Opening the taps reveals a slightly lazy throttle response at lower revs but more than enough shove to keep pace with traffic. Given the race-spec suspension with bush-free joints, it’s impressive although this and the barrage of road and wind noise mean you’ll need serious commitment and possibly ear defenders for a trans-European trim Yawn. Avoid these and the tightly controlled damping stops the hard ride becoming irritating. The three-way adjustable SACHS coilovers have clearly been set up with circuit driving in mind, but only over particularly sharp potholes and ridges do you get a real thump through your spine. A quick glance at the low-mounted camera mirrors (one on each side, a rear facing one and another for reverse parking) confirms this approach is working very well. Thankfully I soon realise that you can line up the base of the wiper with the right-hand white line to centralise the car perfectly on the narrow Austrian roads we find ourselves on. Once you’ve got the four-point harness fastened, you can grasp the knurled aluminium gearlever to select drive before pressing the electric handbrake button for what seems like ever before it releases. Thank a steel engine cradle bolted directly to the carbon fibre speaker box you’re sitting in for that. Thumb the familiar Audi starter button and the RS3’s transplanted heart fires noisily into life, idling noisily and producing more vibrations than a brace of Hitachi Wands. So long as your final destination is a track, we’d say yes. You do find yourself sitting awfully close to your passenger, though. Once inside you’re faced with decent legroom and a ludicrous amount of headroom – apparently the tallest driver they’ve had was 6’ 10” so wearing a helmet is unlikely to be an issue for anyone. Being careful not to whack your head on the canopy, something other journos complained of, it was then a case of lowering yourself into the fixed bucket seat before adjusting the pedal box and steering wheel. This diminutive writer stuck with the recommended method of sitting on the wide sill then swinging over legs one at a time. There’s no diginified way of getting in and out, especially if you’re tall. With the super-stiff carbon monocoque around knee height, KTM opted for a fold-forward canopy that will either remind you of a jet fighter or the Nova kit car depending on your age and anorak level. So, it’s sort of practical?Ĭalling it practical is perhaps a stretch as just getting into the GT-XR requires some athleticism. Other controls are handled by rubberised buttons on the F1-style steering wheel with its clear, configurable digital display, and a touch panel between the seats that can still be operated by gloved hands. There’s no touchscreen infotainment system fitted – KTM says it’d add weight, complexity and be out of date in a couple of years anyway – so instead you get a smartphone mount with wireless charging and a Bluetooth connection. However we’ve no issues looking at the acres of exposed carbon fibre, the climate control works well enough on a warm day, and there’s even a four-speaker stereo with a subwoofer, too. You won’t find any cupholders, armrests, supple materials or any other signs of luxury, though.
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