
The X-Bow’s carbon-fiber tub is essentially Dallara’s Formula 3 monocoque with room for an extra seat. They’ve assembled vehicles for the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. The latter is one of the largest contract manufacturers in the world. It was engineered in concert with Dallara, the firm behind the current Ind圜ar, and Austria’s Magna Steyr. KTM So this is some dual-purpose Austro fancy? It’s so well-engineered, it makes you feel smarter, stronger, better than you are. But a KTM bike is like a good Porsche-you start it up and think, I AM THE BEST DUDE WHO HAS EVER LIVED, LET’S GO BREAK SOME BOOOOOONES. I ride a dirt bike about as well as most people fall down stairs. I also rode it through the desert once and pretended to be these guys. I used it to dick around on trails far from home while trying to not wrap my spleen around a tree. It made 115 hp with a dyno tune and was faster on a bumpy mountain road than most sportbikes. Great for travel, but also happy ripping jumps at 80 mph. (The firm dethroned BMW, which held the title for ages.) They mostly sell nutball dirtbikes and equally bonkers road bikes.

Right? The company has been Europe’s largest motorcycle manufacturer for several years. More than 1200 examples built since the model was launched a decade ago. The X-Bow, KTM’s only car, accounts for a small fraction of that. Last year, the company sold 238,334 vehicles worldwide. 300 hp here.) And KTM isn’t exactly small. Because Audi let them use the 2.0-liter TFSI turbo four-cylinder from the TTS coupe. Why are those people building a car?īecause they can. Big motocross-lookin’ thing that he likes to bounce off trees while trying to lacerate his spleen. My friend Matt Farah once called these posts “one of the weirdest things about you, and there are a lot of weird things about you.” KTM. I remember these posts! That weird thing where you pretend to ask yourself questions about a car. Five minutes in one is roughly as abusive as five days in any other car.

But the X-Bow has no roof, no doors, no real seats.
Ktm crossbow top gear plus#
I got two 20-minute track sessions in an X-Bow, plus some time sliding around a short paddock autocross. KTM You spent a week with this weird-looking bug-face thing?
