DC Avanti

DC Avanti is the Indian designed sports car by DC Design, a firm headed by Dilip Chhabria. Taking its name from the Studebaker Avanti of The Adventures of Tintin comics, it was unveiled at the 2012 Auto Expo Delhi as a two-seat sports car. It was initially equipped with a mid-mounted Ford Ecoboost Engine.But due to cost reasons,DC has shifted to a Renault-sourced, 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine producing 250 bhp, A Honda-sourced V6 version with 394 bhp is planned for future release. Transmission is a six-speed dual-clutch transmission. The Avanti weighs 1562 kg. The car is currently at the production stage.

During the show the carmaker had announced that they would commence production of the car at their manufacturing facility located in Gujarat but added that the initial models will be built at their Talegaon facility in Pune.

It is slated to launch in early 2015 at a price of approximately Rs 35 lakh.  The DC Avanti is a mid-engined sports car. To begin with, the Avanti is really big at a length of 4550mm, 1965mm wide and 1200mm in height. To give you a fair idea of its real world dimensions: the Lamborghini Gallardo is 4,345mm long, 1,900mm wide, and 1,165mm in height, in comparison.  DC has also tried to make the car as usable as possible in India, and has given it a ground clearance of 170mm - which is the same as a Maruti Suzuki Swift's. This is to make it more suitable for Indian roads. The chassis is a box section space frame, which has been overbuilt to help handle it better on Indian roads. The body of the car uses carbonfibre in many parts, which have been crafted in-house, which is placed on top of the chassis.

Between the seat back and the rear wheels is the mid-mounted is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine, which makes 248bhp, and 24.6kgm of torque. Helping put all that power to the road are 20-inch wheels with 255/35 tyres mounted on the front, and 295/30 tyres mounted on the rear. A six-speed manual gearbox comes as standard on the car. Stopping power for the car comes from 330mm ventilated four-pot disc brakes at the front and 295mm at the rear. Anti-lock braking system, which has been developed by Continental, comes standard on the Avanti. The suspension uses a double wishbone on all four wheels, monotube with gas-charged shock absorbers. It uses coil springs to perform the dampening duties.

As for the interiors, the Avanti gets a three-spoke steering wheel, hooded dials, a centre console with stacked screens, chrome surrounds and body colored separators. It also comes with a touchscreen infotainment system and soft touch buttons for the air-conditioning system. The final car is expected to come with a digital instrument panel, and few new bits on the centre console too.