Storm Automotive - (2016)

[Madrias]

Madrias - Storm Serenity MK2.zip (74.4 KB)

It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure, and I had to really push the boundaries of what was allowable in the challenge, but… She’s still got her stock block and stock crankshaft, and while it took quite a while, the demon tweak, ironically, was going up one more inch of rim size. But as you can see by the final result, I was infuriatingly close after making half-a-dozen spitball guesses with the suspension.

Granted, the Stig’s gonna have to drive his ass off to win, but the van’s capable of winning.

[Madrias]

Breaking Continuity to bring the 2016 Storm Shadow, the 10 Year Special Edition.

Luke has a small statement to go with these cars:

“Our goal was not to make the most powerful, the fastest, or the most fuel efficient. Instead, the goal was to honor the original Shadow’s more powerful forms, leaving the shackles of the Hybrid designs behind. While hybrids will return to the Shadow, we felt enthusiasts of powerful and luxurious cars would appreciate having the Shadow’s more aggressive versions back.”

Most importantly, the Shadow has two versions. One introduces our new AluStar XII V12, a powerful 7 liter V12 engine we’ll surely use well into the future. The other, we’ll see a bit later. What’s most important to know is that these are aimed as performance luxury sedans, and that while the prices are high, you’re getting a lot of car for the money.

So that’s the V12 version. But before you AluStar III purists start screaming that the Shadow came with the AluStar III V8 engine, and that it’s not right that we’ve put a V12 in the Shadow…

The mighty AluStar III makes a bold comeback, wearing twin snails and aiming more for performance than for luxury. Not to say that you can’t ride in comfort, or that the car’s undrivable, in fact, both of those would be wrong. This car is meant to be comfortable, and our test drivers have found it to be easy to drive, despite the power figures.

Your eyes do not deceive you. That car has 1005 horsepower, and yet it’s easy to drive. We intended to make the AluStar purists proud with this car, and so we’ve cranked the crazy dial up to 9. Not 10, not 11, because this is a drivable car, not a dyno-queen’s nightmare. Enjoy the thrill available when the twin turbochargers reach their peak of 16.5 PSI worth of boost, and the power scales a beautiful curve up to power figures previously unimagined in a sedan. Hear the AluStar’s mighty roar as the bypass valve open and send the snarling, violent exhaust note right past the mufflers as you use the ShiftTronic II 7 speed sequential to pass slower, more mundane cars.

Or, feel free to cruise around and enjoy knowing that you’ve got an exclusive model year of the Storm Shadow, one where the GT-R badge is implied instead of shown.

The Shadow will be on sale starting immediately.

Madrias - Storm Shadow.zip (55.4 KB)

(And no, even I haven’t bothered running them around any tracks, so I don’t know if they’re quick or not.)

[DeusExMackia]

Well considering you’re getting 1000 hp for little over $100k, I’d call that the bargain of the century. Combining that with the equipment levels you’re talking about, and, well…

@Madrias

you’re getting a lot of car for the money.

You aren’t lying!

[Madrias]

It’s typical “Storm No-Frills” luxury, but it’s all luxury grade stuff, plus our usual Advanced +3 Safety. That, and I wanted to see if I could make 1000 horsepower even remotely drivable, let alone easily sold. With both the 1000 horsepower V8 edition and the only-slightly-less powerful V12 edition snagging scores in the Hyper tab over 100, and in the Super tab above 97, I’d say we hit the right price and power-to-drivability ratio.

That said, there’s stiff competition on that front.

[DeusExMackia]

No doubt about that there, it’s an exceptional all-rounder. I reckon a sacrifice of super high end luxury is worth it for all that power in a manageable package at an incredible price like that.

[Madrias]

2011

Roar Like a Lion

Storm Automotive decided 2011 needed to be the year they returned to the muscle-car market. So many people had been begging for something with two doors and tons of power for a while now.

A lot of time and effort went into deciding the design of the new car. Retro muscle is the in thing to do, after all, but we wanted to do things right. Too close to old-school and we’d over-do it, and lose the interest of our customers. Too new-school, and we’d miss the boat to do things right.

