KTM X-Bow set to fire in Australia

KTM’S X-Bow track-car has gone on sale in Australia, with one of the ultra-light open-wheelers already on its way to an Australian enthusiast.

The Austrian motorbike manufacturer’s first car – pronounced ‘crossbow’ – has been on sale internationally since 2008, making waves with its spectacular performance.

X-Bow importer for Australia – online television producer and first-time importer the DIY Group – is offering all four models in the range – Street, Clubsport, Superlight and GT4 – with the Street configuration starting at $119, 500.

The mid-engined KTM has an Audi-sourced 2.0-litre TFSI engine producing 177kW of power and 310Nm of torque. The Volkswagen Group also makes the car’s six-speed manual gearbox, while the carbon-fibre chassis is made by Italian race car producer Dallara.

Weighing in at 790kg, the X-bow has supercar-levels of acceleration, taking just 3.9 seconds to sprint from zero to100 km/h, with a top speed of 217 km/h.

The car has gone on-sale as a motor sport-only proposition, although road-registrable vehicles are said to be in the pipeline.

DIY Group says it is seeking Australian Design Rule approval to allow the vehicle to be driven on the road.

DIY managing director Paul Burfitt said attaining low-volume production car homologation approval was “a slow process but an important one, so we don’t want to rush this process”.

“Our consulting engineers and the team at KTM in Austria are working closely with the Australian government to secure this approval,” he said.

“We are selling the X-Bow now for track and motor sport use only and hope we can sell for road use in 2011.” Cars are built to order, with the first two due to arrive within a month. One of these has been sold and the other earmarked for ADR testing and development.

The X-Bow has also gained approval to be registered for tarmac rally events in most states, allowing them to be driven to and from tracks and for testing purposes as well. Plans are underway to have a factory-supported entrant in this year’s Targa Tasmania.

KTM initially planned to produce 500 X-Bows a year worldwide, but pre-sales in 2007 were so strong that that brand built a factory near Graz, Austria to increase production of the X-Bow and its range of all-terrain vehicles.