The well known Indian aut omot ive design house, DC Design has unveiled it s supercar called t he Avant

i. According t o report s, t he car has been named af t er t he St udbaker Avant i t hat appeared in Tint in comics. The idea behind t he Avant i, which means ' f orward' in It alian, is t o make af f ordable supercars and t he car is expect ed t o be priced at Rs 3 0 lakh, it was report ed

The car was unveiled by Amit abh Bachchan and will init ially come powered by a 4 -cylinder t urbo pet rol engine f rom Ford, and lat er a t urbo V6 Honda engine. The 4 -cylinder t urbo pet rol will make 2 6 5 hp, while t he V6 engine will make 4 0 0 hp.

The Avant i is expect ed t o do a sub-seven second zero t o hundred t iming. These engines are mat ed t o a 6 -speed dual-clut ch t ransmission syst em. According t o t he report s, t he engines are being t uned in t he UK and will be shipped t o India in crat es where t hey will be inst alled t he cars. Much like t he engines, most of t he ot her component s t hat go int o t he cars will also be import ed int o t he count ry. However, t he body and int eriors are being manuf act ured at DC' s Talegaon plant in Pune. The body shell is made of aluminium, while t he body panels are made of GRP.

It was also report ed t hat DC Design is also set t ing up showrooms across t he count ry in order t o sell t he Avant i Supercar. The f irst of t hese showrooms will be launched in Hyderabad. The showrooms will also st ock ot her DC product s. The 15 6 0 kg Avant i looks more along t he lines of a Lot us Evora, rat her t han a f ull-f ledged Ferrari 4 5 8 -like supercar. DC Design aims on manuf act uring 2 0 0 cars a year, which means it would produce one car every t wo days. They also have plans t o slowly expand t hat number t o 2 00 0 cars annually, according t o report s.

The Indian market f or high end aut omobiles is on a st eep uphill curve as wit nessed year-on-year and our f ocus is at t he t op end of t his rarif ied niche. The design is complet ely our very own as is t he engineering and also t he product ion process. Type approval and onroad t est s would f ollow soon and we int end t o simult aneously set up an all new f acilit y at Talegaon near Pune t o build t his vehicle, said Dilip.

Specificat ions of the car: Engine Type: 2 .0 L Four Cylinder Maximum power: 24 0 BHP @ 5 5 0 0 RPM Maximum Torque: 2 7 0 lb/ f t of t orque @3 5 0 0 RPM Transmission: MMT6 6 speed Turbocharged engine wit h direct inject ion and VVT DOHC Four valves per cylinder Chassis Tubular space f rame Jig built TIG welded Suspension Unequal lengt h double wishbones Coil cover shock absorbers St eering and Brakes Rack and pinion 3 3 0 mm vent ilat ed discs ( Front and Rear) AP racing calipers Wheels Front rim size - 8 .5 J-1 9 Tyres - 2 5 5 / 3 5 19 x 8 .5 J Track - 1 6 8 0 mm Rear Rim size - 1 1J-1 9 Tyres - 2 9 5 / 3 0 19 x 1 1 J Track - 1 6 6 0 mm

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