That, and we tried to come up with something radical and new for rounding out the new lineup.

The Storm Wildcat is more than just a car, it’s a chassis platform for us to build onto with various different ideas. The first car to be built in the lineup is the GS trim. Packing the AluStar VI, our V6, and 325 horsepower through AWD, this is the car for those who just want a muscle car for looks.

It is a proper 2+2 car, as we figured a pure 2 seater wouldn’t appeal to those buying the V6 model.

With 28 MPG, it makes up for what comes after it by being somewhat fuel efficient.

But if you’re the sort of guy who wants a little RWD fun, you’ve got some options, too. Unfortunately, they’re all 4 cylinders. But… It’s the Large Block AluStar inline 4, so you’ll have some fun.

The 4-sport combines a turbocharged 3.6 liter inline 4 with a 6 speed stick to provide you a ton of fun in a 2 seat car.

26 MPG means you’re not going to lose your wallet at the pump, either, and we know how good RWD is for drifting.

But maybe you’re willing to sacrifice a bit more to get a little more speed.

Here, we stripped the radio from the car, upgraded the gearbox slightly, added a performance clutch, and tuned the suspension for track days as well.

Sure, the Road/Track package is more expensive overall, but… We feel that if you’re desperate to go fast, it’s worth it.

And, if you feel some insanity is worth the extra money, we have that as an option, too.

This Thunderbolt Yellow beast would have, in any other car, gotten the GT-R badge. Instead, it gets the GT-4 badge because it’s just not fast enough to topple the true GT-R.

However, you do get a nice ShiftTronic II and RWD, so enjoy your 1000 horsepower burnouts down Main Street while bouncing off of the rev limiter.

And with the 4 cylinder squad out of the way, let’s double the cylinder count, shall we?

Starting in the basement of power is the GT trim. Again, we’re back up to 4 seats, and AWD returns, but we’re rocking the AluStar III V8.

Tuned for a very happy 530 horsepower, the AluStar III runs quite nicely, reasonably tame for the average muscle-car driver, without trying to lunge across lanes of traffic into crowds.

But if you need more power, go for broke and get the GT-R trim.

With 1000+ horsepower on tap, and active aerodynamics, this car is fast. Still carrying 4 seats, this car packs a ShiftTronic II six speed designed to keep you in control.

Plus, with a thundering 6 liter twin-turbo V8, you’ll win that burnout contest out of the car meet, despite having all four wheels driving.

But, even we get nostalgic sometimes.

Even we sometimes find ourselves looking at an old design for some inspiration.

This version of the Wildcat summons the spirit of the Envy Turbo Coupe and binds it with all the insanity it brings.

Yes, you’ve read that correctly. That is 1200 horsepower, AWD, and a 6 speed manual transmission. The clutch in this car costs $500 for just the parts alone, and even more to have it installed, so don’t burn it.

Luke has mentioned that driving the Wildcat Envy Turbo Coupe is like sitting behind the wheel of an intercontinental ballistic missile. It will catapult to 60 in 2.6 seconds, roar to almost 150 miles per hour in less than 10 seconds, reach 190 in a little under 18 seconds, and continue burning road up to 228 miles per hour. First and second gear disappear in a 1.2g slug-fest with the turbocharged beast, and cornering at speed is still no real issue for the Wildcat.

If you think the Wildcat Envy Turbo Coupe is not yet insane enough, you need to go see the nearest mental institution.

The Envy is only available in Poison Green.

Madrias - Storm Wildcat.zip (163.9 KB)

[DeusExMackia]

Not too sure about having 8 exhausts on the back of the my car, and I’m not sure about the colour on the 4-Sport trim, but the Wildcat certainly seems to set the standard for the modern muscle car. I’d even call it progressive for the vehicle type given that you can have it fitted with AWD!

[Madrias]

2012

Fitting a Galaxy in your Garage

SUV’s are still popular, surprisingly, despite rising gas prices. Hybrids are also coming out to be popular, because of rising gas prices. Several companies have tried to combine the two, but produced boring SUV’s that got just about the same mileage and cost much more.

