KTM X-Bow GT2 track car getting a road version

With the help of Dallara and the Kiska design firm, Austrian motorcycle maker KTM launched into a fun side gig making the track-day X-Bow (pronounced “crossbow”) in 2008. Promising not to make more than 100 per year to maintain focus and exclusivity, the past 14 years have seen 1,300 models sold as the lineup expanded to six models. The raciest of the range is the GT2, launched in 2020 as the “ultimate track weapon” to compete in GT2-class sports car racing. Autocar reports there’s seventh sibling on the way, with KTM currently in development of a road-legal version of the GT2. 

KTM has said the road car will keep the 176-pound carbon monocoque chassis and canopy cockpit enclosure, with a focus on safety and crashworthiness. The six-speed sequential transmission has already been jettisoned in the switch from hitting apexes to scraping curbs, replaced by a seven-speed direct shift gearbox. After that, though, we don’t know how much will change, if anything. This could end up being a race car with some side mirrors. Speaking of which, the pictured prototype doesn’t have side mirrors — but it does have a license plate holder — so KTM is either making mirrors a late addition or going with Euro-friendly cameras to provide rear views.

As to power, whereas the less aggro X-Bows make 300 horsepower from an Audi-sourced 2.0-liter TFSI four-cylinder, the GT2 makes 600 hp and 531 pound-feet of torque from its Audi-sourced 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder. That’s the engine from the rather excellent Audi RS3, making 401 hp and 369 lb-ft in its Ingolstadt application. KTM credits the work of German tuner Lehmann Motorentechnik for the power boost, achieved without having to resort to forged internals, and it would be cool to see all those horses escape from track to street. In a car that weighs less than 1,050 pound dry, owners would be treated to a special kind of gumption.

The X-Bow GT2 costs €294,000 ($327,500 U.S.), that seems like a reasonable starting point for a road version. The first customers are expected to get their keys sometime next year.