So finally somebody has done what I have been dreaming of for months now - plonk a turbocharger on the KTM 390! As an added bonus, the Yamaha YZF-R3 has gotten the same treatment and soon the Kawasaki Ninja 300 will too. Yay!
Created by Nicola Bragagnolo of Performane Technology (Italy), these bikes are claimed to be now making around 60HP (@10,000rpm). Sounds a little modest and that's because the aim was to create reliable power meant to be unleashed on the racetrack. Nicola wanted these bikes, specially the R3, to be "built with an intention to introduce a whole new category of 300 cc motorcycles that will participate in the CIV (Campionato Italiano Velocita) National Motorcycle Championship."
The turbocharger on duty is an IHI RHB31 which is apparently the world's smallest turbo. No dyno and performance figures have been revealed yet, but looking at his credenials on the website does give a little peace of mind.
http://www.performancetechnology.it/english
All we have for now are a few pictures from the Qatar Auto Show where these were exhibited. As you can see, the packaging looks very neatly tucked in infront of the engine and well sorted.
"The total cost of this turbo-ing amounted to 9,900 Euros which is about Rs 7 lakhs in INR."
I hope this price is so high because this is a prototype or because it includes the price of the bike and that the final production kit will and should be considerably cheaper. So much so that the price of the bike plus the entire turbo setup, including plumbing, ECU and exhaust should cost less than a Supersport. Otherwise it won't make much sense.
No info on whether the bikes are able to handle the extra power and boost on stock internals or whether the engine and gearbox had to be beefed up and by how much.
That's the thing, there's no information anywhere. Neither on the official website, which by the way has no mention of these kits, nor in the press. I guess we will have to wait patiently for more.
Source:
http://www.motoroids.com/ktm/meet-th...d-output-60hp/ http://www.motoroids.com/news/the-ya...win-of-the-r3/
