Beater or Sleeper? GT6 Car of the Week Thread

[McClarenDesign]

BTW, any chance you can bring more of that cough syrup???

You'll have to get your own. Mine came from a magical land known as "Chernobyl".

Now in past years, this is where I've opined on why the car selected as "Worst Car of the Year" was incorrect, but I can't this year. You got it absolutely right with the Honda Z Act. However, I'm afraid you did get it wrong on "Best Car of the Year." I could write a very long and persuasive essay about why, but instead I'll just let a picture tell the story.

The Academy does not make mistakes, only the voters. This year's winner was determined by an overwhelming majority.

 

[Nismonath5]

Congratulations again to 2016's winners, both cars and drivers!

Now, I suggested the X-Bow Street from the initial list in case McD was late to the party and we needed something to race, but you know what, there's only two KTMs in the game, so why not smash them out at the same time?

Congratulations Initial list!!!!

Hope you practised your jumps, and got yourselves some closed face helmets!

It's the KTM X-Bow Street and the X-Bow R!!!!

Lightweight, minimal, rear wheel drive and turbocharged, The X-Bow is one of the most popular lightweight track day cars on the market! It comes in street and track variants, depending on how you want to use it, but are they both sleepers? Both beaters? Is one a beater while one's an utter sleeper? Let's find out!

For starters, the Street gets a bonus for being able to be painted and numbered...

Edit: This week's Playing With TT's! will of course be a two parter. The X-Bow Street will head to Queensland Raceway, courtesy of @hotboost, and the X-Bow R will be ripping up Sandown, thanks to @fubbles888! (Two of my favourite Australian tracks, high speed, lots of awesome sections, both great fun!)

I'll make the events tomorrow morning, which is only about eight hours away. Hold tight, TT lovers!

 

[Obelisk]

Mixed feelings about these two. Going to just leave it at a cautious Neutral.

 

[JackRyanWMU]

I can already hear the chorus of joys that will be raining down on the KTM X-Bow's super light weight and super twitchy handling from my fellow COTW Reviewers. I feel almost obligated to offer the first counter-point on this "Street-Legal Car."

 

[Draggon]

Preliminary testing on the X-Bow R netted me almost 2 million kazoolas in the intermediate and expert seasonals. I even spun out once at Tokyo and still got the gold. Granted, tuning was required, but at 600pp this thing is pretty darn good. It is however, pretty darn twitchy out of the box. Verdict: undecided so far.

 

[McClarenDesign]

1. Thank you, @Nismonath5 , for covering for me while Windows attempted to steal my sanity. You've got the basics covered, but your post seems to be missing something. Not quite sure... it's on the tip of my tongue...

Gigitty.

2. We (the CotW participants) are now collectively known as a "Murder", similar to a flock of crows. Partially because of "The Art of Racing in the Rain", partially because of the urges that rise up when I'm actually able to race against each of you on the track. Congratulations, top job on putting together the now-infamous Initial List. Said list has since been updated (but I may have missed a few).

3. @Vic Reign93 , you've got less than a week to sign up for the following, and if you don't I'll be quite disappointed. Although it isn't exactly GT6 related, I did want to bring it to everyone's attention because prizes will eventually be on the line and I expect a cut of the earnings... if you don't win you're out of the family... I wanted to give everyone a shot at "the big time".

https://play.eslgaming.com/projectcars/playstation/​

4. The good folks at Autoblog are under investigation for trademark infringement.

5. So long as the moon is in the 7th house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, "When Sex Was Safe" Vintage F1 should be back this Friday. I'll know more Tuesday when I get a chance to perform a stress test (and god-willing, get everything put where it goes, rewired and reassembled). Same time, same Twitch channel, BYOB.

6. Lastly, if I'm unable to host (due to villainy), please run a lap to honor Steve Travis, aka @FoolKiller . I'm not sure what his favorite track was, if anyone does or is able to find out please message me directly.

 

[Nismonath5]

Did you guys know they made a closed roof variant called the X-Bow GT4? Cos I didn't... Not sure if I like it more or less though...

 

[Racer283]

Did you guys know they made a closed roof variant called the X-Bow GT4? Cos I didn't... Not sure if I like it more or less though...
View attachment 620491

I believe they run the X-Bow GT4 in the Pirelli World Challenge series.

 

[RCKakashi14]

As someone who uses the X-Bows a lot in GT6 (and in my fanfiction...) I can really say that if you do drive it out of the box, it is good but requires your full attention.

But if you tweak the suspension and differential settings, then it will smash even the 650pp race cars. I use the X-Bow a lot in S clas endurance races. For the 24 Minutes of Nurburgring, it can go through the entire race without the need of refueling, regardless on what state of tune.

