Saminda makes hybrids for ages. And now here comes Storm and shows them how it should be done 
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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 90âs. 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. Weâd need an âecoâ 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 wasnât the first Hybrid in manual trim, it was marketed more as an âenthusiastâ 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 âLarge Hybridâ crowd, we aimed to keep the two I4âs 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 âPut it in drive.â
Behind door number 5 is the V8 Hybrid combined with the 6 speed stick, a true Enthusiastâs Hybrid. Because who doesnât need 442 horsepower in their engine with 200 horsepower of electric motors in reserve while they row their own?
The answer is âThose who wanted option #6.â Hybrid V8 with the ShiftTronic 6 speed. For those who donât like to row their own in busy city streets.
But what if you donât 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 itâll do 25.7 MPG on the highway. You really donât 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 youâre 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. Theyâd just take some time to come through.
Still Adventuring
The Storm Adventure was our first âglobalâ car. Weâd 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, theyâd 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 thatâd never heard of Storm before, or those who had claimed they wanted the Adventure.
Sure, the stock âexportâ trim went with it, but we expected people to want a Storm AWD hot-hatch from hell.
Okay, so maybe it wasnât 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)
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5.24m standard sedan.
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I had to save weight somewhere. Wanted better gas mileage, that was the best way I could think to pull that off.
2007
Moving Swiftly
The Swift was one of our big sellers, and it was time for a refresh. Too small for an SUV, it was decided to take advantage of the Small Crossover movement.
This seemed to have mixed results. Many people liked the small little SUV, with the quirky drop-top, but didnât particularly like the hatchback-on-stilts nature of crossovers. Others, almost as many, loved the small crossover Swift, finding it easy to drive and enjoying the fun little utility vehicle.
To boost sales, it was decided to enter a Swift in a small little rally race. Luke built up a rally monster, with nearly 500 horsepower.
While the results have been lost to time (Luke personally blames poor record keeping), itâs believed that the Swift did well, and that it helped bolster the sales of the street-legal version.
Full of Hiss and Venom
An upgrade was shipped to the Nevada plant to give us an ability to build with Carbon Fiber. It was decided that with the Cascabel being our budget supercar, there was no need for it to be carbonized, but we needed a supercar.
Meet the Mamba.
The V12 was derived from two AluStar V6âs combined together with a modified I6 crankshaft. A modest 1200 horsepower was coaxed out of the new engine, with bypass valves on the exhaust to let all the noise out at speed. With ValveTronic, the new name for our Valve Control Technology, the engine could be economical as well as powerful.
A 6-speed ShiftTronic II was fitted to give the Mamba some brutal gear changes on demand, while magnesium wheels were installed as standard just to keep the weight down. With Active Aero technology providing control over the rear wing and downforce flaps, and also controlling the cooling vents, the Mamba could manage 20 MPG, although not easily.
Made to order, the Mamba only had one other option, to order it with a 6 speed manual. Both versions would cost exactly the same: $213,800. Expensive, but brutally effective.
Dueling for Honor
The Storm Knight had a good run, but was looking a little sad and sorry lately, needing more than just interior refreshes to keep it going.
Carrying the idea set in stone from the first Knight, the GS-E and GT-4T trims returned, being both the base model and the Turbocharged Terror. Two other trims were put in, spaced in between the two other cars. The LX would offer a more refined ride and comfortable interior, while the RS carried the spirit of the Storm Knight Dakar package from KHT forward, although not quite as stripped down for speed.
The GS-E uses the same exact base 2.6L I4 block from the original Knight, tuned up with all the modern fixings. A 6 speed manual with overdrive gear is installed to give the best fuel efficiency, and a standard quality cloth interior was chosen, with a decent quality CD player.
The LX takes the GS-E, upgrades it to a premium leather interior with SatNav, and swaps the 6-speed stick in favor of a 7-speed PowerShift automatic transmission. It also swaps conventional springs in favor of Storm CloudRider Suspension, our latest innovation for air-suspension. Capable of stiffening up for a more aggressive ride, or softening to give the same ride as an old 60âs land yacht, CloudRider suspension offered the owners of the Knight LX an ability to dial in that perfect ride.
