ariel atom overtake

[gazmutd]

Bit of a random thread,but I've just been overtook by an Ariel atom and I've never seen a car accelerate so fast like it before! Ended up giggling like a little girl in front of the mrs...

What a machine. has anyone had any experience of one before?

[Dalou]

Hi Gaz

I've driven one on a track a couple of years ago. The speed is absolutely unbelievable. In 4th gear on a nice long straight, I put my foot down (not quite to the floor) and it accelerated so fast it gave the sensation that it was about to do a wheelie.

The only problem with having driven one was the fact that I giggled non stop for weeks and have been thinking of ways to afford one since :-D

[Mastodon2]

Never been overtaken by an Atom (or even seen one in person for that matter) but I did get overtaken by a Hawkeye STi Impreza yesterday and that had a tasty little lick of speed about it. And by "tasty little lick of speed" I mean "Shot past and disappeared into the distance in seconds". It was quite glorious just to hear it passing!

[BigBen]

What colour was it and where were you ?

[130R]

I've driven the supercharged one, definitely more of a race car than a road car. The only problem with the one I drove was the bubble windscreen was really darkly tinted and was bang in my field of vision meaning I couldn't really see where I was going! Gearbox was a bit agricultural and the brakes needed to be worked hard but the acceleration is breathtaking.

[gazmutd]

BigBen said:

What colour was it and where were you ?

Think it was black and white/silver maybe? It was on the a428 heading towards northampton from Bedford.In the moment of excitement I gave have him a thumbs up like a little boy... Got a picture on my phone but by the time I pressed the button he was way past me!

[BigBen]

gazmutd said:

BigBen said:

What colour was it and where were you ?

Think it was black and white/silver maybe? It was on the a428 heading towards northampton from Bedford.In the moment of excitement I gave have him a thumbs up like a little boy... Got a picture on my phone but by the time I pressed the button he was way past me!

Ah wasn't me then. I had just got in from a blat when I read this. Funnily enough I did go on the A428 but 20 miles or so East of where you were.

[Mafioso]

overtaken

[gazmutd]

Mafioso said:

overtaken

As you can tell, I never was one for English

[vit4]

Only ever seen one of these on the roads.

The biggest "fk me that shifts" acceleration I've ever seen was being overtaken by a Mitsubishi Galant VR4. Had different (black) alloys on it but other than that it looked stock. Just looked face-warpingly fast but absolutely effortless.

[peterattheboro]

Been in an Atom that belongs to a member on here. On track too.

Absolutley fantastic machine.

[Scuffers]

still, it;s all relative:
http://www.vimeo.com/11578403 (3:15 in)

[slipstream 1985]

been driven and driven one, epicly fast its harder to time the braking to pull back in than the initial overtake. wouldnt own one though.

[Toyless]

peterattheboro said:

Been in an Atom that belongs to a member on here. On track too.

Absolutley fantastic machine.

I would love one, but I think they are extremely optimistically priced.

[Somnophore]

Saw one at traffic lights at vicars cross in Chester the other day, in the pouring rain, driver had black racing helmet on. Looked pretty cool, no opportunately to see it perform tho

[Bonefish Blues]

My single greatest motoring regret is not going through with the purchase of an Atom 160 c5 years ago. The marriage has survived (just!).

By my calcs it might have lost, oh, say 1-2K in depreciation over that period...fantastic ownership proposition IMHO.

[BigBen]

Toyless said:

but I think they are extremely optimistically priced.

Compared to what?

[omgus]

There are a few in my local area, they do shift when they go past. In my pre-PH days i was overtaken by a Caterfield of some kind like i was going backwards, only to see him get reeled in and then passed with ease by an Atom. It went from 40 behind me to past the Caterfield at what looked like double his not inconsiderable speed in a few seconds.

I have also had an R500 go past me on the Great Park Road this summer, i was pushing on and it completed the overtake with ease.

[MGZRod]

slipstream 1985 said:

been driven and driven one, epicly fast its harder to time the braking to pull back in than the initial overtake. wouldnt own one though.

Think mark is regretting the overtaking ability at the moment eh...

[WalterEgo]

A mate of mine had an Atom 300 for a couple of years and it was breathtaking. Had a couple of rides and one drive in it, and it redefined fast. On road or track it left pretty much everything for dead, although I never saw it against any 'proper' race cars. It was also the cheapest car he had ever owned, having bought it for £41k new, and sold it after two years for £39.5k.