Plus, we’ve noticed the whole box trend and wanted in on the action.

So, for only $46,500, you too can park a Galaxy in your garage.

Okay, we’ll admit, it’s not the prettiest car in the world. It’s a box, it’s hard to come up with a style that works with a box that doesn’t go all the way back to 1970.

What is, however, important is the impressive 27.8 MPG while carrying 8 people. The Hybrid technology is, again, used to match city to highway, though improvements have been made to the driveline components.

The PowerShift Automatic has been given another gear, making a total count of 8 speeds. This is half of why the Galaxy has managed such great gas mileage for an SUV.

We believe it will sell rather well, despite being somewhat expensive, but it appeals to a few niche markets.

Madrias - Storm Galaxy.zip (24.2 KB)

[Madrias]

2013

Like a Hurricane

Sometimes a car manufacturer finds themselves wanting to do something different. 2013 was that year for us, where we wanted to mostly try some RWD designs with our current engine lineup. We also wanted to take another good whack at the Inline 6, creating the AluStar 9.

The Storm Breeze was our platform to work with, designing a convertible that was built, from the ground up, to be sporty.

We’ll start with the most boring version first.

This is the Sport 4, with SymTrak. From the outside, it’s a respectable convertible aimed at the Convertible Sport/Super markets, with its mighty 426 horsepower I4, our AluStar 8.

Some people have called this engine ridiculous. We call it half a V8.

Four seats, premium leather, and a nice radio all make this car a little more comfortable than what we’ll unveil later.

All of the cars share our 6 speed manual gearbox, just this one has the SymTrak unit and front drive assembly fitted, for people who can’t drive RWD. Also, this is the only version to be AWD.

So, ascending the ladder of the Boring scale, the Sport 4 non-AWD version is next.

Packing the exact same guts as the SymTrak equipped model, just as RWD instead, there’s not much to say here.

All of the 4 cylinder cars use the same 426 horsepower, turbocharged engine, allowing us to save a little money. At the same time, it makes maintenance easier, as any 4 cylinder part on this car can be ordered for all 4 cylinder trims.

But what if you want something a touch more exciting?

Trade 426 horsepower for 514 provided by 6 cylinders instead of 4, still wearing a turbocharger and still RWD.

You still get the same 4 premium seats, and the same radio as the I4 versions, but you’ll go faster.

But we understand if you want even more power.

That’s why we made a version with a 555 horsepower AluStar III V8 in it, naturally aspirated, of course.

Sure, it’s more thirsty than the two before it, but it’s still fun.

But, if you’re willing to give up some comfort to go faster, the spirit of doing more with less, then the GT line will interest you more.

The GT4 trades Premium Leather for sporty bucket seats, a lower-end radio (because you’ll be using it less, and weight is more important than the radio), and not much else has changed.

Of course, this factory-done weight reduction means the car offers less, but costs almost as much.

But if you’d like 6 cylinders with your stage-1 weight reduction, then there’s still hope.

Same kit, different engine. Still a convertible because it’s cool to go around race-tracks with the drop-top.

Again, same basic thought pattern regarding price, because it’s factory weight reduction.

But, perhaps you’re willing to cut out even more weight.

Then there’s two options left. GTX 6, and GTX 4. We’ll show the 4 cylinder last, because it may surprise you.

To give this car a proper diet, we removed the radio and the rear seats. You won’t be needing them.

Yep, still RWD, still sporty, still fast and fun.

But if you want 4 cylinders, and RWD, and drop-top, with your track car, this is your best option:

30 MPG because the car’s very light weight. More impressive is that it won’t break your bottom going around a track.

But you might be wondering, what makes this car special?

It’s pretty damn quick around the Nurburgring, that’s what’s special. While it’s certainly not the fastest, nor even the fastest 4 cylinder car, we’ll admit it’s pretty damn fast for a 4-cylinder, RWD convertible.

But we won’t claim to be the fastest. One of the fastest, maybe, but not fastest.

