Ariel Nomad Turbo Conversion
Discussion
Thought I'd make a thread to document a new project - the world's first Ariel Nomad Turbo.
I won't make this a marathon intro, but I've always admired the stuff coming from Ariel. I've had various bike engined / car engined kit cars over the last 10 years, culminating in an Ultima GTR with LS7 that I modified a bit, and I do some racing in the 750MC Locost and then MA7DA championships. Had a few quick road cars like Panamera Turbo / XKR / S6 / AMG GTS etc, but always find myself looking at lightweight cars that are a bit 'different.'
The Atom had been on my radar for a while, but the Nomad just stood out to me to be something that could be used every day, and much more suited to the potholed roads of Northumberland than any hard riding supercar.
I went to see one for sale locally, having never actually seen one in the metal. I was blown away with the quality, and the look of it, but driving it I was disappointed. It was the n/a version with 235bhp. To be fair, I'd never had a V-Tec, and it was a test drive of a car for sale so I hadn't been ragging it, but it just felt a bit flat.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
I went off and started looking at 911's etc, but the Nomad had got under my skin.
After speaking to Ariel, we discussed a supercharger conversion through them to get it to just under 300bhp, which was massively appealing, however there is a 4-5 month wait for their superchargers, as they have them made bespoke, and I am impatient at the best of times.
Ariel have the best customer service from any business I have ever dealt with, and they took the time to speak to me for ages discussing how we could make it more suited to what I was looking for. It was in one of these conversations, we ended up on the topic of turbocharging it..
Long story short, I loved the idea, loved the fact no one had done it before, and loved the fact I could do it straight away, and it would be 'different'.
So the car was bought, and I phoned around as many specialists as I could, so figure out who to do the work. I wanted to have something with switchable maps for around 300bhp low boost, and 350bhp for mental mode. I am NOT chasing big numbers, I ultimately want it to be drivable on the limit, mapped to be as linear as possible, and mainly do everything sideways with a big grin. I'm also keeping it on all terrain tyres.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
I met up with some local owners, and found the community around Ariel to be great.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
2 other local owners and I spent a day in one of their fields, making a track and hammering them about. One of the most enjoyable days I've had in a long time, and dare I say it, much more fun than track / test days at race circuits.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
Back at home I stuck it on the corner weight scales, as I will be fitting a rear box and spare wheel so want to make sure I don't ruin the balance.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
So exactly 2 weeks into ownership, I drove it 6 hours from Northumberland down to near Oxford to leave it with Chris at 'Hard Knocks Speed Shop' who'll be doing the conversion, via Paul at TPW in the North West (who will be doing the mapping) to do some base runs on the dyno.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
There is a tight deadline on this project, as I am driving to Portugal in it towards the end of June with a group of mates for our annual Euro trip, so there is 3 weeks to get the build done, and then mapping is booked in the first week of June.
I had an update yesterday and the engine is out! We will be uprating the clutch and flywheel while it's out, and I've ordered a few bits from Ariel including a hydraulic handbrake to help with those skids, so they will be getting fitted at the same time.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr
Needless to say, I am quite excited about this!
I won't make this a marathon intro, but I've always admired the stuff coming from Ariel. I've had various bike engined / car engined kit cars over the last 10 years, culminating in an Ultima GTR with LS7 that I modified a bit, and I do some racing in the 750MC Locost and then MA7DA championships. Had a few quick road cars like Panamera Turbo / XKR / S6 / AMG GTS etc, but always find myself looking at lightweight cars that are a bit 'different.'
The Atom had been on my radar for a while, but the Nomad just stood out to me to be something that could be used every day, and much more suited to the potholed roads of Northumberland than any hard riding supercar.
I went to see one for sale locally, having never actually seen one in the metal. I was blown away with the quality, and the look of it, but driving it I was disappointed. It was the n/a version with 235bhp. To be fair, I'd never had a V-Tec, and it was a test drive of a car for sale so I hadn't been ragging it, but it just felt a bit flat.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrI went off and started looking at 911's etc, but the Nomad had got under my skin.
After speaking to Ariel, we discussed a supercharger conversion through them to get it to just under 300bhp, which was massively appealing, however there is a 4-5 month wait for their superchargers, as they have them made bespoke, and I am impatient at the best of times.
Ariel have the best customer service from any business I have ever dealt with, and they took the time to speak to me for ages discussing how we could make it more suited to what I was looking for. It was in one of these conversations, we ended up on the topic of turbocharging it..
Long story short, I loved the idea, loved the fact no one had done it before, and loved the fact I could do it straight away, and it would be 'different'.
So the car was bought, and I phoned around as many specialists as I could, so figure out who to do the work. I wanted to have something with switchable maps for around 300bhp low boost, and 350bhp for mental mode. I am NOT chasing big numbers, I ultimately want it to be drivable on the limit, mapped to be as linear as possible, and mainly do everything sideways with a big grin. I'm also keeping it on all terrain tyres.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrNOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrNOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrNOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrNOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrI met up with some local owners, and found the community around Ariel to be great.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on Flickr2 other local owners and I spent a day in one of their fields, making a track and hammering them about. One of the most enjoyable days I've had in a long time, and dare I say it, much more fun than track / test days at race circuits.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrNOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrNOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrNOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrNOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrBack at home I stuck it on the corner weight scales, as I will be fitting a rear box and spare wheel so want to make sure I don't ruin the balance.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrSo exactly 2 weeks into ownership, I drove it 6 hours from Northumberland down to near Oxford to leave it with Chris at 'Hard Knocks Speed Shop' who'll be doing the conversion, via Paul at TPW in the North West (who will be doing the mapping) to do some base runs on the dyno.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrNOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrNOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrThere is a tight deadline on this project, as I am driving to Portugal in it towards the end of June with a group of mates for our annual Euro trip, so there is 3 weeks to get the build done, and then mapping is booked in the first week of June.
I had an update yesterday and the engine is out! We will be uprating the clutch and flywheel while it's out, and I've ordered a few bits from Ariel including a hydraulic handbrake to help with those skids, so they will be getting fitted at the same time.
NOMAD by Olly Olly, on FlickrNeedless to say, I am quite excited about this!
Edited by ol on Friday 20th May 18:56
I did a little video edit of the day in the field here -
Nomad Field Day 3 by Olly Olly, on Flickr
Nomad Field Day 3 by Olly Olly, on FlickrEdited by ol on Friday 20th May 18:22
That looks mega fun driving around that field - it's not hard to see how drifting sideways with no pressure of other cars to overtake (or be overtaken by) ends up being great fun!
350hp should be very doable given that the Honda engine has been turbocharged elsewhere with relatively good success.
Jealous! Enjoy
350hp should be very doable given that the Honda engine has been turbocharged elsewhere with relatively good success.
Jealous! Enjoy
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