The RS squeezes as much power as it can on Regular Unleaded out of the engine while remaining naturally aspirated, while also arriving Rally Ready. Sporting steel wheels, offroad skidplates and hardened steel underbelly, and a racing-grade 18 gallon fuel cell, as well as integrated interior rollcage, the RS was built to pay respect to Kraft Haus Technikâs tune for the old Knight, without stepping on their toes. In stock form, the RS has the same cloth seats as the GS-E, but it was possible to add an option to swap the 5-seats for 4, and trade cloth for racing buckets.
With that option in place, the Knight RS became a street-legal rally car.
The GT-4T stayed true to its roots, though this time was basically the GS-E with a few body panels swapped and the big 390 horsepower turbocharged engine. This allowed the GT-4T to be much faster than if itâd been bogged down with leather and electronics, instead just giving you the big engine for the extra money.
A Jab at Cheap Sports Cars
Realizing people might want more sporty vehicles than the Knight, but couldnât afford a Mamba, it was finally decided to put out one more vehicle, the Storm Javelin.
Using the trusty AluStar II inline 3, the Javelin GT A3R proved itself as a good all-around performer. Good gas mileage, easy to drive, but fun to drive, with low weight and good value for money.
With the simple rag-top and the small, but aggressive design, the Javelin was designed to be fun without being over designed. It was kept simple, a basic cheap sports-car with the goodies where it counted.
At less than 1000 kilograms with AWD, and sporting a mighty 170 horsepower I3 mated to the 6-speed gearbox, the Javelin was aimed at the heart of the cheap sportscar market.
All up and told, 2007 was a good year for Storm Automotive. Our little SUV grew up into a crossover, we built a high-power supercar (or low-end hypercar), refreshed the Knight to expand the lineup, and released an all-wheel-drive competitor to the small budget convertible sport market. While we wouldnât see record profits, it was a good year for us.
Madrias - Storm Javelin.zip (27.2 KB)
Madrias - Storm Mamba.zip (34.7 KB)
Madrias - Storm Swift.zip (50.9 KB)
Madrias - Storm Knight.zip (85.6 KB)
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I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE!
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Done with the original Knight, too. I hadnât even realized it on that one until I said it back to myself, then figured, âheck with it, itâs keeping it.â It was just a designation, GT package, 4 cylinders, Turbo. Kinda like GS-E was GS package, Eco.
Just one of them had a trim name that pays a little homage to, admittedly, one of the few mid-engine cars I like.
BMW lawyers would like to have a word with you 
3 Likes
Again, one of those, thereâs only so many creative things one can come up with before stepping on someoneâs toes. I honestly didnât know they used the same name.
ValveLiftingChangingThingy
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2008
Surprisingly Quick Surge
Feeling bold since the release of our 2007 lineup, we revisited the Surge, leaving the body shell exactly as it was, but focusing instead on doing what no one with any sanity left had done before.
A conversation that couldâve been overheard between the Hybrid Department and the Engine Design Team through the entire build phase, one common enough that it wouldâve just been any other conversation at the water cooler:
âYou guys are crazy, you know that?â
âOf course. Our department back in the day was responsible for cars like the Demon, the Dalnit-Bralka Rally Demon GRX, the Demon II prototype, the first Sentinel, and the Storm Duke wagon.â
âSo with that track record of undrivable cars, youâre doing this to our Surge?â
âItâs hardly undrivable. And besides, donât you guys want to be able to lay claim to the worldâs first Sport Hybrid? Seriously, all we did was get rid of the low friction pistons for some lower compression lightweight forged ones, then put a little turbocharger on it.â
âAnd whatâs her estimated engine fuel efficiency after that?â
âProbably about 35 MPG in the car. If we load it down with 5 seats instead of 4, so that itâs not just an eco-sports car.â
âAnd what do we do to make up for that in the electric powertrain?â
âYou donât. You put in a DynamIQ shift computer, tie up our Valve Technology into it, use that unit as the central computer. We know itâs good enough to do this, weâve set the engine up to use DynamIQ instead of the conventional ECU.â
âOh, great. So if the DynamIQ goes out, itâs not just a $600 engine computer, itâs a $3000 engine, transmission, hybrid, and climate control module that fails.â
âSo make it better.â
Needless to say, DynamIQ took over. As weâd been told to stop using the other name by the Germans, we found a way around it. DynamIQ would take over all technologies in the car that it could, and be built to run without needing a ShiftTronic II unit behind it. Just thatâd have to happen next year. So yes, the 2008 Storm Surge would end up with a ShiftTronic II just because the engine team decided to put all their eggs in one basket.
