The ever-present war in the back of the mind: Do I buy the muscle car and have fun, or accept that I’ve grown up and buy the boring corporate sedan? But, what if there was a third option?
The comfort of the corporate cruiser, and the practicality of one as well, with four doors, five seats, and a full size trunk, combined with…
The raw brutality of the muscle car, with a 7.2L V8, 600+ horsepower, 6 speed manual, and rear wheel drive.
Sounds insane, right?
Meet the Storm Insaniti LX.
Not designed to be a true sleeper car, but not intending to look outlandish, either, the Insaniti was designed to look a little sporty, a little angry, but still quite normal. Four doors and five seats means that even when you’re traveling with a full crowd, they’ll be able to fit. A trunk means there’s even room for luggage, so you don’t have suitcases hitting you in the head when having fun on the way to the airport. Try that with a fastback.
All of the lights are LED based, reducing maintenance costs. 19-inch wheels were chosen to give the optimal balance between comfort and handling. The underside of the car is covered in an aerodynamic undertray, with specialized holes placed so maintenance is still easy enough to do. Draining the oil doesn’t require dismantling half of the car. A fuel filler door on either side of the car, filling the same main tank, guarantees you won’t be pulling the ever-so-infamous “I pulled up on the wrong side of the gas pump” shuffle.
Inside the car, you’ll find 5 very comfortable leather seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, gearstick, and parking brake handle. The entertainment package is top-of-the-line, with 21 speakers, a 5-disc CD changer, MP3 compatibility with 32GB of internal storage, and a 10 inch touchscreen that controls your climate control, GPS, internet connectivity, and functions as the radio’s tuning system. Climate control is multi-zone, with heated front bucket seats. Bluetooth connectivity allows the use of any phone hands-free, as well as using your phone as a media player. A rear view camera comes standard and is activated when you put the car in reverse.
So, with all this wonderful luxury hardware installed, you’d think you’d need something radical to move it, right? Well, we didn’t think it had to be all that wild. We stuck with a simple V8, crossplane for the iconic V8 rumble. Dual Overhead Cam, with 4 valves per cylinder, VVL and VVT, Direct Injection, high-flow catalytic converters, and the loudest street-legal exhaust we could fit. Displacement is 7.2 liters, so it rivals some diesel trucks for displacement. 10.5:1 compression ratio gives you a healthy amount of power, and we’re running it very lean, so if you feel you need more power, there is still plenty to be found in this engine. 7500 RPM redline keeps the reliability up. We expect these engines will still be kicking around 20 years from now. It needs premium, but with understandably good reasons, 611 of them. Torque curve is reasonably flat, and only dips below 400 ft-lb of torque past 7000 RPM.
So, what does it cost to drive a luxury car with the heart of a muscle car? Just $35310. It’s expensive, but there’s a lot of car for your money.
