braking - just very fast
Unfortunetaly weather conditions and the track layout did not allow to test the car at highspeed (max speed was 145ish) - would have loved to experience the 200kg downforce at 200 km/h.
Points of criticism: very few - instead of the tiny wind deflector a little bit larger "window" would be nice (which they actually use in the FIA-GT racecars). Also a natural aspirated engine might suit the package better (the turbo engine is powerful enough IMO and the power delivery is quite linear, but if you lift the right foot I would prefer a more spontaneous feeling).
Also the bright red upshift warning light is quite useful, as you don't hear that much engine sound (the typical turbo sound problem doesn't get better with all the head wind around your helmet).
This track toy is still working in my head for sure and I'm sure I'll add some more details/impressions after some good sleep/dreams
Meanwhile I hope you enjoy the pics my wife took during the event
First some pics of the X-Bow prior to the action on the track.
Full carbon version:
The prologue: spend last Wednesday at NoS and had a great time meeting Cram and Gnil again and joining them for some very wet laps on the holy tarmac
It was also nice to meet Dave who brought his very similar to mine 987S for the first time. I was astonished to meet the KTM guys at NoS testing the X-Bow. Great opportunity for a pax-lap which they offered - under one condition: only if the track would dry off....which never happened during a day of never ending rain Of course I tried to get some infos about the laptimes at NoS, but they didn't indicate anything (we're still testing etc...).Next day I was off to the LuK Driving Center near Baden-Baden to drive the X-Bow myself.
It was a very well organized DE with sufficient seat time to gain an impression of the car and it's driving dynamics.
The very first impression: it's not a kit-car at all. The build quality appears to be excellent and all the main components are sourced from top quality suppliers
The driving experience
In a nutshell: it feels like a streetlegal Formula racer.
The only comparable driving experience I ever had was a couple of years ago in a F3 and F1 car....
No electronic nannies, no ABS - nothing disturbing the relationship between the car and the driver
Of course it has rained again during the morning
but actually the wet tarmac helped a lot to understand the driving dynamics of the car Thanks god it dried off later, hence we still had some chance to burn some rubber.It's a nice little ritual climbing into the carbon driving cell, adjusting the pedals (the seat is not adjustable) and to fix the 4-point harness. Once you fire up the engine the display reads: ready to race
A sensitive right foot is asked for to propell the thing off the line in the wet. The 240 hp Audi turbo engine has no probs with the 800 kg curb weight
In the wet the old rule "slow in - fast out" has to be strictly followed, otherwise turn in understeer followed by a "overtaking rear" will be the result. Though if driven correctly it's great fun in the wet as the car communicates extremely well and you can use the gaspedal as a second steering wheel
in the dry: jeez - the corner speed is just crazy and it's not really difficult to balance the car at the very limit indicated by singing rubber around the corner. Absolutely neutral fantastic handling.
The stopping power is also insane, but of course we are spoiled by the ABS, hence a bit of practice is necessary to get it right.
The suspension is not a teeth rattling torture device - very communicative and agreeable at the same time.
Of course KTM choose a relative conservative set up for us X-Bow newbies - I'm sure it will feel even sharper in race trim.
Talking about race trim: the hot laps with Catherina Felser (one of the pilots driving the X-Bow in the FIA-GT championship) were really awesome - perfect line, no wheel spin, no blocking wheels under hard braking - just very fast
Unfortunetaly weather conditions and the track layout did not allow to test the car at highspeed (max speed was 145ish) - would have loved to experience the 200kg downforce at 200 km/h.
Points of criticism: very few - instead of the tiny wind deflector a little bit larger "window" would be nice (which they actually use in the FIA-GT racecars). Also a natural aspirated engine might suit the package better (the turbo engine is powerful enough IMO and the power delivery is quite linear, but if you lift the right foot I would prefer a more spontaneous feeling).
Also the bright red upshift warning light is quite useful, as you don't hear that much engine sound (the typical turbo sound problem doesn't get better with all the head wind around your helmet).
This track toy is still working in my head for sure and I'm sure I'll add some more details/impressions after some good sleep/dreams
Meanwhile I hope you enjoy the pics my wife took during the event
First some pics of the X-Bow prior to the action on the track.
Full carbon version:
I know that Patrick Simon did a comparo on this track (997 GT3 RS vs. AUDI R8 vs. X-Bow) a couple of weeks ago - will be interesting to watch on TV later.