 

[McClarenDesign]

Special Announcement

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[Obelisk]

Special Announcement

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Might I point out that Forza Horizon 3 is an exception? I have that one covered in the other BOS thread.

 

[McClarenDesign]

Might I point out that Forza Horizon 3 is an exception? I have that one covered in the other BOS thread.

The goal is to provide more opportunities to participate in what we do, I see no reason why members couldn't do both.

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​

 

[Nismonath5]

FYI The lap of honour for Steve Travis (@FoolKiller) was completed, despite a bit of lag. We all donned our favourite cars and went to Laguna Seca, cruising behind @Vic Reign93 in a pace car. Next we did some skids for Steve, torching about 6 sets of tyres in the process. And in the wise words of @RobboGTAddict...

You guys are making a ton of smoke.

Yes, well, that was very much the intention of the manouvere!
(pics coming soon)

 

[CaddyKOP]

Track Day Trump Card

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In the modern age, it seems to be that the track-specialized car has become more of a normal thing than it used to be. Back about 10-20 years ago, you had the choice of a specialized Lotus or a Caterham seven, or just stripping down your secondhand Miata for a trip down to your local parking lot, where "officials" set up cones to check your lap times. But nowadays, it seems that everyone and their mother can buy a car and go down to a track day with no problem at all. So what do you use for a track day? Some would say your regular car is enough, some would say a specialized sports car, like a Miata, S2000, or Elise is preferred. Well, if the only way to shut up a Miata owner is with an S2000, and the only way to shut up an S2000 owner is with an Elise, than the only logical step up is with a car like the KTM X-Bow.

Launched in 2008, the X-Bow (pronounced crossbow, surprisingly) was the motorcycle manufacturer KTM's first foray into four-wheel transport. It was a joint-venture between KTM and a few other manufacturers, one of which being Audi. KTM pretty much wanted to create the ultimate track car, so with that they made it as light as possible, and powered it by a turbocharged Audi four cylinder engine. They also made sure that there was an X-Bow for everyone, by offering two models for anyone's differing track-car tastes.

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For the more restrained people among us, there's the standard X-Bow Street. Launched in 2008, the Street features the standard Audi turbo 4-pot, with 237 bhp and 230 lb ft of torque. Low numbers in anything else, but remember that this thing is about as light as a feather.

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And for the crazy ones who like a bit of meat in their smoothie, there's the harsher X-Bow R. In the R, the engine is tuned to 300 bhp and 300 lb ft of torgue. Mighty numbers for such a small and light machine.

But do these choices really matter? Is the car worth all the effort? That's the mighty question that needs to be answered.

The Test

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First off, I have to say, whether you pick the Street or the R, you will not be dissatisfied with your purchase. Both are great. But there are minute details that set them apart. Beginning with the Street, powering on to a straight, it's competent, but not really a speedy machine. You do feel like you're going faster than you really are when you take into consideration the open-ended nature of the car, wind rushing past your head and a feeling of determination and proper preparation for this type of sport.

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Meanwhile in the R, that extra tuning really comes in handy. You feel the mighty power difference, so much so that I felt like I was driving a completely different car all around. The thing surges down straights like nobody's business. That's what lightweight engineering and massive power can do for a car. I love it already.

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In the corners, the cars are more evenly matched. Suspension is stiff and taut, and it's so easy to flick it into a corner and come back out facing the same way. It corners nice and flat, in natural track car tradition.

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And it exits in nearly the same manner, flat and with no hesitation. There's little to no turbo lag, with the R obviously getting the exit advantage with that extra power.

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And honestly it all comes together rather well on the road. It's a traditional track car but you can't really fault it for that. It does just what it needs and nothing more. Laps are an easy breeze and it leaves you with a smile. What more do you want? I'd take this over any Lotus any day, I can say that much...

Beater vs. Sleeper Indy Track Times

1. KTM X-Bow R ’12 – 1:38.760

2. Nissan GT-R Nismo ’14 – 1:40.370

3. Grand Touring Garage 1970 Ford Mustang Trans-Cammer – 1:44.398

4. KTM X-Bow Street ’12 – 1:45.340

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The Verdict

Honestly, yeah, though track-day cars are becoming more and more of a thing, the X-Bow really does get top marks. It's fun and problem free, easy track-day entry. Whether you get the R or the Street won't give you a disappointing time, and there's even rumors of a hardtop model out there somewhere, so if the roofless life isn't for you, then KTM has you covered. The X-Bow Street and X-Bow R get sleeper marks respectively, and a spot in my own personal hall of fame.

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[McClarenDesign]

For a car built on no compromises, it sure makes a lot of compromises. Only useful on mountain roads by those with a fetish for frostbite.

