Send to a friend...

Your Name

Friend's Name

Friend's Email

Posted on: Jul 15 2008

San Storm

The San Storm is India's first-and-only sports car, a convertible made in Goa with plenty of French inputs. The Storm is the strangest of niche products — it's an open-top car in a country with too much sun, a tiny little two-seater in a country where we demand practicality, and it's a sports car with less power than most family hatchbacks. It's not the most obvious choice of car in our country, but is it really a rational buy? :

Design, Engineering and Interiors
Designed in France by the very talented Gerard Godfroy (also responsible for the luscious French Venturi super-cars), the Storm isn't muscular or aggressive but has a very chunky, likeable cuteness, a pert quality that gives it the right amount of character for a small sports car. Storms also undergo periodic and generally unannounced face-lifts, so some versions have a clear lens cover over the headlamp pod, some do without it, and some have a completely different, lozenge-shaped lamp design.

It is only about the size of a Zen, with two seats only, and a rather poorly designed canvas top that folds atop the rear bustle. The rear is exceptionally good-looking, deliciously rounded, with circular lamp elements in an oval pod. The body is made of fibreglass, which is ding-resistant at low speeds, but could be suspect in a high-speed crash. It is double-skinned though, which means it is surprisingly stiff, despite being a soft-top. There are no safety features, other than seatbelts. The suspension is an interesting mix of sports car wishbones at the front, and family hatch trailing arms at the rear. Fit and finish seems to be a problem area: the painting of the fibreglass shell and the fit of the panels isn’t great.

The interior, though smartly styled, with a dominant centre console, is a big let down. Fit and finish, though improved recently, is still woefully below par. The plastics and fittings feel really cheap, as does the seat upholstery. Getting in and out can be a pain too, with the hood up, but at least the seats are fairly comfortable and supportive. Luggage space isn't too bad and thankfully, isn't cut down by the roof folding down into it. The Storm is a two-plus-two-seater, so it can’t really be considered as a first car. The hood is a big problem as well, leaky in the monsoon and resistant to neither heat nor wind.

Performance, Fuel Economy and Handling
The Storm belies its name, for it is powered by a decidedly un-storming 1149cc Renault engine, which rejoices with only 58bhp. This engine is also used in the tiny Renault Twingo, sold only in Europe; it works well in that car, which has no sporting pretensions, but for a proper little sports car, it really doesn't do. It's peppy though, helped along by short gearing, though top speed is a decidedly unsporting 141kph.

Fuel economy is excellent, which is not surprising, given the car's light weight and small engine — at 11.9 and 16kpl, it'll go some way between tank-ups. The good part is the chassis, which is extremely agile and stiff, and is the Storm's only real qualification for the sports car club. The steering, borrowed from the Maruti Zen, lacks the precision one would expect from a sports car. However, the responses are immediate and there's plenty of grip as well.

The Storm feels like it could acquit itself pretty well on a bendy road, given its sharp little chassis and punchy acceleration. This sharp chassis is a clue to the purpose of the car: it thinks of itself as a little Mazda Miata, not too fast but enjoyable on the right road, and on that count, it succeeds.

Verdict
The Storm is the strangest of niche products – it’s an open-top car in a country with too much sun, a tiny little two-seater in a country where we demand practicality, and it’s a sports car with less power than most hatchbacks. Plus, the interior is awful, the price is too high and there are too few dealerships to make your life easy. However, it is a surprisingly enjoyable car, if you get your mind around to its line of thought: you can’t go fast in India, so why bother? Why not just take it easy, enjoy the breeze and the sunset, and be nimble and sharp enough to have fun at very modest speeds? The Storm really doesn’t make a case for itself as either a real sports car or an everyday car, but if you’ve got space in your garage for a Sunday amble (not blast) car, and especially if you live on the coast, it could be worth a look. Dealers are few and far between, so service support is still pretty thin. San is developing newer versions of the Storm, possibly with more power and hopefully with better quality, so they’ll certainly be worth the wait.
Source:autocarindia.com