Madrias - Storm Breeze.zip (136.1 KB)

[Madrias]

2014

It’s the start of a b-UTE-iful year

Having fast vehicles in the United States is all well and good, and we know it. However, we kept receiving minor complaints from our Australian friends that our inline 3 powered Adventure, no matter how fun it was as a city car, just isn’t fun enough. They wanted a touch of the madness, the legendary insanity that has been in Storm Automotive’s history for so long.

Well, we gave it to them. We did our research, came up with a plan, and put it into action.

The Storm Jackal lives on, transforming from terrifyingly stupid street truck with a hauling capacity of a sack of potatoes into a proper utility vehicle, with a solid rear axle and a nice American V8.

For the base model, we tuned the AluStar III for fuel efficiency, as well as a modest amount of power. 485 horsepower should be enough to carry around just about anything you can fit in the bed.

But if you want a little more, there’s a slightly more intense version available.

Here, have some snails and a tune to 666 horsepower. 26 MPG isn’t too bad, considering what you get in return. Still equally good at hauling cargo as it is at hauling ass, the Jackal in Utility Sport trim is a good option.

But you want the batshit crazy stuff we brewed up in the States, don’t you? You know exactly what’s coming next.

Stepping down to 21 MPG, but kicking it up to 1000 horsepower, we have the Jackal GT-R. It’s still a fully functional ute, just we’ve given it a ton of power.

Oh, and because you Australians know how to handle driving manual gearboxes, your GT-R edition of the Jackal comes with our 6 speed stick hooked to that thousand horsepower engine.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Remember our 2007 Mamba?

Well, the AluStar VII 6 liter V12 returns, with 1260 horsepower and a 7 speed ShiftTronic II powering this beastly version of the Jackal.

But sometimes you just want a good naturally aspirated engine. Sometimes you need RWD for a good fun smoky burnout. This next version is for you.

The new engine is a beast, isn’t it? Quite a lot of fun to be had by hauling ass in this thing.

While the Jackal Ute isn’t an Australian exclusive, we kinda know it won’t do well in the States. We’re hoping the Australians enjoy the special blend of insanity we’ve made for them.

Madrias - Storm Jackal.zip (121.8 KB)

[abg7]

That is, quite simply, the most unhinged ute ever - even more than my multilink-IRS-equipped Albury Centurion MkVII Super Ute, or indeed, the previous Jackal! The new Jackal, with its solid rear axle, is essentially a supercar disguised as a load-hauler - more so than ever, in fact.

[Madrias]

Well, we’ve been making insane things for a while now, and the Jackal had big boots to fill. After all, the Jackal was a completely mental sports truck, though it wasn’t set up for hauling anything. This version has the solid rear axle needed for good carrying capacity, and has versions escalating from mild to wild to insane, so everyone gets what they need.

[Darkshine5]

Hmmm remind me again what aussie utes use a live axle…oh thats right FORD did none of that fancy irs bullshite there unlike the GM product…Lord i miss local manufacturing. Thank heavens for STORM

[Madrias]

Honestly, I didn’t do much research into Australian Utes. I winged it and hoped for the best, keeping in mind that it’s half car and half truck. Live axles are better for hauling shit, and I figured, live axle with coil springs out back for cargo capacity, double wishbones up front for ride quality.

Then I watched a couple burnout videos on YouTube and, well, decided some insanity from the factory had to exist somewhere. Hence the one V12 version that’s RWD only. It’ll fit AWD, but I wanted to have at least one tire-shredding monster available that didn’t have to try frying all four tires.

To be truthful, I’d probably drive a ute if they were available in the States. Half decent truck out back, but where you sit is all traditional car.

And let’s face it, the Jackal had some mighty big boots to fill given what the original from 1994 could do.

[Oskiinus]

Ute? Me likey

[stm316]

They would have gone down very well at Summernats.

[Madrias]

2015

Breaking In

The Japanese market is tough, and we all know that. Even more annoying is the almost-total dominance of the Japanese Auto Makers in the market, unlike any other market in the world.

