RE: Ariel Nomad | Spotted

RE: Ariel Nomad | Spotted

Tuesday 20th August 2019

Ariel Nomad | Spotted

Most people don't tick every Nomad option box. We get that. But the other way looks fun, too...



When PH celebrated the best of British last year, the Ariel Nomad was by far the cheapest car of an exceptional trio. Against the serene Bentley Conti GT and the ultra-precise McLaren 570S, Somerset's finest was an unapologetic, ear drum-pummelling hooligan. Yet despite its lack doors, roof and just about anything else to keep the wind out, the spaceframed off-roader felt in no way out of place next to a brace of £160k alternatives.

The Ariel’s technical setup is one fit for motorsport – you don’t need a protractor to know the struts are set at racing buggy angles because they’re all there on show, with no panels or shields to hide them. Like the Atom, the Nomad is bare bones, developed exclusively to be driven at silly speeds off-road with nothing to compromise its abilities on dirt, mud or just about anything you can point its bug-like nose at. To drive a Nomad is to be strapped to a Honda 2.4-litre i-VTEC. Most drivers will add at least 10 per cent to the total kerb weight, which stands at 670kg sans human.


Such sprightliness means the base, naturally-aspirated car is a riot out of the box, but the optional K24 supercharger (a £5,215 addition) is a must-have option because it provides 299hp in the most explosive, landscape-blurring fashion. 62mph comes in 3.4 seconds, but it feels even faster thanks to the Nomad’s brutality, the result of a rear-driver that typically wears dirt tyres and has the accelerative pitch of a Stadium Super Truck at full pelt.

To some extent this stuff was all expected when Ariel announced the Nomad in 2015, what with the firm’s Atom having blazed the trail since the turn of the millennium. With that in mind, many rate the way the Nomad rides as a surprise party piece; it's built to crest a hill at Rally Finland pace - which makes it rather adept at rolling down your average B road. It’s not physics defying stuff, of course, but the result of super high-quality damping coupled to a featherweight structure.


A car equipped with the optional Ohlins adjustable dampers, which have hydraulic bump stops and two-piece springs (a £5,294 upgrade), will shame many a luxury GT over drain covers and speed humps, while requiring no heavy anti-roll tech to tighten things up on the twisty stuff. And they laugh in the face of the kind of lumps and bumps you'd find on the average off-road route. There are few other vehicles you can stick numberplates on that offer this kind of unstoppable freedom.

Still, a Nomad is unequivocally a toy - one with an extensive and decidedly moreish option list. Many if not most Ariel buyers reportedly spec their car with some care (not breaching £50k is typically the target, PH has previously been told) but there are always those unconcerned with the idea of doubling the thirtysomething starting price. The most expensive of five Nomads presently on the PH classifieds, this green-framed one has just 65 miles on the clock. It also has the supercharger, those special dampers and Alcon brakes, as well as a shorter final drive for the six-speed manual and (wry smiles at the ready) a hydraulic handbrake, to name just a few of its many additions. It’s ready to roll, in other words. For a wait list-dodging £73k.


SPECIFICATION - ARIEL NOMAD

Engine: 2,354cc, 4-cyl supercharged
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 299@7,200rpm
Torque (lb ft): 251@4,300rpm
CO2: N/A
MPG: N/A
First registered: 2019
Recorded mileage: 65
Price new: £33,000 (base before options)
Yours for: £72,995

Click here for the full ad

Search for an Ariel Nomad here

Author
Discussion

sidesauce

Original Poster:

2,456 posts

217 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
It's good, but £73k good? Hmmm...

Tickle

4,880 posts

203 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
For every good driving road for my Elise I use, there is an equally good road for a nomad branching off it. They look fantastic fun. One day.

Gameface

16,565 posts

76 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
It's missing the best option... The LED aerials.

Sandpit Steve

9,885 posts

73 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
Ariel need to start selling these officially in the Middle East, proper racing dune buggies!

They’d sell hundreds of them out of UAE and Saudi, I wonder if they’d think to licence a factory out here as they do in the US?

Sford

427 posts

149 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
This would be on the lottery win list easily. One of these, a 2-11 and a Noble M600. Job jobbed.

mylesmcd

2,521 posts

218 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
Lift kit on an old Lotus Elise, anyone?

Tickle

4,880 posts

203 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
mylesmcd said:
Lift kit on an old Lotus Elise, anyone?
https://hiconsumption.com/lotus-elise-safari-concept-car/

mylesmcd

2,521 posts

218 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
Tickle said:
mylesmcd said:
Lift kit on an old Lotus Elise, anyone?
https://hiconsumption.com/lotus-elise-safari-concept-car/
Good work Sir, good work.


UmpaLoompa

1,789 posts

160 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
Imagine speccing this up, buying it, waiting for it to be delivered....and then only covering 65 miles! smash

Sporky

6,089 posts

63 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
I was surprised how small the Nomad is when I first saw one in person.

I'm too mud-averse to ever buy one, but I very much like that they exist.

BillyB

1,385 posts

257 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
They look awesome but I can't imagine cleaning one (something which has occured to me about all the exposed lightweight cars)



Photo courtesy of Top Gear

Edited by BillyB on Tuesday 20th August 12:52

Glenn63

2,732 posts

83 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
I have no idea were or when I would use one but I still need it!

Ex Boy Racer

1,151 posts

191 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
I really fancy one but wonder where it can be used in the way it's intended. Anyone got any ideas?

DanielSan

18,748 posts

166 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
BillyB said:
They look awesome but I can't imagine cleaning one (something which has occured to me about all the exposed lightweight cars)



Photo courtesy of Top Gear

Edited by BillyB on Tuesday 20th August 12:52
Jet wash everything, walk away and let it dry. Sorted.

Harry H

3,379 posts

155 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
DanielSan said:
BillyB said:
They look awesome but I can't imagine cleaning one (something which has occured to me about all the exposed lightweight cars)



Photo courtesy of Top Gear

Edited by BillyB on Tuesday 20th August 12:52
Jet wash everything, walk away and let it dry. Sorted.
You'd then need a bulldozer to get the muck off the drive.

Jonny_

4,108 posts

206 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
BillyB said:
They look awesome but I can't imagine cleaning one (something which has occured to me about all the exposed lightweight cars)



Photo courtesy of Top Gear

Edited by BillyB on Tuesday 20th August 12:52
It'll all be water resistant, so a quick rinse down with the hose and a jetwash on the really grubby bits should do the trick! biggrin

SlimJim16v

5,617 posts

142 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
Struts? This has double wishbones. One time the use of the term coilovers would be correct and they're called struts banghead

Yes, I want one, but they don't look right unless wearing mud tyres.

numtumfutunch

4,705 posts

137 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
Ex Boy Racer said:
I really fancy one but wonder where it can be used in the way it's intended. Anyone got any ideas?
Follow mudnomad on Instagram

Oily76

186 posts

110 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
UmpaLoompa said:
Imagine speccing this up, buying it, waiting for it to be delivered....and then only covering 65 miles! smash
I'm guessing the original owner succumbed to a tragic adrenaline overdose shortly after taking delivery.

phil4

1,203 posts

237 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
Ex Boy Racer said:
I really fancy one but wonder where it can be used in the way it's intended. Anyone got any ideas?
Find a "Byway Open to All Traffic" and drive along it. There are fewer for sure down South, but they still exist.

If you're intent on doing that, there are a few options that make some sense, such as the offroad wheels and tyres, winch (to rescue yourself), underbody protection etc.