Testing happened slowly at first. We sent a blacked-out prototype over to Britain for a good laugh, and another one wasnât too far behind to Germany.
Sure, 9 minutes around the Ring isnât the most impressive thing in the world, but, itâs a hybrid.
5 Likes
2009
Angry Little Monster
Keeping our global markets happy requires coming up with cars that fit around European corners and on British roads. It also means we need to come up with cars that are fun to drive. And thereâs a car market weâve yet to really break into, the sub-compact range.
Bringing back the SymTrak name openly for the first time in years, the Micron has split trims, offering both AWD and RWD trims. Bringing in the AluStar II inline 3, this time tuned to insanity to get 190 horsepower and high redline, this sporty mini-hatch is designed to be fun to drive. The ShiftTronic II sequential was chosen, again, to make it easy and fun to drive.
Being a two-seater, thereâs a reasonable amount of cargo space, keeping the car practical.
Stronger Than Ever
The Knight returns with an all-new body style. Dropping the RS and LX trims was hard, but we decided it had to be done. Most tuners still bought the GS-E and made it into a worthy competitor. Most track-day drivers bought the GT-4T and drove the snot out of it. Everyone else tended to flock to the GS-E because it was simple, inexpensive, and practical. Sure, we sold a few hundred of the LX and RS models, but not enough to justify another round of them.
So, we brought back the GS-E, because it made too much sense to cancel the one that sold the most. Fitted with the first Large Block AluStar engine, the 3.6 liter AluStar 8 inline 4, the Knight was designed from the ground up to be a serious car. Keeping to our All Aluminum strategy, a glued aluminum chassis and aluminum panels were used to try cutting the weight down, with AWD being standard.
This version of the AluStar 8 was fitted with Low Friction Cast pistons to improve fuel efficiency, but retains the tough, modification-ready billet steel crank and I-Beam steel connecting rods. While it means the rev limit is capped at 6,000 RPM, and peak power is at redline, for 50% of all GS-E drivers, theyâll never meet the redline, and the other 50% will have replaced the pistons and unlocked the rev limiter.
We designed the exterior of the Knight to be bold, aggressive, something we wouldnât have to change too much through the carâs lifespan. For the first time in the Knightâs history, the base-model had a spoiler, along with carrying a lot of performance oriented parts from the bigger brother. Why? So the cars shared more parts.
Letting the Enthusiasts know the stick isnât dead is a 6-speed manual gearbox, because with 266 horsepower worth of naturally-aspirated 4-cylinder mayhem under the hood, you should experience it with a clutch under your foot. The rest of the interior is finished in nice quality plastics and the seats are good hard-wearing cloth.
At $24,240, we think itâs a decent price for the car, given that itâs packing almost as much power as its turbocharged competition.
But what if you want more power, and donât want to buy a carâs worth of tuning parts to do it? Then you buy the GT-4T version of the Knight.
That looks a bit better, doesnât it? Four big cylinders of turbocharged fury, lightweight forged pistons, and 477 horsepower.
Keeping true to form, the GT-4T offers a bigger spoiler that happens to actually be functional this time, as well as opening up more of the lower air intakes to let the intercooler breathe.
Inside the car, we took elements of the LX trim and applied them to the GT-4T, giving it leather bucket seats and premium sat-nav instead of being just a GS-E with a powerful engine. Again, the 6 speed stick returns, making it a true enthusiastâs car.
At $30,120, we think the GT-4T trim is priced just right to step on some toes from other manufacturers. Being that the only differences are a couple body pieces, the seats and navigation package, and the engine, we can get away with the low price.