For those that want an Ariel Atom with Oakleys and the supernatural abilty to wear BOTH socks AND sandals.

Also cleans the gene pool. The go kart of Queen's fat-bottomed girls, but still preferable to PT Cruiser in every situation.

Save the $, buy a Pontiac Aztek, then kill yourself.

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

Hey hey people!

Just wanted to say sorry for missing today's racing... been feeling under the weather lately. I thought I had the PS3 going, but I guess I fell asleep and by the time I woke up, everything had powered down and of course missed all the action.

Reviews to follow... have a great weekend everybody!

Cheers

 

[JackRyanWMU]

Seeing a Giulia in the COTW fields has happened in the past, though it's always been the '63 Speciale that you've witnessed me wheeling. A few weeks ago however, we were assigned the '65 GTA to evaluate. While the Sprint GTA may not be as attractive and gorgeous as its older sibling and only makes about as much power as its predecessor, the GTA's trick card is its extremely light weight. The result is the same sublime handling characteristics I was used to in the '63 Speciale, except turned up to a higher degree of performance.



Even when the Giulia steps into the ring against a car that's arguably in a higher weight class, the Alfa still proves to be an Italian Stallion. While the Datsun 240Z could pull away on the straights on Fuji Speedway, the Giulia could easily make up ground on the twistier sections of the circuit. The Giulia is an easy Sleeper pick.



Appropriately enough for the New Year, we soon got another car obsessed with shedding weight to evaluate. The KTM X-Bow feels like it has more in common with an Indy Lights car than a street legal car. Sure, there are technically fenders over the KTM's wheels and you don't get massive wings in the front and back (though the car could probably use them); but you are still without doors, a windshield, or a roof. Heck, at least you get a communications radio and a rudimentary air conditioning system in the Indy Lights car.

You could also use the skills of a mid-level Open Wheel racecar driver while you're at it. While most modern performance cars will try to save you from your mistakes through the miracles of traction and stability controls, the X-Bow will punish your smallest missteps suddenly and very harshly. Strangely enough, I preferred the R Version over the Street. I thought the former was a little easier to keep control of in spite of the extra power, perhaps due to being entirely track focused rather than having to make the suspension and other handling components usable on bumpy, pot-hole marked roads.

Opting for the X-Bow R creates its own problems, however. First, the price jumps to 100,000 credits over the Street's 80,000. Then you'd need to buy a trailer to haul the X-Bow R to a Track Day, so there's another 10-20k out the window. Then you have to buy a pickup truck to pull the trailer with the X-Bow R in it to the track, and you'd have to lay out another 10-20k if you opt for a good secondhand model....

Hold on, I think I have a better solution:

"See, it's got heated leather seats, heated leather steering wheel, a sat-nav system, remote start....did I mention the doors, windshield, and roof? I did? Well, it was worth reiterating."
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If you're going to spend that kind of money on a car, you might as well buy one that you can use everyday, rather than just on track day. The X-Bow is plenty fast and avoids any danger of a Beater label, but I would get more driving enjoyment going a little slower with the dual-zone climate control set to just the right temperature while a great song plays on the satellite radio.

 

[Nismonath5]

Featherweight Flyer!!!
A motorcycle on four wheels

The crew thunders down Tsukuba

The KTM X-Bow is a car I first learned about in a HotWheels magazine. I was seven, and the main reason it was in this particular kids' mag was due to it's unique style and look. It's minimalist, packs plenty of power and features lots and lots of carbon fibre. It's KTM's first attempt at making a true sportscar, and I don't think they did half bad!

For starters, let's have a look at some of the parts of the X-Bow that really stand out for me...

The Suspension

The X-Bow's pushrod suspension is amazingly emulated in Gran Turismo, to the point where I'll often drive this thing using the roof cam, just so I can watch the suspension do it's thing! It's oddly satisfying watching the springs handle corners, rumble strips, acceleration, braking, and other kinds of abuse...

The Display

The X-Bow, packing as few bits and pieces as possible, crams all it's vital information into one tiny little display in the middle of the cockpit. The only problem with this is that you can hardly see any of it during a race, or ever for that matter. Personally, I'd have gone for a display of sorts on the steering wheel, but whatever.

This

I'm not sure if this is the case during a race, but in photo mode when looking into the X-Bow you can see a key with an Audi tag in the centre console, a nod to the Audi engine powering the car. It's nothing particularly important, nor is it entirely exciting, but hey, details!

The Rear End

Yeah, it's not pretty, aye.

