Sector3 Studios has announced a new partnership with Austrian manufacturer KTM. The collaboration will bring multiple cars to Sector3’s RaceRoom, as well as special events to be unveiled in the the future.
The first fruit of this partnership is the KTM X-Bow RR. While many in sim racing are familiar with the road-going X-Bow R, which is in such titles as Project CARS, Assetto Corsa and Forza Motorsport 6, the RR is the R on steroids. Reserved for the track only, the RR gains aerodynamic attachments, strips all road-going novelties, throws on slick tires, and receives a monocoque entirely made of carbon fiber, dropping the weight under 800 kg (1,760 lbs).
Considering the Audi 2.0 TFSI engine delivers 360 bhp, that’s not a lot of weight to propel. In fact, that’s only 4.89 lbs/hp, which is super car level…
Check out not only a cheat sheet on the KTM X-Bow RR below, but the detailed walk-through by Sector3’s Karsten Borchers, talking about not only the different systems of the RR but what can be adjusted by you upon release.
And speaking of release, no timetable was given for the release of the 30 liveries strong KTM X-Bow RR, but usually when Sector3 does this much of a photo dump, the new content isn’t far off.
- Mid-engine open two seater
- Carbon composite monocoque
- Audi 2.0 TFSI. Turbo-charged 4-cylinder.
- 360hp @ 6800rpm
- 500Nm @ 3600 rpm
- 6 speed manual
- Redline @ 7500rpm
- Shiftpoint @ 6800-7000rpm
- 40 liter fuel cell
- 790kg (dry weight)
- 37/63 weight distribution
- 250 kg+ downforce at 200 kph
- 200/610-17 & 240/640-18 slicks
- Steering defaults are 792 degrees of rotation with a 25 degrees steerlock
Suspension: You have the option between 3 springs. 70, 80, 90 in the front, and 100, 120, 140 in the rear. Add to that 5 Anti-Roll bar settings, front and rear. The default damper settings are set to KTM specs. You have the usual camber and toe adjustments accessible.
Transmission: It is using actual gear-ratios, except we had to cheat a little for the 5th and 6th gears so they use a final ratio rather than a dynamic solution where both can use different finals.
The differential is not adjustable.Aerodynamics: Regarding downforce, you have 3 options for that small wing in your back. The lowest setting will allow you to reach the top speed of 249kph while the highest setting will reduce your top speed to 241kph.
Shifting: The engine has very strong low end torque, and its shift point is around 6800-7000. The Shift light comes on at 6800. That means you will not be using the first two gears very often but instead make the high torque work for you.
Tires: The compound used by KTM in the X-Battle is a very hard one, and you will not be getting much wear from them. It is common to use a single set of tires for a full week-end.
Good to note that we’re using a new heating / cooling model for this one.
It is slightly more friction based now, and if your tires run cold, you just aren’t going quick enough.
If the front is going hot and the rear cold, you should look into adjusting your driving and stop ploughing into the corners and instead shift the weight around some more. You will notice that on some tracks it will be hard to get temperatures up while on others you will struggle to keep them low enough.Brakes: A lot of work went into the brakes, changing the way we have been doing them in the past. They now bite a lot more, and dont cool/heat as fast as you’re used to. Default pressure is now 90%, and you can go down to 75% if you wish. Now do not panic about that. You are free to run 100%, but you will have to modulate the brakes a lot more, and you cant just slam them, because they will lock instantly.
The brake bias can be adjusted in 0.5 increments, and you can go as far as 55% rear, if you so desire.The brakefade range has been increased a lot. Optimal temperature is 450 celcius, and at 50c or 850c you will only have 89% braking power. You might find that on some tracks, like Norisring, you cannot just keep braking at the minimum brake distance lap after lap. They will run hot quite fast!
