We at Storm Automotive have done Luxury cars before. We've also done sportscars before, and we've dabbled in the extreme high end of hypercars. In this one car, we've tried to put a wheel in each world.
Meet the Storm Guardian.
- Storm Guardian - LXE-1.png (1.14 MiB) Viewed 37430 times
Outside, we've kept things clean. This is a luxury car to the core, but we've decided, rather than wasting money on fiddly bits of chrome or chrome-plated plastic that just fall off the car through wear and tear, we'd pour the money straight into the part of the car you'll see the most, the interior.
Inside, things get interesting. All leather seating for five people, with active sound-suppression, helps keep the business meeting in, and the noise outside where it belongs: Outside. It only works to a certain amount of reduction, but it's enough to cut down on noisy traffic giving you a headache. The driver's seat looks over a leather-finished dashboard with all-digital gauges on a rapid-refresh 240hz display. The display itself can be switched from pure-digital to "digi-log" gauges using the center console 19" touchscreen, where all the other functions of the car can be found. Climate control is provided through a surprisingly-powerful Air Conditioning unit for cooling, and hybrid electric coils/heater core for heating. Why? Because you shouldn't be hot when you want to be cold, and you shouldn't have to wait to be hot when you don't want to be cold. The two front bucket seats are heated and air conditioned, and the rear bench seat has triple-zone heating/cooling to better provide comfort to all passengers in this car. Radio is AM/FM/Satellite, along with CD/DVD/Blu-Ray player (Movie mode is locked out with the car out of park), MP3 player with 256GB of solid state storage (with expansion bay to increase storage space using conventional 2.5" drives), and Bluetooth connectivity for up to five separate cell-phones at the same time. A very primitive Heads-Up Display shows your current speed at the base of the windshield, and we hope in the future to expand on this technology. If you're ever truly bored in this car, try counting the speakers, because we've managed to hide 21 of them inside your car. Some were hidden better than others, and no, the two subwoofers under the back seat do not count. The center console, behind the gear stick, has room for media, four cupholders, and plenty of storage compartments. For the rear seats, the center console provides an additional four cupholders. There are plenty of 12 volt power ports as well as USB ports, and even two 120 volt power sockets. (Note: in countries where mains power is 220 or 240 volts, an appropriate set of sockets and a more powerful inverter will be supplied as appropriate.)
The powertrain of the Guardian is a technological wonder. A V12 with 4 valves per cylinder rests beneath the hood. Packing VVT and VVL, this Direct Injected 8.2 liter beast makes sufficient horsepower without trying to break everyone's neck using turbochargers. A big car should have a big engine, but a big engine doesn't have to weigh so much, and ours saves weight by using AlSi construction, both block and head, keeping the car's total weight down and making the horsepower and torque that much more apparent. With plenty of V12 fury at the crank threatening to tear the car apart at the seams, the transmission had to be above-average to begin with, and we think our choice was the best one: Push the raw fury of the V12 straight into a torque converter and out through a nine-speed automatic transmission. With a sport mode, this automatic will let you take over and paddle-shift between gears, for that sprint to the airport, or an important meeting in 15 minutes when you're 20 minutes away. That brutal power is channeled to all four wheels through electronically controlled differentials, with center and rear capable of full lockup under maximum acceleration, making sure no power is lost. Downside of using the car in that fashion, there is a small amount of tire-chirping that may happen in the most aggressive circumstances. In standard mode, the automatic behaves as you would expect, carefully picking the right gear for the job. Step on it hard, and it'll downshift until it finds the right gear to give you everything it can. Keep a light foot, and it'll try to keep one gear ahead of you. If you're desperate for fuel efficiency, select Eco mode and the transmission will happily try to pick the highest available gear within the engine's most efficient range.
Tires are always a hard choice. Too hard, they hurt the handling. Too soft, they burn out too fast. We used a compromise tire, a medium compound, giving the best blend of handling and lifespan. 19" magnesium rims hold the tires, providing enough room for our 400mm carbon-ceramic brake disks. Yes, hypercar technology helps bring the Guardian to a halt, without giving up partway through, even when you're thrashing the car.
The aerodynamics were easy for us. Fully clad undertray is somewhat a standard, we've been doing that for ages. Electronically controlled cooling vents shut off airflow when the car doesn't need it, improving fuel efficiency. Careful wind-tunnel testing optimized the airflow over the body of the car, minimizing drag from wind resistance.
Driver assists are crucial in controlling a car like this. Some are almost essential these days, like Power Steering and Anti-Lock Brakes. Some, like Traction Control and Stability Assistance, are grand gifts to have, making it less likely that the car ends up off of the road. Launch control is there for dusting the idiot at the street light who insists on revving his fart-box in your ear. And, if by some chance, you have an accident in this car, we've got you covered with the latest-and-greatest technologies to keep you safe. Airbags, padding, recessed controls, side-curtain airbags, auto-tensioning seatbelts, fuel-pump-cutoffs, automatic fire-suppression in the engine bay, trunk, and fuel tank, and even main-power-cutoff to prevent electrical fires.
Suspension is handled with Active springs, tuned to comfort. Why? Because we wanted to give the best possible ride, yet still be able to drop into a sportier feel only capable with electronics. Semi-active dampers, linked into the same central computer system, also take care of the rough stuff while providing a ride so smooth that a cup of coffee in the cupholder won't spill, no matter how rough a road* you drive on.
- Storm Guardian - LXE-2.png (1.1 MiB) Viewed 37430 times
If you're looking for a high-performance luxury car, the Guardian should be your choice.
*Note: Guarantee void if driven off-road.(May have gone a little overboard with the advert, but I felt creative with this one.)