top gear.
 

did anyone see that little car powered by a supercharged honda motorcycle engine? i cant find it, or really remember the name. something ATOM. 0-60 in 2.9 secs. i want one.

Ariel atom?
http://www.arielmotor.co.uk/
http://www.arielmotor.co.uk/04/home/side4.jpg

that's it! i wanted to join the college mini indy competition for open wheel fun. but egos on the team made me quit. that car would fill that void nicely.

I love that the air intake is right by your head. Whoooosh!
Beautiful little thing. I want one, too! Top Gear is GREAT.

I'm kinda fond of these, and they are available at some motorcycle dealers around the country...... Problem is, they are $40k.

http://members.fortunecity.com/croo/present_cars/campagna/t-rex/

There's a video of this thing kicking around somewhere- fun to watch Jeremy Clarkson's face being distorted by the G's. I'll see if I can find it...

I think that may be the clip from Top Gear. What a killer little car!

Car and Driver's current issue (Oct '05) - pg 50

The story about Gordon Murray, designer of the McLaren F1, states that among his other accomplishments was designing the Atom.

This car is supposed to have the highest skid pad Gs, by a wide margin, of any car ever tested!

i adore Top Gear. Between the internet and the fact that it's now on Discovery, i've seen every episode over the past 3 years or so (the "new" Discovery episodes are actually from about a year ago on BBC).

After awhile, you start to understand the nuanced differences between the three presenters; James May looks first at class and comfort. He loves Jags, Rollses, big comfy and very "british" cars swathed in the best leather and mohogany.

Richard Hammond, I think, understands the "cool factor" more than the other three presenters. Take his infatuation with Morgans, for example - we all know that they aren't great cars by modern standards, but there is something cool about them. He owns one of the only original Dodge Chargers in England. He loves Porsches. He seems to understand that there is more to owning a car than just getting the best of the newest batch.

And then we have Clarkson. Clarkson only wants the newest and best. He hates old 911s. He hates Morgans. He doesn't understand why anyone would want to own an old Lamborghini. He loves the act of driving, but doesn't seem to understand the concept of owning a car. He goes through cars like they are disposable contact lenses. To him, they are completely disposable and interchangable. Not so, it seems, with the other two.

Combine that with the fact trying to argue with Clarkson is as effective as waiting for Godot, it's probably a good thing that he has a great sense of humor.

http://www.hondavision.com/photohost...7/CRW_0050.jpg

ArielAtomVid (non Top-Gear)

TopGear - Ariel Atom

edit: link corrected

CJ!!! explain "waiting for godot" to me! is it stupidly waiting for something that never ever happens? i saw a play titled that, and i waited till the end to leave. it sucked.

Had to read it in 7th grade. Mans anticipation for revelation and the need for the unknown to provide a faith sanctuary.

That was a 2.0 Honda Civic engine. It was an awesome car. ...

I saw that one! And he made the time (under 10 minutes) by one second... The girl just laughed and whipped his time her first time in the car.

When is it supposed to be on Discovery? I keep missing it...

Cort, I think you are "spot on" with that assesment of the hosts.

Although...there's no one else I'd rather watch drive and review a car than Clarkson. The Ariel Atom episode is a perfect example of that. (although I do tire of the "you'd be wrong.....dead wrong" statements that he makes allllllll the time)

Funny though, that apparently Clarkson doesn't know how to drive. Did you see the episode where he took the diesel Jag on the ring?? Granted that must be terrifying to drive....but still, he seemed pretty overmatched.

yeah, sabrina i think...I've seen some vids of her whipping an M5 around the track...insane.

I agree, but Clarkson does seem to have an appreciation for the skill of driving. There's one episode where he talks about how he'd take an F40 over an Enzo because of the electronic nannies...

My impression was that he didn't know track position for the 105 (or so) turns on the Nurburging Ring. Forgivable in my opinion.

CJ, the arguments are scripted, but funny though. My girlfriend loves the show as it's so unpolitically correct.

JC knows how to drive.... just not necessarily very well..

He's great at drifting a car round the track for the camera... and making it look exciting and fun...but even by his own admission is not a great driver... that's why Top Gear have consistently used others to do test drives etc...and why he can laugh at himself when Sabrina trashes both his time and his lines around the Ring..

Its interesting to see his erstwhile team doing thier own thing on 5th gear as they... the presenters do the driving and being who they are... Tiff Needell, Vicky Butler Henderson and at times Jason Plato punt the cars round race tracks rather more convincingly than JC but are not nearly as talent on camera...