Less is more. WAY more!
 

I want an Ariel Atom! But holy man-$55 big ones for a glorified (if 300 hp is glorified) go cart! Might as well get the Elise and stay dry.

ariel atom

Who cares? I want one! Or two!

And yes, I'd pay $55k for one. Or two. :D

Hey Slo-Bob, The link you posted has all your information filled out. You may want to go fix that?

Yeah, but if you buy two, it will be twice as heavy! Remember - less is more! :D

-Z

Can you buy one minus the engine / tranny?

I would like to have a turbo rotary tuned to about 300HP in there. :D

No. However, the option that I checked off puts it up to 300 hp anyway. That out of a Toyota 4 banger :o .

cant access the site. password wont go.

Apparently someone else noticed and placed an order on my behalf. Very funny.:rolleyes: I just received an invoice for about $50k (payable in four easy, $12.5k installments!) which seemed a little light compared to the one I generated last nite which came out to $55k. You got the 300 hp part right, but I wanted YELLOW, not red, and I want the black 5 spoke wheels not the silver 12 spoke. Not to mention the 5 point harness instead of the standard 4 point. There were some other details you missed as well.

Now you want my password??

:D

You need to fill out their form and send it to them. They will send you a password to build. It's no big deal unless you're stupid enough to poist the link to your personal web order form....

:rolleyes:

....like I did.

At least now I can say I have one on order. :) I rule!

I think the engine is a Saturn Engine or GM engine. No?

That is kind of the turn off for me. They were putting Honda engines in them I thought.

I saw one at Pacific raceways last year. It had an S2000 motor in it.

Goes like $hit off a shovel.

Jay Leno wrote a great piece on his Atom in a recent issue of Octane. One of his favourite cars.

The Atom is cool, but I prefer the Caterham Sevens. I dunno, just a personal preferance.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1171052547.jpg

The great fellas at the Ariel Atom factory were kind enough to allow a small group of us (speedster/spyder replicas) to tour their facility this past fall. Seemed to me that there were several engines available including a superchared chevy cobalt (don't gag - its actually a german engine), a hot-rod honda, and I seem to have forgotten the third.

The workmanship is fabulous. I actually took pictures of a SHIFT LINKAGE because it was so beautiful. It was hewn from billet aluminum, light and strong.

Your car will be built for you. Your name is on it and your build specs actually ON THE CAR from the frame build forward. These guys aren't building a car, they are building yours exactly as you ordered it.

If you have the chance to tour the factory - DO IT!
angela

He is a regular out there with it. Very nice guy. He is a distributor for them and has hooked a couple of people up with one in the last year or so.

Too much like a motorcycle for me; I already have a couple of those. At least one of his customers put some front body work on his to keep the wind blast from going up his pants. If you don't do that, you need to drive in something that you can seal the cuffs up on, like a driving suit or motorcycle gear. That, and wear a full face helmet even on the street just to keep the wind and induction noise bearable.

The one Caterham 7 that comes out is very much quicker. It looks and feels a little more like a car, and offers much better wind protection and comfort. I think it would make a better part-time toy in that it would be easier to haul at least one bag, and maybe your wife.

I think that you should consider the Ariel Atom a street-going race car, not a street car. Yes they can be registered if you are clever and have a lenient MV department, but definately a fair weather driver. Of course, so is our spyder for that matter.

The thing with the Ariel Atom is that it makes everything else on the road look absolutely mundane. Great workmanship and strong drivetrains. Works for me!
angelahttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1171066590.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1171066612.jpg

I am in the planning process to get an Atom. A local guy, David, just bought one and toured the facility. He filmed the video.

It has an Ecotec engine that is the same used in the Chevy Cobalt.

I plan on buying one in the next year or two, David

Top Gear did a segment on the Atom:
http://www.arielmotor.co.uk/04/press.htm

The Stig drove it on the test track. Same track used that is used for cars featured on the show.

The Atom was beaten by:
1 Koenigsegg CCX (with TG spoiler) 1.17.6
2 Pagani Zonda F 1.18.4
3 Maserati MC12 1.18.9
4 Ferrari Enzo 1.19.0
5 Ariel Atom 1.19.5
6 Porsche Carrera GT 1.19.8

Dirt cheap performance.