So, realizing there was a market that was highly popular, the Kei car, and realizing we could probably meet those restrictions, we set out to build a Kei car that would conform to both their restrictions, and our specialties.

The first hurdle we faced was the engine. We flat-out didn’t have anything 660 cc or less. Not even the original Prince had an engine that small, with the 1000 cc four-cylinder. But, what we did have was a plan.

This is the AluStar 11. It is a 660cc V8 with a flat-plane crankshaft and twin turbochargers. With it, we set out to make a grand…

60.5 horsepower. Being limited to 63, we figured, get as close as we can without going over, and make the thing outright sip fuel.

So we had the engine, and just had to make the car.

This is the Storm Mocha. A four-seat mini-car with attitude. Designed exclusively for the Japanese market, we focused on what we felt mattered, and that was to give the Japanese something to be concerned about. This little AWD monster is an American Kei Car.

But that’s not all we had for 2015.

A Dash of Adventure, A Pinch of Insaniti

In the Australian market, people had been begging for the Adventure to have a V8 since the day it arrived.

Today, it gets one.

What’s better than a Storm Adventure? One packing a 777 horsepower twin-turbo AluStar III V8. Sorry, we couldn’t personally fit 1000 horses of power in there, but you’re welcome to try.

Madrias - Storm Adventure.zip (125.6 KB)
Madrias - Storm Mocha.zip (36.9 KB)

[anon14927014]

I think 777 hp is more than enough for a hatchback lol. It’s a beast!

[Madrias]

The car I’m going to release here is replacing one I did way long ago. Let’s just say that the old 2016 Mamba doesn’t do justice to the Storm Name, and doesn’t follow the design I’ve been using for a while now. So, it’s being replaced.

With what? Well, the 2016 Mamba, of course! Except this one’s based off of the 2007 version, so it actually follows Storm Design Themes I’ve been using for a while now.

As for the rest of 2016, well, the cars scattered around for it are good enough on their own.

---

2016 (Refresh)

So, with 2015 bringing out some interesting cars, 2016 was the year we needed to haul in our insanity… Or was it?

We looked to see what people wanted, and people wanted speed. They wanted the Mamba to be on the top of the insanity chart.

While we couldn’t quite do that, we could push the Mamba up to 10 with the existing engine.

First on the to-do list was an exterior design refresh. Gone were the blocky, chunky features, replaced with more modern designs. The headlights were replaced with 5 high-power LED lamps, three for the low beams and two even-more-powerful ones for the high-beams. The door handles were replaced with slim, retractable ones in order to keep the aerodynamics up.

More importantly, the interior and driveline received some work. We added a gear to the 6 speed ShiftTronic II gearbox, making a 7th gear double-overdrive to keep economy up. The radio stepped back from a mid-level unit to a basic infotainment system because we needed to shed some weight to gain a little more speed. A launch control button was added to the steering wheel, and the suspension controls of the 2007 Mamba disappeared, favoring more conventional springs and dampers, with only semi-active swaybars remaining.

Most importantly of all, we gave the engine a good deal more punch. From our 6 liter V12, we squeezed 1300 horsepower, trying to also maintain similar fuel efficiency to the car from 2007. This, of course, means there’s power left over in the event someone was crazy enough to ask us to bring the Mamba out of the comfort zone.

But what does it mean for you? Well, it means that this beautiful beast can scramble to a 7:00.30 around the Nurburgring. Sure, there’s cars faster than that, but this one puts the engine in the right spot, in front of the driver.

Ah, but there’s one last important question, the one about price.

$259,600. It’s expensive, but there’s a lot of research and development that had to go into this brutal car. A car that weighs 1700 kilograms, carries 1300 horsepower under the hood, fired through all four wheels with carbon fiber rims and brake rotors, and a top speed of 235 miles per hour, that car is not a cheap vehicle at all. Could we have made it less expensive? Sure, but how much slower do you want to go? We offer plenty of other cars with lower price tags, after all.

Madrias - Storm Mamba.zip (62.6 KB)

[mert5100]

That flower-design taillight… I love it!