The 525bhp ‘4RR’ is the most powerful Ariel Atom ever
Posted by RazingsIsNotHomeNow@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 50 comments
Posted by RazingsIsNotHomeNow@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 50 comments
xlb250@reddit
I wonder if a car like this makes sports cars feel like boats
AmazonPuncher@reddit
No, lol. They're just different experiences.
to_the_victors_91@reddit
How would you even know?
BTTWchungus@reddit
Did you read his fucking flair? lmao
AmazonPuncher@reddit
Because I have both of the cars mentioned in his comment?
Temporary-Fix9578@reddit
This guy seems qualified to answer
tiredofmyeyes@reddit
I used to drive a Lotus Exige and now am stuck in a lease of an ND2 Miata (had to switch for ... reasons).
Tbh I regret getting the Miata, I got it sight unseen betting on the hype (got it last year, had to move quick since 2.0L engines were disappearing in europe) and people telling it's 90% of a Lotus but more practical. Spoiler - It's not.
It's fun for a little while, but the steering is dead, the gearbox is not "that" great (not counting the fact that it blew after 6k miles /10k kms without taking it to the track), the engine sounds like shit at high revs even with a pricy titanium exhaust, and it's not rewarding, it doesn't have a sudden rush of power at higher revs.
And everything rattles like an old piece of shit, be it windows, interior plastics, the A/C fan *(that died once and had to be replaced) squeaks, tons of noises from the roof when it's up...
In summary it's neither a "kart" or a "gt" after driving something more pure.
If you mod it with cams a short shifter, better seats, a smaller steering wheel, and other stuff that wrecks your warranty, maybe there is hope for it to be a good experience.
I genuilely believe I should have gotten an older MX5 and/or a sportbike, along with some boring daily.
a_berdeen@reddit
A blown manual tranny at 10k km is fucking awful btw. That alone would sour me on a car.
tiredofmyeyes@reddit
Idk if it was the GOAT, I think it depends on the spec, mine was too track focused to have fun on the street, but I guess a lighter Elise is close. But, the needle always move further away so I keep my eyes on what's happening with Caterhams haha, that might truly be the GOAT of light cars, if it still counts as a car
rhinoscopy_killer@reddit
Wow, that's... A really high standard you have there, lol. I haven't owned a Lotus, and I'm sure they're better purely as sports cars, but surely everything in the Lotus rattles like a piece of shit even worse, and breaks even faster? They're not exactly known for their build quality or reliability of anything other than the Toyota engine.
tiredofmyeyes@reddit
That's just a myth, S2/S3 Elises and Exiges are way way more reliable than the old ones. In 40k miles only issue was the sensor on the bonnet's alarm getting dislodget and making it randomly ring, which was fixed by just putting it back in the right spot.
Mazda is on it's fifth (!) revision of the gearbox and still hasn't fixed the problem, and won't ever fix it since the gearbox case flexes too much.
I might have high standards but I also own a Golf 7 R Estate which I'm happy with, feel that it excels at its purpose and had no issues after 70k miles and 9 years with a Stage 2, so make of that what you will.
My personal opinion is that the MX5 (ND, can't speak for other gens) is an undecided car, it doesn't know what it wants to be, a comfortable overassisted peppy roadster with seats from a CX-3 for older gentlemen or a sports car, and is really not well build for a car that had nearly a decade to fix its flaws.
vovchandr@reddit
I seem to be going against the trend of other opinions here but here's the hot take.
It doesn't make them seem more "GT" as they are still very dedicated cars but they seem more and more like they "miss the point". The "pure experience" is simple and all the other cars are doing an effort to replicate it with severe limitations to reach mass market audience and it the result just feels handycapped especially from anything modern.
A bike or a "go kart" type car gives you just about the most visceral experience and adding roof, electronics, conveniences and comfort directly contradicts the pure experience and dilutes it for obvious reasons.
Larcya@reddit
I mean not really Ask anyone who has a liter bike and a Miata. Completely different experiences. The miata gets Completely shit on performance wise, but its still fun to drive. For those days when you want the luxury of air conditioning or Heat.
marino1310@reddit
No matter how long you drive this I don’t think you would ever compare it to a road vehicle. It’s street legal but it’s still more akin to a super go cart than a street car. No windshield, no roof, race interior, helmet at all times, etc. It’s a completely different concept
devilpants@reddit
If you drove a kart everyday and then went to one of these, would it feel like a GT-R?
xlb250@reddit
That’s my next experiment.
I’m not sure if the Ariel Atom can be rented, but you can rent the Rush SR
There is a go kart track near me rents out electric karts with 80mph top speed.
AmazonPuncher@reddit
I dont know what the Rush is, but the atom is street legal.
Weak-Specific-6599@reddit
Honestly, if you have the ability to attend track events regularly, there really is no reason for anything more on the street than a comfy ride, whatever flavor you might fancy.
German_Smith@reddit
Fuck it why not - the atom people
kinkycarbon@reddit
That’s not even their final form. They will eventually release a car as a hybrid with electrical motors turning it into a pocket rocket.