Jim S.

0-60 in 3.1 seconds?? Intrigueing.

Caterham 7

In evo Magazine's group tests, the Caterham is very often the fastest car around a track, marginally faster than the Ariel Atom and whatever Radical is included in the test. The price tag for Caterhams is somewhat cheaper as well...

of course, I don't want to discredit the Atom in any way. It is an awesome car, and it sounds like the degree of specification, the degree to which Ariel builds cars to the customers' desires, and the company's customer service are all top-notch. I just still prefer the Caterham.

Jim Cesiro,



Dude, open your mind up.

A closed mind is a terrible thing.

I've driven an s2000, the engine has zero pull until
7k then it scoots for 1.9k then it's done.

My dad's Ford diesel truck made me smile more

and it had power for 3k RPM.

I don't care what names on the valve cover as long as it scoots

I prefer to have some torque along for the ride.

CJ, You and Jeff have set me in a new direction. I have been looking for a lightweight track car ala the Elise. The Atom looked cool, and is no doubt a fine machine, but for me, the Caterham is looking very good. I've been doing a little research this a.m. and there are a lot more used Caterhams out there than all Atoms combined. The SCCA Caterham is VERY intrigueing. That said, I am going to contact the seller of this one-

http://www.sevenselans.com/cars_for_...010005_jpg.jpg

Caterham 4 sale

At this point the biggest question is, can I fit my 6-5, 200 lb frame into one of these?

Hell yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about. I love the Lotus/Caterham 7 look. I'm not sure what it is about them. Maybe the so ugly they are cute thing.

A few years back when I still had my 911 I saw a 7 pull into a local Starbucks. I hung a quick U turn (surprised the hell out of the wife, guess I shoulda warned her) and followed him in. He came back out of Starbucks and we chatted a while. It was a real '73 Lotus 7, but had at some point had a Toyota 4 cyl dropped in for reliability. He was meeting a buddy with another 7 there. Apparently one of them also had a turbo 4 cyl Esprit and the other had a V-8 Esprit.

I'm not sure if someday I'll end up with a Beck 550 or a Lotus/Caterham 7 or one of the clones.

I like this one
http://www.quebectuning.qc.ca/images...er_7_04_sb.jpg

prices for these retro-racers?

Wow, sounds sweet. Only needs those wheels changed out for a set of minilites for the classic look.

If you were 6'5" and 280, I'd say that it might be a problem, but I'm betting that at only 200# you'll probably fit ok. The bucket that you sit it is not terribly wide. I think they have decent leg room.

good fitting seats make a difference on long drives for sure. i'm 6'2" and 230, but have worked out for 26 years..my back is a little wide for the stock seats in my 964. not too bad, but hours of highway driving, i sure have to shift around a lot. it's off topic, but anybody else have trouble with the width in their stock p-car seats?

what if you roll over? instant death?

[At this point the biggest question is, can I fit my 6-5, 200 lb frame into one of these?]

The original Lotus Seven and the earlier Caterham Sevens were based around the smaller framed man, Colin Chapman was only 5'7" I suspect a regular sized Caterham will be quite tight, I strongly suggest you try before you by.

Fortunately Caterham saw sense early on and build a wide body car called an sv, to fit more normaly sized people!

yeah, americans by and large tend to be 'large people' when compared to many other parts of the world..

if you look at the locust forum you'll see allot of home builds with an extra 4" of length and width

Glad I could help! In all seriousness, see if you can pick up pretty much any issue of evo in which they do a trackday group test. They almost always include a variety of Caterham, an Ariel, a Radical, and a random "real" car (usually something hardcore like a GT3, an Exige, or a 360 Challenge Stradale). Even "underpowered" Caterhams perform within the top percentile.

They look cool, too, and they cost a lot less than some other trackday tools.

I could see myself getting a Caterham kit in a few years, when I have the garage space. I've been yearning for a convertable anyhow ;)

One of the last episodes of the last season of TOP GEAR included a segment in which the trio had to complete BUILDING a Caterham Seven before the Stig could get to the track DRIVING a Caterham Seven (he started from far away). It was quite funny.

Why do I get the feeling that the folks at Lotus are very unhappy about this. . . :D

For $55k you can have either an Elise or the Atom. Kind of a no-brainer for me.