Ariel Atom - 1 week on

[MrLizard]

Well it has been incredibly difficult despite the weather not to take the car out, seeing as it is using an odyssey battery the factory told me that if you leave it for two weeks without starting it - it will drain to nothing and evidently become useless as they can only cope with 1 real drain. So I have purchased a trickle charger but as there is no plug close enough to the car I need to buy an extension lead, fortunately every time I have been in a position to do this B & Q has been closed.

So instead I have taken the car for a blast around Coventry in the pitch black, very impressed with the new dual xenon lights - they are fairly level dip wise but as you sit so low you can see everything you need to, though im still unsure how visible I am to other people.



Trying to find a good balance for the suspension, the rear is set at 5 (out of 10) front set to 3 - seems to understeer a little but the roads are very cold - should the rear be stiffer than the front?



trying to sort out the trickle charger and failing !



hot exhaust



new digital dash for the 3.5 - no gps plugin yet as that's another £600 but it is set up ready to take the license



will try and get some video soon...

[MrLizard]

Demanvilles said:

softer front=less understeer,
stiffer front=more understeer
softer rear=more understeer,
stiffer rear=less understeer

At least I think so! Not absolutely, but general rule!

Great Atom! I can imagine the night drives being pretty refreshing! Uber cool!

Ok I might try another click on the rear then in this sort of dry/sloppy weather I don't want to soften the front any more...

It certainly blew the cobwebs off me - took the visor up for a second and seem to have a fly lodged up my nose now

[MrLizard]

coopedup said:

Such a cool car, what is the real world performance like? I cannot imagine many things would touch it

Difficult to say, when you are just trundling along it is happy doing 30mph in 6th, when you want to overtake it doesn't seem to matter what speed you or they are doing you just put your foot down and your past them... I imagine that it is similar in other quick cars.. but on a whole different level to the impreza the Mrs has... be interesting to see how it does on the track

[MrLizard]

md. said:

Ive been waiting all week for you to update the original thread! Have you seen the thread in the Ariel section where the new owner ended up driving through pouring rain, slush and snow to get his pride and joy home? Now thats an interesting read!
There is no way I could go any long period of time without driving that, keep this updated please!
How do you clean these btw, are all the electricals fully sealed up so you can jetwash or whatever or do you have to be careful and just wipe it down?

Factory told me to ensure that I wash it down when driving through gritted roads or anywhere with salt as it will ruin the chassis/engine, just recommended sticking a plastic bag over the dash and the air intake and just pressure washing it

Very difficult to dry...

[MrLizard]

For those interested I sent the factory a huge box of biscuits and a camera in way of a bribe - build photo's are below -

[MrLizard]

Butter Face said:

Very nice mate!

From looking at the pic of the engine I assume they use a JDM K20 for these?

Yep, with some extras and a tune =)