But what if youâre absolutely bat-shit insane, so crazy that youâve got to have what most people would consider way-too-much power in a small car? If youâre the kind of guy who longs for the days of the Storm Duke, or if you bleed gasoline when cut, and youâve got a wallet full of money burning holes in your pocket, then the Knight GT-R is for you.
This engine says âFuck youâ to sanity. A thousand horses pound their way out of the cylinders thanks to that massive turbocharger on the side of the block. The engine required titanium connecting rods, not because of the RPM, but because thereâs so much torque that itâd tear the I-Beam steel ones apart. If you put Regular Unleaded in this engine, it will die, so donât do that. Youâre lucky that Luke put his foot down and demanded we keep it running on Premium pump gas so you donât have to go to the local drag strip for race gas.
Those vents on the hood? Yeah, theyâre needed. Those let the hot air get out from under the hood because this thingâs dancing on the razorâs edge of overheating. That spoiler? It has a hydraulic flap to adjust downforce on the move.
You want comfort? Sorry, this is the wrong car. Instead, you have two seats because we had to remove the rear bench for weight reduction. Thankfully, theyâre racing buckets. Thereâs no fuckinâ radio because you donât need one. Weight reduction. You still have our full safety package, but thereâs a switch on the dash to turn all of the active Safe-T-Net airbags off because thereâs a full factory-installed 5-point harness kit for you and your screaming co-driver in the passengerâs seat.
Youâll be using a 6 speed ShiftTronic II, because weâre not letting you burn the clutch on a thousand horsepower car. Sorry, not happening. Weâre not that mental.
At just shy of $70,000, itâs not an option to consider lightly, but itâs a thousand horsepower street-legal track weapon wearing the skin of a sedan. Drive it wisely.
Edit:
Almost forgot to add these in.
Madrias - Storm Knight.zip (74.6 KB)
Madrias - Storm Micron.zip (36.4 KB)
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Breaking Continuity for a moment to release the 2016 Storm Cascabel.
The Cascabel returns, still aiming to be Stormâs budget supercar. Sporting a lightweight 5.7 liter magnesium-blocked V8, this naturally-aspirated engine trades turbochargers for lighter weight. It means losing a hundred horsepower compared to the 2002 version, but the engine weighs much less. The decision to make the Cascabelâs new engine 5 valves per cylinder was also derived from a desire to try making the Cascabelâs engine lighter.
Further decisions were made regarding making the Cascabel more family-friendly, the perfect Midlife Crisis car. By adding two new seats to the back, the Cascabel was turned into a sporty 2+2 coupe designed for fun. It made the car heavier, yes, but weâd taken some weight out of the engine, and weâd given it the ShiftTronic II Seven Speed sequential gearbox for the best balance of easy driving and sportiness we could manage.
The Cascabel sold well through 2016, proving to be a fun-to-drive 2+2 coupe, although some people did complain of the low fuel efficiency compared to the usual offerings by Storm Automotive. Lukeâs response was simple, yet effective.
âThe Cascabel has always been a car for us to experiment with new ideas, to try new things with. While itâs not our first Magnesium block, it is our first Magnesium V8. We donât typically use 5 valves per cylinder, but eventually you have to try new things. Weâve found out, unfortunately, that 5 valves arenât as efficient as 4 with VVL controlled by DynamIQ, and that the saved weight canât make the car more efficient in comparison. Will we use 5 valves per cylinder in the future? Possibly. Maybe in a less powerful car, the weight savings could be beneficial. Or maybe it works best with a turbocharger. We donât know yet.â
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2010
Not Your Motherâs Minivan
We decided that the Serenity deserved another chance. An ill-fated arrangement of transverse mounting, poor rubber drive belts, and old technology caused more problems than weâd expected, and soured the name for many years.
So we waited a few years, tried a few internal readjustments here and there, and eventually came up with this, the Storm Serenity MK2.
In LX trim, we aimed for a luxurious minivan, making use of one of our more under-used engine designs, the 2.6 liter inline 4 from the original Knight. Instead of transverse mounting, we placed it the right way around, then fitted it with SymTrak as it should have.
