
By Phil Lanning
25 June 2008

The KTM X-bow has no doors, no side windows, no windscreen, no conventional instrument panel and just four body panels which don’t cover the entire mechanics. It is a four-wheeled motorbike which is no surprise, given that it’s built by the Austrian ‘bike firm, KTM.

The X-Bow looks like Batman’s hardcore runabout and its performance certainly packs some kapow. It weighs just 790 kilos – 20kg less than a Smart Passion – but it produces as much power (240bhp) as a V6-engined Audi TT. This car will do 0-62mph in 3.9sec and hit 100mph in just 8.9sec. Its straightline performance is a match for anything even if the top speed of 137mph is hampered by the aerodynamics.
I had a first drive of the X-Bow in Malaga this week and was given a lesson in wheelmanship by the beautiful X-Bow GT4 championship racer Catharina Felser.
Catharina has wowed the GT4 series by winning two races in the opening two rounds at Silverstone and Monza - proving what a genuine sports racer the X-Bow is.
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