RE: PH Carpool: Ariel Atom

[spikeyhead]

Mellow Matt said:

Interesting, ta chaps. I did laugh at the Atom being the "common sense" approach though

Common sense never has been common, I guess my idea of common sense is less common than usual.

[BigBen]

spikeyhead said:

Mellow Matt said:

Out of interest, what makes you choose an Atom over, say, a bike engined car, or a high spec Caterham/Westfield?

I had the Atom, Caterham R400 or 500 or a Radical on the list.

At the time I was making the decision the caterham was running the K series that needed a cambelt change every 3k miles, that's more than six times more ofteen than an Audi needs an oil change. I'd heard horror stories about the need for engine rebuilds on the Radical. As impractical as the Atom is, I just didn't see the Radical being anywhere near as practical. To borrow a quote from Spianl Tap, the impracticality of the Radical goes up to 11.

The Caterham may be a little more drivable, the Radical quicker on teh track, but the Atom seemed like the common sense choice and really somethign very special without being delicate.

I would likely have bought a Caterham but at 6"6 really don't find they have enough space, I have driven the fat bd SV chassis version but it was not that comfortable. Being tall is not an uncommon reason among owners for choosing an Atom!

[simonrockman]

FWIW I find the Atom brakes a bit disappointing. The car with the best brakes ever was the early S1 Elise.

[356Speedster]

simonrockman said:

FWIW I find the Atom brakes a bit disappointing. The car with the best brakes ever was the early S1 Elise.

They're obviously non-assisted, so require a good hard shove to make them work. However, they're more than powerful enough to lock up the car if you're not careful and I've never experienced any fade. They do feel very different to a normal road car setup, so take some getting used to, I guess.

[GT3 APE]

Or have the upgraded Alcons all round which offer tremendous braking performance

[S3000]

its like motorcycle.. lol

[RaTpoLO]

300bhp/ton said:

Very nice Atom there. Nice to see a blue one too, so far I think I've only seen red ones.

autocar had a green one as there press car i think