Monday 25th January 2016

Avatar Roadster details

Just in case you hadn't found a £30K track car that you like yet!

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What with the Focus RS and the 911 Turbo in the past few days, it has taken a little longer than usual to mop up any remaining Autosport show stories. Frustratingly the Avatar Roadster was missed in our laps round the NEC, but it's a car worthy of PH attention.

Nothing but the basics inside

Avatar is the track and race division of Marlin Sports Cars and the spec of this Roadster makes for interesting reading. It's offered with either the 2.0-litre or 2.3-litre Ford Ecoboost turbos, the power outputs rated at 250 and 350hp. With a kerbweight of 700kg, Avatar claims a 0-60mph time of 3.9 seconds for the 250hp car and a 150mph top speed.

Standard equipment that will appeal to track day goers includes a Quaife limited-slip diff, adjustable suspension with Nitron dampers and a Tilton pedal box. There's a five-speed manual for the 2.0-litre car and a six-speed with the 2.3, plus a host of tyre, brake and suspension upgrades that can be added to either model. For those wanting to compete in the Roadster there's a roll cage, six-point harness, HANS-prepped seat and fire extinguisher on the options list.

No mistaking it for anything else at least

As for testing, the Avatar team have completed 1,200 laps of Castle Combe and promise that "Consumers expect to drive to a track day, thrash around all day and come home again without wielding the spanners." There will also be a 'Tailored' session for every customer, where the car is corner weighted and set up for their individual driving style. It's covered by a three-year unlimited mileage warranty, and the engine can be serviced at Ford dealers too.

Now for that elephant in the room. The Avatar probably isn't the prettiest British sports car you've ever seen. That being said, track cars more than any other should subscribe to the 'function before form' school of design. It may be enough to put some off, but if you're choosing a track car on how it looks then they're probably not for you.

Prices for the Avatar Roadster start at £29,450 for the 250hp car, with a £5K premium for the 350hp version. Four orders have already been placed, with first deliveries due in May. It's certainly one way to stand out in a paddock full of Caterhams and Atoms!

 

[Pekwah1]

How have they managed to make a car that looks so good from the front but so shocking at the rear?
The ends just don't seem to match to me, plus proportions seem wrong from the side...

Not a bad price tag though for someone in the market, but personally i'd just get myself a caterham or similar!

[dlockhart]

At 35k looks like a bargin for 350bhp sub-ton car. I would be worried about the height of that front splitter though.

[joshleb]

All the design budget spent on the front end?

Front - flowing, fancy lights.

Rear - square edged, square cut outs, fill with Barryboy mesh.

[Henrico]

Pekwah1 said:

How have they managed to make a car that looks so good from the front but so shocking at the rear?
The ends just don't seem to match to me, plus proportions seem wrong from the side...

Not a bad price tag though for someone in the market, but personally i'd just get myself a caterham or similar!

Proportions and rear end look fine to me, the front lights look a bit like a fat Sagaris though..

[TartanPaint]

I don't think Zenos will be losing much sleep over this.

[Quhet]

To echo everyone else - the back end on that is hideous!

[suffolk009]

I think it was Peter Stevens who once said, the back of a car is surprisingly difficult to get right.

[GranCab]

Well at least it's better looking than the Lotus 3-eleven .....

[Krikkit]

I quite like that form-over-function rear, very can-am.

Is this a kit, or factory-built car? Aren't Marlin a kit maker?

[jontysafe]

I actually like that a lot

How does it compare price wide to the zenos for the 350bhp model?

[Equus]

Krikkit said:

I quite like that form-over-function rear, very can-am.

...and to be fair, I understand that the Avatar started out as a race derivative of the Marlin, so form over function was exactly the objective. It's been doing really rather well in the Castle Combe GT championship, and I'm sure a mild re-style of the rear clam wouldn't be too difficult, if that's what the market wants.

At least it disguises the Marlin's Strathcarronesque origins quite effectively, and having seen the race car I was pleasantly surprised by the fit and finish of the show car, in its metallic paint.

Conversely, I was actually a little disappointed by the quality of the Zenos on show at Autosports. The interior wasn't to the standard I expected even for a basic and functional track car. Some of the hard plastic mouldings in the Zenos' cockpit were particularly 1970's and really didn't exude quality at all, whereas the Avatar was at least nicely trimmed, in quality materials.

It's easy to be critical, but in many ways they've done a very nice job on a tiny fraction of the budget and investment available to Zenos.

[Equus]

jontysafe said:

How does it compare price wide to the zenos for the 350bhp model?

£5K cheaper, if the prices in the article are correct (the Zenos E10R starts at a fiver shy of £40K).

Probably about right, given the Avatar's less mainstream reputation and slightly less exotic looks, but balanced against proven track ability and - judging by the show cars, at least - potential for slightly higher build quality?

[hondansx]

Good old Autosport. God bless 'em for trying, but it makes me wonder why year-after-year people come up with yet another car nobody asked for.

[kainedog]

maybe a back end is extra ?

[JontyR]

hondansx said:

Good old Autosport. God bless 'em for trying, but it makes me wonder why year-after-year people come up with yet another car nobody asked for.

so what car are people asking for?

[Edmundo2]

The stance and overhangs all look good but the detail is pretty woeful and personally I think the front end is pretty lame too. Lights look like after thoughts and front lamps look too over styled, not enough vent, ( don't read as needs loads of vents ), and as has been said the cheap grills are dreadful. I think purple only goes to make it look more kit/chav than it might in more subdued hue. Let's hope they recognise the detail is letting it down and improve them as looks like there could be a great little car underneath it...

[HeMightBeBanned]

Avatar: How to take a Strathcarron SC5A and then massively fk it up....

[Equus]

HeMightBeBanned said:

Avatar: How to take a Strathcarron SC5A and then massively fk it up....

At least it goes round corners (at least at Castle Combe) without lurching into random snap oversteer, which is more than the Strathcarron did, if period press reports are anything to go by.

The Strathcarron was a bit too 'girly' for my tastes, too - kind of like a speedster version of the Dahatsu Copen, don't you think?:





That the Avatar is being compared to Can-am cars and TVR Sagaris' is a bit of a result, I reckon.

[jason61c]

To be fair their previous car looked crap also, it looked like a melting ford KA.

[Hitch78]

I hope it drives much much better than it looks!