Ariel Nomad Turbo Conversion

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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!

Edited by ol on Friday 20th May 18:56

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I did a little video edit of the day in the field here -

Nomad Field Day 3 by Olly Olly, on Flickr

Edited by ol on Friday 20th May 18:22

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hairy v said:

Highly jealous of you and thank you for documenting your build.

Whilst it looks very suitable for your local roads and fields I do wonderhow it will bear up to the Northumbrian weather.

Great to see a new approach though

Thanks - The weather up here isn't that bad!

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Col 666 said:

Love these! There was one on a trackday at Knockhill a few years ago and it looked hilarious fun.

Edited by Col 666 on Friday 20th May 20:57

Cheers - I'll be doing a few trackdays, mainly sideways with a massive smile on my face

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Scrump said:

That looks like a lot of fun

350hp should be even more fun!

Thanks! All terrain tyres with more bhp per ton than a Mclaren 650S will be entertaining!

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Thanks for the positive replies!

Everyone seems to ask 'what would you use it for' but it's just as usable (if not more usable) as any 2 seater sports car / caterham etc. The lift off oversteer on roundabouts will never get old, and the ride is actually really nice on the massive tyre sidewalls and infinite suspension travel!

Conversion is going well - clutch and flywheel have now been uprated and engine back in. Hydraulic handbrake is fitted, and the fun fabrication will start tomorrow!

Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr

Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr

Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr

Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr

Edited by ol on Wednesday 8th June 17:52

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I also brought a plate out of hibernation to assign to it, which although not perfect, is quite fitting!

Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr

Edited by ol on Sunday 29th May 17:09

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Turbo is now mounted, pipework is all going on today and then the exhaust will be fabricated. Still looking good for mapping by the end of next week, then Portugal the week after! Love a tight deadline.

Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr

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Swampy1982 said:

They aren't messing about are they!

Love the fact the snail in rear and centre, this hing is going to be insane!

Where is the intake on these? Will you get some nice induction sounds? Or is the nature of the car that you can't hear much other than the motor?

Thanks! They definitely aren't messing about! It will definitely make some good noises, but we will find out for sure next week!

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Turn7 said:

IanUAE said:

Turn7 said:

Badger is a great guy and very good at what he does !

Love the Nomad and can only imagine how much fun that fiedl must have been

Agreed, Chris is a master fabricator and welder. Got to know him in Bahrain when he was helping Andy and Red Victor 3.

Ian, likewise…

Thanks guys, he is definitely great at what he does. It was very lucky how I cam in contact with him, and that he managed to fit in the build.

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donkmeister said:

Awesome!

Is there going to be any sort of heat shielding on the turbo and hot pipework? With the turbo in such a tempting location for inquisitive hands, just wondering if it would attract attention at MOT time as a hazard?

Haven't thought about this bit yet, but I'm sure the build guys are all over it. I'll maybe just put a sticker on it saying 'please don't touch this' haha

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scottos said:

This is awesome, i notice one of the pictures is up at Hartside, im up there quite a lot and really hope to see you and the Nomad some time!

Yes! I live pretty close, so will bump into you sometime I'm sure. What are you usually driving up there in?

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Caddyshack said:

I love these cars. One of those in a field sounds epic. Brilliant project.

Ultimately I think a supercharger would suit the car better and wonder why the after market couldn't solve that.


Proper brave pills taking it to Portugal. I would make sure you at least have a tool set to put the boost pipe back on if one decides to keep popping off.


Cant wait for more pics.

Ariel do s supercharged version, but as per the original post, there was a 4+ month wait time, and I like to be a bit different. The turbo will be mapped to be as linear as possible, and will make some awesome noises, so why not! It will also be the only one in the world, which I kind of like.

I've taken far more shabby cars that this on the euro trips before - Ultima GTR / Locost racing car / Hayabusa MK Indy - the Nomad will be comfy and reliable compared to those!

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r1ch said:

Looks like so much fun, would be good to see some documenting of the Portugal trip.

Thank you - will make sure to post some updates about it in here

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Had an update this afternoon, and the new frame to mount the rear box / spare wheel off has been built (with a genius trick wheel mount, which I'll post about when it's done). We are offsetting the intercooler, which makes my OCD twitch like hell, but should look and work really well.

Will be getting mapped next week, so watch this space!

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

Edited by ol on Friday 10th June 17:42

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Turn7 said:

What sort of craziness are you hoping for HP wise ?

Being conservative as I want to keep it on all terrain tyres (they delaminate over 130mph!), and want to be able to drive at the limit without doing 200 mph everywhere like the Ultima would have been... So originally I wanted switchable maps for 300 and 350bhp. At 720kg that should be a nice amount of power to weight without being ridiculous.

Due to the ECU we can't do the switchable maps in the way I wanted to, so going to have a boost controller. I'm new to aftermarket turbos, so not sure how that will work, but I presume we map for 350 then I'll be able to 'turn it down' if needed.

Not interested in bragging rights for big numbers, the most important thing is how big the smile on my face is


(Would be nice to be able to be able to hassle Atoms on a track day though!)

Edited by ol on Friday 10th June 19:07

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Pflanzgarten said:

Nice! Hartside is my evening run out and would love it on the road in the future.

Come say hi if you see me up there - great road and right on the doorstep. What do you drive up there?

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mattdavies said:

Not if you spend some money on wiggins style clamps

We have these little beauties -

Untitled by Olly Olly, on Flickr

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scottos said:

Progress looks awesome Ol!

Normally in an old 1973 bmw 2002 if the weather's alright or if not currently a red GR Yaris

Thanks! I love the Yaris GR but never been in one. Had a test drive booked with Toyota Newcastle then they sold out of them so it got cancelled. Is it as good as they say?

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jenkosrugby said:

What an amazing thread and project.....Absolutely love the Nomad, and as you rightly point out, perfect for our pot holed roads in the uk. That turbo is going to make it into an absolute weapon.


Cant wait to see it full installed and up on the dyno.......

Thank you, very kind of you. Its actually going to be mapped tomorrow! Exhaust is getting fabricated today, then transported to the dyno tonight, mapped tomorrow / Friday then back to Hard Knocks Speed Shop to get all the little bits finished, then I should be able to collect next week, then taking it Portugal at the end of next week! Love a tight deadline haha.

Edited by ol on Wednesday 15th June 10:32