2006
Hybrid Sneak Attack
With the Surge selling incredibly well, we capitalized on the hybrid boom just like we had with the SUV boom of the 90’s. We found it hard to keep them produced and in stock, but we also listened to our customers. People wanted a bigger car. Others wanted the insanity to return and to give them a thousand horsepower monster.
We split the difference and made a few changes in our lineup of products to make it possible, but then threw ourselves upon the project with full force.
First was a need to develop new versions of old engines, specifically the AluStar III 6 liter V8. We’d need an ‘eco’ trim to pair with 200 horsepower worth of electric drive units, and a 500 horsepower version for our Enthusiast builds.
Then we looked into transmission technology and how to best improve our shift times with the ShiftTronic unit. The solution was to put the even gears on one shaft, the odd gears on another, and make a dual-clutch main box. With shift times of a crisp 70 milliseconds, this early dual-clutch system felt like the car could read your mind. ShiftTronic II was released only in one version, and as a test to make sure the car would hold up to it.
It was decided that this would be the first car since the original Prince to feature so many engines and trim options. We had to.
The first engine/transmission combination was the 6 speed manual gearbox and the 2 liter AluStar V in Hybrid configuration. While it wasn’t the first Hybrid in manual trim, it was marketed more as an ‘enthusiast’ hybrid for the economically minded.
The second combination was a ShiftTronic 6 speed unit coupled to the same 2 liter AluStar V in hybrid configuration. Aimed at the general “Large Hybrid” crowd, we aimed to keep the two I4’s above 40 MPG.
For the non-car-enthusiast looking for something with more guts than the I4, we had the third configuration, the AluStar VI 3-liter V6 paired with the new 7-speed PowerShift Automatic transmission in hybrid configuration.
And the fourth combination swapped the PowerShift in favor of ShiftTronic again, pairing the V6 with 6 gears and flappy paddles, aimed at all V6 hybrid enthusiasts who wanted more control than “Put it in drive.”
Behind door number 5 is the V8 Hybrid combined with the 6 speed stick, a true Enthusiast’s Hybrid. Because who doesn’t need 442 horsepower in their engine with 200 horsepower of electric motors in reserve while they row their own?
The answer is “Those who wanted option #6.” Hybrid V8 with the ShiftTronic 6 speed. For those who don’t like to row their own in busy city streets.
But what if you don’t want a hybrid? Well, fellow enthusiasts, there are two options for you. This one, option package #7, is the 514 horsepower V8 and the 6 speed Manual transmission. This is the very same engine that goes in the Cascabel, just without the snails. 8000 RPM redline, 6 liters of displacement, crossplane V8 burble, and it’ll do 25.7 MPG on the highway. You really don’t want to know what it does in the city.
But, if you wanted the latest and greatest technology, you need this one. 514 HP V8 meets the ShiftTronic II 6 speed dual-clutch sequential transmission. 70ms shift times, DynamIQ shift controller predicting your upshifts and downshifts, so you’re always prepared with the right gear, downright brutal 0-60 in 3.9 seconds. How could you not want to drive this car?
The V8 GT cars were both aimed directly at every car enthusiast begging for the return of the V8, for the death of the Hybrid. Well, we embraced part of it. While eco-cars will be here to stay, we did have a few things in mind for enthusiasts to please them. They’d just take some time to come through.
Still Adventuring
The Storm Adventure was our first ‘global’ car. We’d sent them to Australia, where a few design oversights (like making air conditioning an option instead of standard) caused a few little hiccups in their sales. But, according to a review on the Adventure, they’d be a hit in other countries.
So we did just that. But some of those countries wanted… more. And we were feeling generous enough to offer more. People feared the I3 made it not a proper Storm, they wanted a whopping big V8 or V6. Well, we wanted to show our little tricks with the I3 first. We punched the stock 107 horsepower up to 173, gave the little beast a ShiftTronic II 6 speed for shits and giggles, hit it with our Rapid Red High Gloss, and shoved it out of the door to everywhere. One trim, many colors, but this little monster made its way to every country, even those that’d never heard of Storm before, or those who had claimed they wanted the Adventure.
Sure, the stock ‘export’ trim went with it, but we expected people to want a Storm AWD hot-hatch from hell.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t quite that sporty, but… We tried.
All up and told, we felt 2006 was a good year, and our account balance proved it. Between pushing out more Surges and cranking out Shadows while piling on the Adventure Sport, our facilities were at their breaking point. Which is why we decided the easiest plant to enlarge would be the Nevada factory. Miles upon miles of desert, after all, and so we built something new there.
Our first fully-automated wing of the factory.
Madrias - Storm Adventure.zip (44.7 KB)
Madrias - Storm Shadow.zip (116.8 KB)