|
Price |
|
-- |
Production |
|
-- |
|
Engine |
2
liter Ford Ecoboost inline-4 |
Weight |
3,444 lbs |
|
Aspiration |
turbocharged |
Torque |
270
lb-ft @ 3500 rpm |
|
HP |
240
hp @ 5500 rpm |
HP/Weight |
14.4
lbs per hp |
|
HP/Liter |
120
hp per liter |
1/4 mile |
-- |
|
0-62 mph |
-- |
Top Speed |
-- |
(from DC Design Press
Release) DC Design launches India’s first ever Supercar- DC
Avanti
India’s legendary actor and
automobile buff Amitabh Bachchan unveils the car
in the capital today
New Delhi, January 05,
2012 - DC Design, India’s premier automotive design firm has taken a
step beyond what it is known and revered for, with its reveal at
Auto Expo today, of what is the country’s first ever sports car, the
sleekly styled and superbly configured DC Avanti.
What makes this a special occasion is that the Avanti is not just a
full road worthy prototype but one with production firmly pencilled
in!
DC intends to go the way
of so many Italian carrozzerias (like Bertone, Ghia, Pininfarina and
Stola to name four) who not only styled, designed and engineered
smashing sports cars but also went on to make them in limited
production runs for sale to the general public.
DC will be doing just
that with the Avanti which is being readied for a production run
beginning 2013 and none other than the legendary India cine genius
and informed motoring buff Amitabh Bachchan was on hand to take the
wraps off this glorious rolling sculpture. While DC has done some
amazing work over the past decade including prototypes for so many
of the world’s big name car manufacturers, he has never done a
production run of any of his designs, concentrating on one-offs. All
that is destined to change with the DC Avanti, a move that adds
another dimension to the multi-faceted design and engineering
capability that DC Design has built up at its Pune works!
Speaking at the launch
of the project very dear to his heart (and which he had nurtured for
so many years), Dilip Chhabria, the guiding tour-de-force at DC
Design said, “We are extremely ecstatic to present the DC Avanti
today and it is a manifestation of not just the burgeoning interest
in high end sports cars but also as a calling card for our own
capabilities which have now progressed from mere styling in the
early days to full prototyping and bespoke one-off manufacturing.
Every country which has written its name in the pantheon of
automobile manufacturing has invariably distinguished itself with
sports cars by its own nationals and I thought that India rightly
needs to be in this exclusive club.”
“The Indian market for
high end automobiles is on a steep uphill curve as witnessed
year-on-year and our focus is at the top end of this rarified niche.
The design is completely our very own as is the engineering and also
the production process. Type approval and on-road tests would follow
soon and we intend to simultaneously set up an all new facility at
Talegaon near Pune to build this vehicle,” said Dilip.
“We intend to produce
300 units of the Avanti in 2013-2014 and if all goes well we could
ramp up production to go into four figures per annum. Till now DC
Design was noted for its design and customization but then we added
complete engineering and prototyping to our roster of services and
working for the world’s biggest names helped us understand and add
to our expertise,” added Dilip. “The Avanti is an ongoing
culmination of all that we have learnt and we intend to give a
sports car to a select new emerging breed of car buyers who value
good taste without compromising on performance and who don’t need to
spend a fortune on making the adrenaline flow.” He further added.
The Avanti supercar
doesn’t reinvent the wheel in the basic process of manufacturing a
high tech sports car because in time honoured specialist car
production DC Design will be using proprietary parts from various
car makers, especially in the areas of drivetrain and suspension.
The Avanti would be powered by a specially tuned Ford EcoBoost
2.0-litre four-cylinder, dohc, 16-valve engine. This unit not only
features turbocharging with direct injection but also features VVT
(variable valve timing) and this helps it to dish out power and
torque which normally are on par with a larger 3.0-litre engine. Max
power will be 240bhp at 5500rpm with a massive 366 Nm of torque
developed at 3500rpm helping give it both tractability and thrust.
If that is not all, the latest electronics will also help deliver
strong on the fuel efficiency front as well. Also the engine and its
ancillaries are all Euro 4 & 5 compliant already meaning it would be
right even for the export markets but the good thing is that it
could also be taken further to the incoming Euro 6 legislation with
a slight change in the engine mapping characteristics.
Handling all that power
and torque from the mid-mounted four-cylinder engine is a six-speed
manual gearbox. Again sourced from the Ford Europe parts bin, this
transmission is robust and reliable and does all it is tasked with.
There will also be another transmission option for those who seek an
even higher technological plane with a six-speed dual clutch
PowerShift unit.
The Avanti will have a
light weight but very strong spaceframe chassis using a mix of
square, rectangular and round sections to get the best strength and
rigidity across the dynamic spectrum. Suspension is in time honoured
sports car fashion with unequal length wishbones all around working
in conjunction with coil over shock absorbers. Agile, quick and
ultra-responsive, the Avanti promises performance and visual erotica
at a cost to quality proposition that will be second to none.
Hydraulically assisted rack and pinion steering gear will be
standard fitment.
Specialists in safety
engineering which include the likes of Bosch would be lending their
might in developing the latest generation ABS brake systems and SRS
air bag technology for the Avanti; ride and handling would be
perfected by global experts in this realm and overall body and trim
plus final assembly would be done at DC Design’s all new production
facility coming up at Talegaon near Pune. The Avanti will be
electronically limited to 250km/h and will ride on 19-inch tyres all
round. Footwear on the front wheels would be of size 255/35-19 while
295/30-19-sized rubber would do duty at the rear. Helping safety and
control given the max velocity and acceleration the Avanti would
pack in, large 330mm diameter ventilated disc brakes with grippy AP
Racing calipers come as OE fitment.
The Avanti’s low slung
silhouette is pure excitement and is unlike any seen from an Asian
automotive entity. Sporting a combination of pleasingly complex
concave and convex surfaces to deliver great form, the Avanti is
fast standing still with its rippling muscles akin to a wild animal
waiting to spring onto its prey. Animalistic yet aesthetic in its
essence but replete with fine craftsmanship across the entire
vehicle, the Avanti can more than hold its own in its class.
DC has already put in
place a unique and dedicated self-owned and managed sales and
service network in five major metros in the country (Delhi, Mumbai,
Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad) and this would only be honed to a fine
pitch by the time the Avanti production commences. An additional
four outlets would also be opened in the course of 2012.
Bookings, on a
first-come-first-served-basis will open soon, immediately after Auto
Expo 2012 with deliveries scheduled from the last quarter of
calendar 2013.
The big story doesn’t
end here, the feel good theme continuing on the price front as well.
At Rs. 30 lakhs ex-showroom, the Avanti would be a stunner in more
ways than one and a smile inducer cum big name basher made in India.
More announcements on the Avanti and its bespoke customization to
owners’s trim and equipment preferences would follow soon.
