[SmokeU]

Reminds me of an Ariel Atom.

 

[50268]

I like motorcycles better.

 

[acecycleins]

What's the point of putting a VW drivetrain under the thing. H*ll, any design school kid out of CA could have done what KTM did with this. Not impressed at all. They would be better off developing the Polaris/KTM sport quad ideas....

 

[54323]

hmm. polaris drivetrain vs audi drivetrain? seems like a no brainer to me.

 

[SmokeU]

Polaris drivetrain for ATV's, *not* this minimalist sports car.



Polaris drivetrain/KTM engines as in the Polaris Outlaw 525 sport quad.

 

[Patrick-of-the-Hills]

There's two big points to using a VW/Audi (or Honda, Toyota, Ford, what-have-you) motor in something like this: emissions compliance and availability. The major maufacturers would have already done all the heavy lifting in terms of development and government certification, and it's far more practical to buy a motor off the shelf than to spend what would be needed for an in-house creation, especially for such a limited production run (too limited, IMHO).



Best example: the Toyota motor in the Lotus Elise. It wouldn't be over here otherwise.

 

[acecycleins]

The DOT gave the green light on the Elise even though it's not in compliance with the "bumper" rules. The motor in this case wasn't the reason it's sold in the US.

As for the KTM- They are in the motorcycle business. They have R&D guys. They have engineers. Why not build it all in house? They are only building a few hundred a year. Well, if I were the R&D guys I would have sourced the KR v-4 KTM motor and dropped it in the car and see what happens. The KTM GP motor was worth about 230hp and if you super charge it you could easily break the 300hp mark.

 

[56279]

And at 100 miles, bang!

 

[SmokeU]

R&D, engineering, tooling, etc. all costs an enormous amount. Buying a third party engine makes sense in something like this.

 

[57335]

Agreed! After seeing some television coverage on the Atom I have to say it looks astounding -- especially for 4-wheel fans. I wouldn't mind one in my garage. Not sure about the KTM thingie yet.

 

[55418]

Damn!

That's Sexy as Hell......

It is right in the same vein as the Atom, though....

 

[MTRHEAD75]

if its as finiky as there bikes are it wont make it very far

 

[32324]

What motivates otherwise sensible people to create a vehicle with all the disadvantages of a motorcycle - no trunk, no protection, no top - and can't split lanes.

 

[49365]

my stomach sank when I thought "four wheels" might be a quad.

They already have a truck!

http://www.roushperformance.com/f150_ktm.shtml