Now, the X-Bow comes in two different variations, depending on how you want to drive it. Let's start with the Street spec... It's the lower powered of the two, and as the name implies, is fully street legal. It's really quite a blast to drive, it doesn't feel dangerous or like it's going to send you right into a wall, and you can get away with some pretty ballsy moves in it. You're also able to paint it, adding that extra personal touch to it.

But the thing that really stood out to me about the street was the racing... Have a look at these photos..

You can see it quite clearly, especially in the Tokyo pics. The X-Bow S made for some close racing! Everyone was able to keep nice and close, even through Tokyo's harrowing streets at speeds in excess of 150!

Now, let's have a look at the X-Bow R...
The R is basically the Street on RedBull. It's exactly the same, but with a sizeable power boost. It's only avaliable in two colour schemes, the classic orange and white or the more exclusive 15th anniversary livery. You would think that a little extra power wouldn't make too much of a difference, but actually a lot more people found the gravel traps in the R than the Street. The racing also wasn't as close, and it felt a bit more agressive. Which is to be expected from a hardcore race focused model, really. It needed to be treated with a little more respect, and couldn't be thrown around quite as playfully without knowing how to catch it.

I still find it a hoot to drive, especially on a nice wide track with nice grippy rubber when I need a little recreational cruising!

So, thoughts on the X-Bows?
Well, it's they're ultra light, agressive looking, no-nonsense track weapons that can pack a mean punch, but at the same time boast plenty of driving pleasure on most circuits. I'm a real fan of the R, and I loved the close action in the street, so I'm calling the X-Bow in both variants sleepers! 👍

 

[McClarenDesign]

Network up, modem fried. If it's not one thing, it's my mother.

So... a challenge. 10th comment after this, without violating the AUP, gets to choose next week's CotW.

GO!

 

[Obelisk]

Network up, modem fried. If it's not one thing, it's my mother.

So... a challenge. 10th comment after this, without violating the AUP, gets to choose next week's CotW.

GO!

Why can't you just ask your fellow COTW host?

 

[Nismonath5]

Network up, modem fried. If it's not one thing, it's my mother.

So... a challenge. 10th comment after this, without violating the AUP, gets to choose next week's CotW.

GO!

Well this is certainly a new way to let someone pick our fates...

 

[McClarenDesign]

Why can't you just ask your fellow COTW host?

Because dirka dirka BS jihad.

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[Nismonath5]

Why can't you just ask your fellow COTW host?

Also because I technically picked the X-Bows, so I wanna leave it for someone else to pick.

(Extending the invite to @Pete05 or perhaps @CORRUPTEDDISC?)

 

[Pete05]

Also because I technically picked the X-Bows, so I wanna leave it for someone else to pick.

(Extending the invite to @Pete05 or perhaps @CORRUPTEDDISC?)

Thanks for the invite 👍

For something completely different, can I nominate Senna's F3?

 

[McClarenDesign]

Thanks for the invite

For something completely different, can I nominate Senna's F3?

So... a challenge. 10th comment after this, without violating the AUP, gets to choose next week's CotW.

GO!

 

[Pete05]

 

[MidFieldMaven]

At Mid-Field on Comfort Softs, the X-Bow R is a solid 3 seconds quicker than its soft-core sibling. Let's go to the specs!

KTM X-Bow R '12
2.0L
298 hp / 6,000 rpm
295 ft-lb / 3,500 rpm
790 kg (1,742 lbs)
555 pp

KTM X-Bow Street '12
2.0L
236 hp / 5,500 rpm
229 ft-lb / 2,000 rpm
790 kg (1,742 lbs)
518 pp

Weight remains unchanged, horsepower difference of 59 and torque of 66. I suppose they call it a Street because its torque peaks a whopping 1,500 rpm sooner than in the track version, with 229 ft-lbs of twist at just 2,000 rpm, propelling only 1,742 lbs via the Audi engine in the middle, with all power delivered to the rear wheels. The R car has a nearly 300 hp 300 ft-lbs figure. Very nice.




151 mph - R
139 mph - Street

Here at Mid-Field, The Street is as fast as a Nissan GT-R '07 , but the R is one of the fastest cars in the game. I wish Mazda would do the opposite of what KTM did with the X-Bow and build a motorcycle based on MX-5 philosophy

 

[Nismonath5]

Come on guys, next post wins!

 

[Vic Reign93]

X-bow S Sleeper 👍
X-bow R Sleeper 👍

Next question

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

Here's the officially unofficial results for the "Is it wise to have a CrossBow when" Playing with TT's events...

Cheerleaders say "Give me an S!!!"

BaronBlitzRed: 1:27.755

Rob_on_Drums: 1:29.600

Cheerleaders say "Give me an R!!!"

BaronBlitzRed: 1:08.920

Cheers