Walther Roehrl testing KTM X-Bow (read GT2 comment at end...)
-> Got my order in couple of weeks ago...
KTM X-BOW Newsletter
The event had been planned for a long time, but we hadn’t considered the fact that the Pope’s 80th birthday was on Monday and Piëch’s 70th birthday was the day after that, and we certainly didn’t mean to offend anyone: Oh geez, Holy Father, totally embarassing, we totally forgot what day it was.
“Nah, c’mon, you always over-exaggerate, ” Piëch would say, “I’m not even a cardinal yet.” Or something like that. In any event, the Porsche delegation travelled to Rome without Walter Röhrl, and they got Piëch’s blessing for their hasty move in advance, so that Wiedeking wouldn’t grumble when he found out his most important test driver had a guest gig for another company.
So the whole thing is sort of complicated, because KTM may be a harmless outsider in the automobile biz, but we used an Audi engine for the X-Bow, and when Wiedeking hears the word Audi, he blows a gasket *). And, thanks to the R8, that reaction hasn’t exactly improved any lately. On the other hand, they’re all one big, happy family now, right…
We were especially pleased to have Tobias Moretti and his wife Julia on hand. Tobias’s long and severe two and four-wheel afflictions are renowned, so if an elegant Austrian manufacturer of two-wheelers suddenly builds a four-wheeler, young Mr. Moretti is the obvious choice to act as patron saint of this delightful madness. Tobias is currently in the midst of filming “Treasure Island” and arrived straight from Thailand. He is playing the wooden-legged pirate Long John Silver and so his hair is quite long at the moment. Off the set, he binds his long locks into an attractive braid. And as for the wooden leg, it hurts just to think about having one’s lower leg bound tightly back and vacuum-packed like a ham hock. Tobias can’t bear it for more than 20 minutes at a time, but that’s another story.
Our happening’s location was the Varano race track near Parma, right next to the Dallara factory where the KTM prototypes are built (three so far). Dallara naturally has its own test rider, Loris Bicocchi, who has an excellent reputation. He’s been putting Prototype #3 through its paces for a couple of weeks now.* But today a non-Dallara driver will operate the car for the very first time.
In order for Walter Röhrl to cram his 196-cm frame into the cockpit, the pedal block has to be shoved all the way to the front, which is no big deal for an automobile that is completely dry up front (no water, no oil, no hoses).
In the meantime, the KTM big wheels have also arrived: Stefan Pierer, with his director of development Plöckinger, the designer Gerald Kiska and the one and only Heinz Kinigadner. Kini is still the robust soul of the company, which needs no explanation. All are extremely eager to hear what Walter will have to say once he takes his helmet off, speaking in his usual manner – quite slowly and softly, after a slight hesitation.
Röhrl matches the Dallara test driver’s times in the fourth lap,* then he’s a second faster in the next, drawing enthusiastic nods from the Autodrom crew. As luck would have it, Giampaolo Dallara arrived then, a youthful gentleman of 68, the icon for what the finest Italian, high-tech, precision engineering has to offer. He was the young genius at Ferrari, then built the first Lamborghinis all the way up to the Miura.
He founded his own company in Varano 35 years ago, and today is the world’s leading supplier of racing chassis, the pre-eminent authority in carbon fibre monocoque construction and has a quasi-monopoly in the Formula 3 and Indy series, exporting 95% of his products. At lunch, he treats us to classic anecdotes and names his picks for the best rally drivers of all time: Röhrl, who blushes politely, and Munari second.
How does one address Giampaolo Dallara? He’s called “Ingegnere”, like the old Enzo Ferrari, who already had all the honorary titles, from Commendatore, Cavaliere and Dottore on down, but Ferrari wasn’t happy until he was awarded the honorary title of engineer from the University of Bologna at the age of 72. Dallara, however,* was a young engineer at the Polytechnic in Milan and at 22 he was allowed to take part in his first larger project with Bizzarrini, Forghieri and Scaglietti. The result was the Ferrari 250 GTO – which pretty much says it all about Dallara’s standing as an engineer.
After seven or eight laps, he comes to the box, takes off his helmet and says, “Congratulations!” He’ll tell us the rest later.