Weak-Specific-6599@reddit
Buzz the taint all the way to the climax, er, apex…
360WakaWaka@reddit
No no, you got it right the first time
megacookie@reddit
They already came out with the Ariel "Hipercar" which is a 1000+hp EV with a jet engine range extender. Though it's way more than twice as heavy as an Atom unfortunately.
Mental_Medium3988@reddit
is that in production or just a drivable concept?
Appropriate_Heat_403@reddit
This explains my wife's sudden interest in Ariel vehicles...
rudbri93@reddit
they didnt give a shit whether or not they should, they only cared that they could. its gotta be insane to drive
AmazonPuncher@reddit
I personally believe the atom 3 is about as fast as you want one. It is just on the border of being unusable on the road.
53bvo@reddit
Why don’t you consider these track cars?
AmazonPuncher@reddit
These are toys that might be driven on a road or on a track, but it isnt a serious track car.
The major flaw is that if you get in even a minor accident, you have totaled the car. That isnt a great attribute of a legitimate track car. They're also not actually that great on track. They are very fast and fun, but go look at the times they put down and you probably wont be too impressed. The aero is for good looks, not function. They have the same drag coefficient as a semi truck, and thats not an exaggeration. Someone in the atom group 3d scanned their car and ran a sim. The whole thing is a parachute. They're also very twitchy to the point a lot of new owners think something is wrong with their car.
unclesam_0001@reddit
SavageGeese has a video in which he's driving an atom on track, and it legit looks scary as shit in a bad way. Like one mistake with throttle application and he would crash lol. Would still love to drive one at some point though obviously.
Porencephaly@reddit
SavageGeese also has a good video on what it's like driving the Atom on the street and owning it, and it sounds like a huge PITA most of the time. Yeah it's pure analog but for the average skill level of even most car enthusiasts, that's just a recipe for breaking the tires loose all the time, going sideways at every turn, etc. It weighs nothing so there is nothing holding the tires against the pavement.
nondescriptzombie@reddit
Does anyone really prefer a high strung 600hp four banger over a naturally aspirated V8 that's barely working?
analyticaljoe@reddit
These are the cars that make me really wonder why people buy expensive road cars, take them to the track, shred their tires up, and then drive home.
Buy an actual race car with actual race tires, a trailer, and take your race car to the race track for track day.
AnonymousEngineer_@reddit
If I somehow won the lottery, driving one of these things around town would be an absolute hoot.
Realistically, this is going to be someone's weekend toy but they're not really any worse than a motorcycle even if someone was enough of a nutter to daily one.
Lawlessninja@reddit
With only 25 units being produced realistically maybe one will be driven or tracked with any regularity and the rest will sit and rot in collections.
AnonymousEngineer_@reddit
I honestly don't see an Ariel Atom attracting the kind of crowd that sticks cars in climate controlled garages, waiting for prices to rise and maybe wheeling them out to cars and coffee or concours events.
They don't really have "heritage" in the way that a special edition Ferrari or Porsche, or something very rare/expensive like a Pagani or an AMG One does.
IMO, these things are pretty much going to attract the same crowd that buys the ballistic, high power output Caterhams. They're going to get driven.
woodsides@reddit
There are BAC Mono Rs that have been subject to the garage queen teammates and were put on BaT for auction. Most of them had below 1k miles. So I'm sure that atleast of a them will be like that. Idk if you would consider 1k miles low mileage on one of these though.
R_V_Z@reddit
The Mono and Atom aren't truly comparable, though. The Atom you can treat like a motorcycle. Go on a weekend cruise, go to someplace to eat, hell you can even put a bag of groceries in the passenger seat. The Mono would have trouble even getting over a speed bump, and is such a PITA to get in and out of you can't really do anything with it other than dedicated track days.
marino1310@reddit
Yeah but at least the bac mono looks like a cool f1 supercar cross. The atom looks like it was built for super carting. It’s not a very visually appealing car while the BAC mono has a lot of wow factor to it
AmazonPuncher@reddit
The atom forum is the best car community I've ever been apart of aside from maybe the lotus forum.
It is a night and day compared to lamborghini people. Everyone who has one of these is in it for the act of driving, works on it themselves, and generally beats on it.
Theres one guy who uses his huracan perf to trailer his atom to the track, and another one who likes to make posts every year showing him doing long trips in the snow.
sioux612@reddit
"A part of" vs "apart of" changes the meaning of your sentence quite a lot
AmazonPuncher@reddit
I think most people can use context clues to understand its a typo.
sioux612@reddit
The other day I made a joke, made it obvious it was a joke by appending /s at the end, and people got angry with me because they thought what's wrote was serious
Most people on this website are idiots.
kinkycarbon@reddit
These cars are in the same segment at the Caterham, Locost7, and Lotus Elise. It’s a small demographic of people wanting these types of vehicles. Full exposure to the elements. Majority of people prefer fully enclosed cockpits.
kinkycarbon@reddit
Someone could base the base model and tune the Honda engine up to 500hp given it uses the same engine the Type R.
Boggie135@reddit
Four-R-R
TowJammer212@reddit
They are already too fast. Like uncontrollably overpowered.
hundredjono@reddit
I'd be more terrified of driving near other cars than actually driving this thing
Weak-Specific-6599@reddit
A literal street legal race car.
stoned-autistic-dude@reddit
I’d give anything for an Atom. What a great car.