We aimed for fuel efficiency over maximum power, so we fitted the Knight with our PowerShift 7 speed Automatic transmission, then gave it double-overdrive gearing so that thereâs always a better gear for it to be in.
For the interior, we refined the technologies that the original Serenity brought forward. MultiPlay returned with all 7 audio sources being available with no restrictions, a CD changer was installed with the ability to play all 5 CDâs at the same time, and we retained the power-folding second and third row seats. DynamIQ-controlled transmission and engine systems enabled the Serenity to achieve 33 MPG on our testing route, and weâre pretty damn proud of it.
More importantly, the 163 horsepower pounding heart of the Serenity sips on regular unleaded gasoline, instead of more expensive Premium grades, thereby saving you a lot of money in the long run.
We think the price is a bargain for what it is, a 7 seat luxury minivan with a fuel-efficient mid-size inline 4.
But what if you find this all just a bit boring?
What if you donât want your motherâs minivan, and you want a good unhealthy dose of Storm insanity?
What if you desire to cast away the safety net of SymTrak in favor of drifting?
What if you want to embarrass people on the track with your 7 speed PowerShift Automatic?
Then step right up and say âHelloâ to the Serenity GT-R, because thisâŚ
⌠is not your motherâs minivan. We mated the PowerShift 7 speed with a 744 horsepower version of the same engine block, fed a steroid-enriched dose of turbocharger and premium gasoline and fitted with bypass valves for maximum obnoxiousness. This Serenity is anything but serene, with 744 horsepower surging through her geared limited slip differential and pouring out through sports-compound tires.
We agreed that the powered seats had to go in favor of 5 sporty racing bucket seats, but that, and the removal of the radio gear, are the only differences between this version of the Serenity and the mundane and boring LX.
So, how much does the turbocharging and weight reduction package cost you?
Now, I know what youâre thinking. âWhy should I buy a 744 horsepower minivan with RWD and an automatic? I donât see any point to doing that.â Well, then this minivan isnât for you. This minivan is for the guy who dreams of going 100 miles an hour sideways through the streets of Chicago, for the guy who wants to embarrass every wannabe ricer and every would-be muscle car, because they just got their ass kicked by a minivan. This van is for the person who believes whole-heartedly that all Storm cars would be better with RWD. Itâs for the person who wants to prove that the Automatic is not an inferior transmission, it can be just as good as any other transmission, just needing a little more work to get there.
And more importantly, itâs for the guys who want to bring a track weapon no one expects, the drift missile from hell, and the run-what-you-brung sleeper machine.
Read it and weep.
Madrias - Storm Serenity MK2.zip (50.1 KB)
6 Likes
Well, I think I have to admit that Storm is now more insane company than Hypera Serenity GT-R is less driveable and not much less powerful than my basic supercar is planned to be 
Well, it is designed to be a very fast minivan. That, and I wanted to lap Green Hell faster than a certain rather-very-hyped car, 6 years earlier with an automatic transmission and sports tires. And those sports tires are at 0 quality, so if I have to defend my title, I can. Plus I have 6 years to improve the Serenityâs technology and make it both faster and more drivable.
But Stormâs always been a little insane, and the Luke Years are supposed to be where all the crazy really shows up. This was kinda, lore-wise, Lukeâs answer to the old Storm Duke. âSure, you guys put 700+ horsepower in a station wagon, that couldnât go anywhere, wasnât comfortable, and was dismally slow until the turbos spooled. Iâve put nearly as much power in the Serenity, itâs split trimmed, RWD, and awesome. Itâs also fast.â
Plus, it just felt like a great idea to make a minivan slightly faster than the C2kR with full knowledge that I have 6 years to improve it so that, no matter what, the C2kR goes around GH while staring at the back lights of an automatic minivan.
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Well the idea behind the C2000R is lap time for horsepower, itâs not that impressive when youâve got nearly twice the powerâŚ
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True. But I set a goal, which was to make a minivan with an automatic and RWD go faster, with older tech. I know itâs not as impressive, but it was fun to do.
3 Likes
Everything seems pretty good so far; keep up the good work! =)