The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event where members of Formula One, World Rally Championship, NASCAR, sportscars, and touring cars race to the finish line in hopes of being crowned number one. The 2011 ROC marked the 24th year running of the race, held in Düsseldorf, Germany’s Esprit Arena. The event ended with Sébastien Ogier claiming his first individual ROC crown. The Nations Cup went to Team Germany’s which consisted of Formula One stars Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.
Cars like the Audi R8 LMS and the KTM X-Bow were the stars of the event, and this video provides the opportunity to see some of the greatest moments from the ROC.
"I’m so happy," said Ogier in an interview with Autoweek. "It was a very nice weekend, and it was already great to be in the final at my first time. There are a lot of cars to learn here and the track as well. But I didn’t do too badly, and I pushed hard all the way. Tom is a really good driver, but to win this race is amazing."
But all that’s about to change thanks to the people over at Montenergy.
The Italian tuning firm has come up with a body kit for the KTM X-Bow called the "Stratosferica." The name alone illustrates the tuning firm’s ultimate goal; to make a Stratos from the more affordable street-homologated sports car. This transformation was achieved by putting a top on the once top-less track car and giving it the look, depending on how trained your eyes are to detail, of a Lancia Stratos.
On top of the body kit, Montenergy is also offering a performance boost for the X-Bow, one that takes the output of its Audi-sourced 2.0-liter TFSI four-cylinder engine from the standard 237 horsepower to 310 ponies. For information’s sake, that’s more powerful than the most powerful X-Bow - the 300-horsepower X-Bow R - in the market.
The whole enchilada of modifications will set you back €12,000, which is about $17,000 based on current exchange rates. Add that to the base price of $88,500 for the KTM X-Bow and the whole shebang will set you back about $105,500. Considering that, as of right now, that’s one of the only options for a brand new "Stratos-like" vehicle, the price isn’t all that steep. Even if rumors are true and a limited run of Stoschek’s new Lancia Stratos are produced - not likely, but stranger things have happened - it would cost around $545,000. That makes this tuning package for the KTM X-Bow that much better.
KTM has unleashed the most powerful X-Bow ever. The new R version will feature an Audi sourced engine from the S3, but while the engine delivers 265 HP in the S3, it has been tuned to provide 300 HP for the X-Bow R.
The X-Bow R features a considerably lower positioning and a modified mounting of the engine that will lead to even higher cornering speeds and increased driving precision. If KTM receives enough interest, they will offer two road legal and homologated packages: a “Sport” version and a “Race” package, which is optimized for track use.
The packages each include a vast number of completely new developed parts, which increase the performance of the car dramatically. Many of these parts will be also available separately in the PowerParts program, so all current KTM X-BOW owners will enjoy the benefit of the new developments.
UPDATE 05/20/11: The KTM X-Bow R has made its debut on the Red Bull Ring in the presence of national and international motorsports personalities. At the event, it showed exactly what it is capable of, giving the company a grand opportunity to provide some more images for us to ogle.
In the auto industry, the phrase ‘never say never’ rings true like Sunday morning gospel. Even if the whole situation seems unlikely, it still doesn’t mean that slim chances won’t ever happen.
Take this reported new partnership for example. Whispers are getting louder in the auto circles of a potential project that would involve two brands joining forces: Fiat’s in-house tuning firm, Abarth and the Austrian brand KTM.
From what we’ve heard, the reported tie-up between the two companies will center on a particular car that will be released in 2013. No details were mentioned on what kind of car it actually is, but it was mentioned that it could be something along the likes of an Audi-powered mid-engined two-seater that uses a rolling chassis, similar to what is found in the current X-Bow. Abarth is reportedly also working on putting in a new 1.8-liter version of Fiat’s MultiAir turbocharged petrol engine that’s capable of producing power in excess of 200 horsepower. The Italian tuning house is likewise expected to add some new features, including a unique bodyshell that will be built around the X-Bow’s current carbon fiber monocoque platform. This would make it, at the very least, a little more user-friendly and usable as a standard road car.
The expected price tag on the car is somewhere around £42,000 – £50,000 ($67,000 - $75,000) and it could hit the streets as soon as 2013.
The KTM X-Bow made history ever since 2007 when it was officially unveiled. The X-Bow is powered by a Audi TFSI engine that develops 220 hp. The performance values of the KTM X-Bow outstrip those of super-sport cars with more than twice the power. With a deadweight of approx. 700 kilos, the KTM X-Bow accelerates to 60 mph in just 3.9 sec. It can hit a top speed of 135 mph.
But this was just the beginning; KTM is preparing two new versions for the X-Bow. Both R and T are characterized by important changes from base. The first one, the X-Bow T will go on sale next year and will have the same small engine as in the original. It will develop a total of 300 hp and 400 Nm of torque.
The second one, the R version, will go on sale in 2012. KTM revealed nothing about this version, but it is known that it will feature a new windshield to divert air over the cockpit.
