Yes, the Ariel Atom 4R comes with carbon fiber wheels and carbon ceramic brakes that shave rotating unsprung mass, 57.3 pounds of it to be precise. If that all sounds impressive, wait until you hear this: Ariel has somehow managed to shave weight from the Atom, which is a bit like drawing water from an empty glass. Optional wings the size of park benches look set to epoxy this minimalist machine to the track, never mind standard glue. Öhlins TTX36 dampers forged by Swedish wizards take the place of standard units. If you’d expect that to require some serious supporting hardware, you’d be absolutely right.Ī Quaife six-speed sequential gearbox lets a keen driver bang off supersonic upshifts without using the clutch and can drop five full gears in less than one second. That’s more power-to-the-weight than a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. Divide one by the other and you end up with a mere 3.125 pounds per horsepower. That’s the weight of this Atom in pounds. That’s a big figure, so here’s a small one for contrast: 1,250. It’s quite an achievement.Under the, hmm, well it isn’t a hood per se, sits a K20C1 two-liter four-cylinder turbocharged engine from a Honda Civic Type R boosted to 400 horsepower. This is still a deeply exciting car, one that I suspect will prove deeply, deeply fast around any given racetrack, but is now way more usable on the road. The question is, of course, whether this calmness has a place in a car that has no doors and windscreen, that trades on being extreme. It feels like Honda themselves have done the install. I have some tiny reservations about turbos in lightweights, but this has done more to eradicate them than any other. And then there’s the integration of the turbocharged engine. Yes, this does mean the Atom isn’t as fizzy and frenetic as it used to be, but the trade off is a fluency to its movement, an ability to soak up punishment and a maturity to its responses that no rival can match. Still colossally fast, with ridiculous grip, but now a calmer approach to life. The impression you take away from the Atom 4 is of a much more broadly capable and usable car. It’s turbocharged, so what about lag?Īriel has moved the whole lightweights game on. In fact there’s a strong case for the Atom 4 being the most comprehensively designed and engineered lightweight car ever. There’s a whole new dash panel, seats, two (small) storage areas under the nose – the list goes on. A top speed of 162mph is achieved by a huge reduction in aero drag, which also benefits high speed acceleration. Acceleration is predictably vivid: 0-60mph in 2.8secs and 0-100mph in 6.8secs. Weight has gone up slightly to 595kg, but that still yields a maximum power-to-weight ratio of 538bhp/tonne, pushed along by a not insignificant 310lb ft of torque at 3,000rpm. The test car had three switchable maps (likely to be an optional extra) that varied power between 220bhp, 290bhp and 320bhp. Ariel has to run its own ECU, and is currently deciding on final power figures. Engine at the back driving the rear wheels through the Civic’s six speed manual gearbox (as before the whole powertrain is Honda’s, from gearbox to catalyst pack). Still a tubular steel frame, albeit wider to create more room inside.
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