Yes, I race a geo.  Lots of people scoff at that idea, but geo storms are 
actually highly under-rated vehicles.  When you hear "GEO", you probably associate 
the name with the metro, an anemic little three-cylinder city car that was built by Suzuki.  The storm is actually a cut-rate version of Isuzu's sporty Stylus, and the
engine is a nearly respectable 1.6 liter four cylinder; it's a non-turbo version of the same plant that lotus used in the M100 Elan. My storm is a 1990 GSi, the quicker 
of the <a href=GeoInfo.html>two earliest versions</a> of the storm. It is not 
particularly fast, but the published numbers for it are in same ball park as 
the normally aspirated (i.e. base model) 2005 MINI, which is a fairly competative 
car for H Stock autocross.  Here's a quick comparison to show how the two cars
stack up.

<Center><h1>Storm/MINI Comparison</h1>

<table border=0>
	<tr>
		<td><td>
		<td><img src=storm.jpg></td>
		<td><img src=cooper.jpg></td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td><td>
		<td><a href=http://www.isuzuperformance.com/isupage/hist/specstorm.html>1990 Storm GSi</td>
		<td><a href=http://www.automotive.com/2005/12/mini/cooper/specifications/index.html>2005 MINI</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td>Curb Weight<td>
		<td>2410 lb</td>
		<td>2700</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td>Horsepower<td>
		<td>130 hp</td>
		<td>115 hp</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td>Weight/Power ratio<td>
		<td><font color=red>18.5 lb/hp</red></td>
		<td>23.5 lb/hp</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td>0-60 mph<td>
		<td><font color=red>8.5 sec[&]</red></td>
		<td>9.8 sec[~]</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td>Wheelbase<td>
		<td> 96.5 in</td>
		<td>97.1</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td>Front Track<td>
		<td>56.3 in</td>
		<td>57.4</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td>Rear Track<td>
		<td>55.2 in</td>
		<td>57.7</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td>Width<td>
		<td>66.7 in</td>
		<td><font color=red>66.5</font></td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td>Length<td>
		<td>163.4 in</td>
		<td><font color=red>143.1 in</font></td>
	</tr>
</table>

</center>
<P><P><P>
As you can see, the practical upshot is that the storm might have marginally better acceleration, but the MINI definitely has better cornering abilities.  I've been autocrossing my storm for a little over a year now, which has given me 
time to get familiar with some of the strengths and weaknesses of the car. Overally, 
I like the car, but I'll admit that it has some annoying issues.  Automotive journalists from the 1990s appear to have had mixed feelings about the car.  Here, in a nutshell, are the biggest issues I've found (...as well as the some illustrative comments from car magazines.)


<P><P><P>
<table border=2>
	<tr>
		<td width=50%>Positives</td>
		<td>Negatives</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td>
			<ul>
			<li>Acceleration on par with the MINI</li>
			<li>Many thousands of dollars less than MINI</li>
			<li>So far, it has been fairly durable, despite having 197k miles
			<li>"the highest skidpad rating (0.85 g), sticks like pine tar to the autocross course, is second-quickest through the slalom and stops shorter from 80 mph than many highly respected sports cars"[+]</li>
			</ul>
		</td>
		<td>
			<ul>
			<li>No Headroom - Your helmet will rub on the room if you have a tall torso</li>
			<li>The body is 19 inches longer than the MINI, which significantly reduces cornering ability</li>
			<li>Parts are difficult to find</li>
			<li>Noisy - constant buzzes, creaks and rattles</li>
			<li>"above average body lean and needs more rebound control"[*]</li>
			</ul>
		</td>
	</tr>
</table><P><P><P>
If you want to race a storm, you probably want a GSi because of the different transmission and extra horsepower, but which GSi to use will depend on your application and the class and rules you want to run in. The earlier GSis like mine have smaller motors than the 1992-1993 GSi, but they have bigger anti-sway bar bars than the 1992-1993 GSi.  The body roll in the storm is annoying, but <a href=http://www.martinsportscarclub.com>the club I run with</a> is not SCCA, and running in H Stock with them means staying <a href=http://www.martinsportscarclub.com/2Rulebook.asp#5.0>basically showroom stock</a>.  I lucked out and got a 1990 GSi with the largest antisway bars from the factory, which is good for racing in a showroom stock class.  (The advantage to showroom stock classes is the cost; if nobody is allowed to modify the car, you don't have to sink lots of cash into it to be competative.)  If I was going into an SCCA stock class or an MSCC prepared class, I might have been better off with the 1.8 liter 1992 GSi because I could add the thicker antisway bar to it.
<P><P>
Storms use Macpherson struts, which means that really aggressive drivers (not me) will have to run with more camber - and potential tire wear - than similarly aggressive drivers of cars with double wishbones (i.e. civics).  Of course, many nicely handling BMWs have struts, so that's not an unsurmountable problem.  The biggest issue is that the storm has few aftermarket parts options, and there are not a lot of people familiar with working on them. 

<P><P><P>
--<br>
& - Geo Storm GSi. (includes related articles) (evaluation). John Phillips III, Larry Griffin, Nicholas Bissoon-Dath and David Kunkler. Car and Driver v35.n11 (May 1990): pp61(5). (2378 words) 
<br><br>
~ - http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpcontainers/do/vdp/articleId=104624/pageNumber=1
<br><br>
+ -  "Little squirts: ten sporty point-and-shoot cars for a price that won't soak you. (includes related rating information from six reader/testers) (Evaluation). Kott, Douglas. Road & Track 44.n9 (May 1993): 56(12)
<br><br>
* - <i>Slick, Quick and Inexpensive</i>, Autoweek, April 16, 1990