After a while, I get a chance to ride along. The pleasure of having Walter as my high-speed chauffeur is much too short. The coolest thing about the experience is his miniscule, super-precise movement of the steering wheel, without a trace of correction.* What we used to call “sawing” would be nothing but a joke in this situation. Even his reach for the shift lever is performed with tantalising slowness, and on the whole it would look like choreographed nonchalance, if it weren’t for the G-forces yanking at my earlobes and other body parts.
I can normally tolerate such rides pretty well, but I find myself thinking about exactly when I’m going to have to tap Walter on the helmet to let him know I’m about to lose my lunch. His clever hunch takes us back to the box just in time.
The upshot: the X-Bow achieves a race car’s curve speeds and truly approximates the bike-feeling as well as a four-wheeler possibly could. The flat machine and the low seat position are certainly helpful on the race track, but in normal road traffic they would provide a rather exotic perspective.
Röhrl: “In an open car that has no chance of having a good cd-value and no ambitions to reach a top speed, you can concentrate totally on the mechanical grip, and that works super-well here. Negotiating alternating curves is the most fun, because the rear end doesn’t fishtail on account of the low masses.” An unloaded weight of 718 kg has in fact been achieved, front/rear 37:63%. The prototype runs with a standard engine, i.e. the Audi 2.0 Turbo FSI in the 220-hp version, and a mechanical 6-gear transmission. What Walter misses is a limited slip differential (this will be offered as an optional extra). He doesn’t think much of the 7-cm mini-windscreen, because the air stream hits the underside of the driver’s helmet in such a way that it creates a draft behind the visor. KTM plans to experiment with the height of the “pane”. The driving performance has not yet been officially measured, but for now the fabulous 0-to-100 kmh value of 3.9 seconds is considered to be “perceived”. This thing goes like a bat out of hell, since this vehicle’s ideal weight makes a decisive difference under any driving conditions.
“The solid workmanship and perfect use of the carbon fibre material are already noticeable in the prototype. The basic set up works from the get-go. All I can say is congratulations, now the details just have to be worked out.”
For example, one might add a decent sound, because the turbo FSI’s current murmur is practically an insult for a machine like this. Help is on the way, say the KTM people – proper sound engineering will give it a rich bass-baritone that’s better suited to the car’s macho appearance, despite its insect-like delicacy. Because the look of an aggressive insect is clearly part of the aesthetic of Gerald Kiska’s design and lends the four-wheeler the feel of riding a motorcycle.
Some changes have been made on the road map for the X-Bow, which of course should be pronounced ‘Crossbow’. Dallara will conclude the development and build up to ten prototypes – for testing, homologation, expos and the obligatory crash.
But after that, the production of the planned 100-unit special series will be transferred to Magna in Graz, where the company will then take over the routine manufacturing work. The production capacity will amount to about 1000 units per year, and KTM foresees the break-even-point at 3500 units for the model’s life cycle, which can be estimated to last 5, 6 or 7 years.
In any case, the initial results (600 fixed contracts of purchase, 1000 seriously interested parties) are so encouraging that Pierer and Co. have few doubts about the overall success of the project. That would practically oblige KTM to occupy other niches in the automobile industry. A number of ideas come to mind, when you think about how many of Austria’s strengths come from its traditions.
Then Walter Röhrl drove a couple of quick laps with each member of the group. Tobias Moretti was the only other person allowed to drive solo that day. There must have been oil on the track or something, because from a distance it looked to us like he spun it once. But then maybe he just used Long John Silver’s ruthless wooden leg to accelerate especially hard out of Primera Esse.
Afterwards we all went out to eat at the “Castello”. Having Giampaolo Dallara in our midst kept the group spellbound – he really is an Italian racing legend, imposing in his quiet self-confidence. Then we all scattered to the winds. “Mr. Porsche” Röhrl was due to test the GT2 on the Nordschleife the next day. He’d gotten reports that the Michelin test driver had already driven it in 7:37… Walter will just have to discipline him.* Sigh… Kids today – they never give you a moment’s peace.
© Autorevue; Text: Herbert Völker, Photographer: Jürgen Skarwan
Linear Mode
