Ariel Nomad Turbo Conversion
Discussion
@ caddyshack.......these K series Honda engines are a bit of an anomally when it comes to back pressure. For a start its a 2.4 in a 720 kg car.....but more importantly it has 2 cam profiles, both of which can be retarded or advanced. Its also very high compression for a boosted motor.....add all of this to one of the best flowing 4 pot heads ever made.....the gains made from even having no exhaust at all.....manifold only.....far outweigh the small losses you might get down low. You can basically take any k engined Honda...(eg a EP3 civic type r).....remove the exhaust completely.....tune....and make power over most of the power band. When k20 swaps first started in the USA most people would run open header at the strip.....now people know there are people running 3.5 inch exhausts on naturally aspirated 2.0 engines.
PorkFan said:
@ caddyshack.......these K series Honda engines are a bit of an anomally when it comes to back pressure. For a start its a 2.4 in a 720 kg car.....but more importantly it has 2 cam profiles, both of which can be retarded or advanced. Its also very high compression for a boosted motor.....add all of this to one of the best flowing 4 pot heads ever made.....the gains made from even having no exhaust at all.....manifold only.....far outweigh the small losses you might get down low. You can basically take any k engined Honda...(eg a EP3 civic type r).....remove the exhaust completely.....tune....and make power over most of the power band. When k20 swaps first started in the USA most people would run open header at the strip.....now people know there are people running 3.5 inch exhausts on naturally aspirated 2.0 engines.
Interesting stuff. You have to love the Jap motors.A friend of mine has just given up on expensive Cossie engines and swapped to the Honda and he said he picked up 4 engines for much less than one ropey Cossie head. He is making more power and has no worry on the cost. My 700hp stoker Cossie engine was £26k to build!
Boring question ahead:
How does this pass MOT emmsions (noise too if it were part of an MOT) without any sort of cat or back box? Fine if you've got a friendly MOT place but it doesn't exactly fly under the radar and you just need one traffic cop to notice it and ask questions?
I guess this is a generic question since plenty of cars have no cats and/or straight pipes, but yours is very obvious!
How does this pass MOT emmsions (noise too if it were part of an MOT) without any sort of cat or back box? Fine if you've got a friendly MOT place but it doesn't exactly fly under the radar and you just need one traffic cop to notice it and ask questions?
I guess this is a generic question since plenty of cars have no cats and/or straight pipes, but yours is very obvious!
firemunki said:
Boring question ahead:
How does this pass MOT emmsions (noise too if it were part of an MOT) without any sort of cat or back box? Fine if you've got a friendly MOT place but it doesn't exactly fly under the radar and you just need one traffic cop to notice it and ask questions?
I guess this is a generic question since plenty of cars have no cats and/or straight pipes, but yours is very obvious!
Good question, that did not occur to me. The chap who maps my car does an MOT friendly map so I guess they will do similar and bolt on a cat. As you say though...some cops may be switched on enough to twig. I have heard of VOSA turning up at car shows and pulling loads of people for infractions...bloody fun police.How does this pass MOT emmsions (noise too if it were part of an MOT) without any sort of cat or back box? Fine if you've got a friendly MOT place but it doesn't exactly fly under the radar and you just need one traffic cop to notice it and ask questions?
I guess this is a generic question since plenty of cars have no cats and/or straight pipes, but yours is very obvious!
Just got back from Spain / Portugal, and currently sitting in the customer area at Ariel in Somerset while they give it a service / check over.
I have to say, the car didn't put a foot wrong for the whole trip. I've driven it every day for the last 10 days, and it's been perfect. Not one single issue.
People loved it - the amount of photos / conversations I had about it, and the crowd it attracted even when parked next to some more exotic machinery was amazing.
It rained a little, I got wet, but overall it was an amazing experience, and wouldn't have changed it for the world. Performance wise, it's very similar to the Cayman GT4 up to about 100mph, and we are still just running on wastegate pressure. Will be taking it back to be properly mapped and get the boost controller mapped in over the next few weeks.
I'll do a proper photo dump / trip write up at some point, but here are a few for now:
Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr
Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr
Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr
Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr
Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr
Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr
Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr
Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr
Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr
I have to say, the car didn't put a foot wrong for the whole trip. I've driven it every day for the last 10 days, and it's been perfect. Not one single issue.
People loved it - the amount of photos / conversations I had about it, and the crowd it attracted even when parked next to some more exotic machinery was amazing.
It rained a little, I got wet, but overall it was an amazing experience, and wouldn't have changed it for the world. Performance wise, it's very similar to the Cayman GT4 up to about 100mph, and we are still just running on wastegate pressure. Will be taking it back to be properly mapped and get the boost controller mapped in over the next few weeks.
I'll do a proper photo dump / trip write up at some point, but here are a few for now:
Untitled by Olly Olly, on FlickrUntitled by Olly Olly, on FlickrUntitled by Olly Olly, on FlickrUntitled by Olly Olly, on FlickrUntitled by Olly Olly, on FlickrUntitled by Olly Olly, on FlickrUntitled by Olly Olly, on FlickrUntitled by Olly Olly, on FlickrUntitled by Olly Olly, on FlickrEdited by ol on Wednesday 6th July 15:04
...Also, in relation to the exhaust questions - yes it's antisocially loud, and I have a second, silenced system that Chris at Hard Knocks made for me, so will probably end up putting that on it in the long term. I also have a bolt on cat for MOT time.
I ended up wearing earplugs and ear defenders over the top, until the Spanish police pulled me and fined me €100 for wearing ear defenders while driving (who'd have know it's a crime!)
I ended up wearing earplugs and ear defenders over the top, until the Spanish police pulled me and fined me €100 for wearing ear defenders while driving (who'd have know it's a crime!)
Edited by ol on Tuesday 5th July 10:14
TheJimi said:
Was curious to see how the car performed on the road trip so soon (immediately!) after the conversion. Glad to hear it all went well 
What did the folk at Ariel think of the conversion?
They love it! They're currently inspecting it and going to take it out for a spin after the service. The Nomad 2 will probably be turbo when it comes out in the next year or two (although they haven't announced details about it yet). What did the folk at Ariel think of the conversion?
Turn7 said:
Thats a pretty random mix of some fabulous cars !
Thanks! Probably the most eclectic mix we have had since we started the trips back in 2010. Whenever we stopped, different people gravitated towards different cars - the Camaro go a lot of attention out there, as did the Exiges. Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff