Ha! Like a cage could keep up...

[sanjay]

So I planned a Sat. morning ride with some friends.  We went up 84 to Alice's for breakfast, down 84 to the coast, along some twisties, etc etc.  The lineup was myself, an F4i, a Daytona 675, an R6, and a 599.  Oh, yeah, and an Ariel Atom that my buddy bought in December.

OH MY GOD.

That car is absolutely spectacular.  Words cannot describe it.  It is such a lovely machine.  I can appreciate it from so many levels:  as a wonderfully-engineered machine, as a work of art, as an aural masterpiece, as a driver's car, as a very fast thing, etc. etc.  300 HP, 1300 lbs... 0-60 in 3 seconds is very very real.  He kept up with us on the twisties just fine.   

So at Alice's, I saw:

a Ford GT
a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona
a Ferrari F430
a mint condition 1986 Porsche Targa (with whale-tail, my favorite 911)
several Porsche Cayman S, 911 Turbo, GT3's
a Lotus Elise
a C6 Z06

and their drivers were all crowding around the Atom. 

Anyway, he will be coming on more rides this summer with my riding buddies, so you Bay Area folks should come along to drool all over it, just like I did.

[Jake D]

Are you required to wear a helmet when driving the Atom?  That is awsome, BTW?

[sanjay]

You don't HAVE to.  But the gravel that gets kicked up by the front tires, especially when turning, comes straight into the cockpit, so it's nice to have some protection. 

[vtlion]

I would hope holy heck that he at least had some speed-goggles on.

pretty machine 

[makenzie71]

The atom's pretty cool but it's cost-to-fun ratio is severely lacking.  Want real fun?  Stohr's F1000 can be made street legal and you'll be out less than $40k.

[debtman7]

The atom's pretty cool but it's cost-to-fun ratio is severely lacking.  Want real fun?  Stohr's F1000 can be made street legal and you'll be out less than $40k.

Or for $45k you can get a lotus elise. Or a Cateram Super 7 from $25k on up. Lots of fun with these little cars

Myself, I'm saving up for an MGB. Can't explain it but I've always wanted one. Or if I got lucky a sunbeam tiger, but those are harder to come by.

[makenzie71]

Show me where you can find a lotus Elise for $45k.  The Super 7 just doesn't even try to hold a candle to what the atom can do...much less the Stohr.


....found a guy on the stohr forum with a legal black F1000 running a turbo B1200 motor.  215rwhp and 184ft/lbs in a 750lb car.  Plus you're running in something that looks like this:



...only with lights.  Oh and mirrors and fenders, too.

[sanjay]

You can get an Elise for 45K around here...  And the base Atom is only 42K...  And there's plenty of variety in the 7 line, all the way up to the Caterham CSR260.  I would argue that the F1000, with a bike engine, has a different feel and character, not to mention that it's a 1-seater.  I personally would choose a F1000 last, despite it being the best "value" in terms of dollar per G or dollar per acceleration. 

In any case, it's good that there are lots of options 

[RVertigo]

Since you can drift that thing, I'd bet a good driver could lose a good rider on a damn twisty road.

[makenzie71]

atom was a bit pricier a while back.  42k isn't bad.  all the caterham's suck...they might look interesting but they just don't keep up like they should.  After the SRT-4 was released I watched a 13BREW caterham getwalked all over by the little $17k dodge.

single seats are great...nah I can't take your lazy, no drivin' ass home.  I only have one seat.

[sanjay]

A 13Brew is very different from a CSR260. 

single seats are great...nah I can't take your lazy, no drivin' ass home.  I only have one seat.

  For a racetrack, maybe, but for the road, I like a passenger.

[scottpA_GS]

The atoms web page is lame.. In their "used" section.. they have like 20 atoms listed ALL WITH SOLD written accross them

So... TAKE THEM OFF ?

[debtman7]

The atoms web page is lame.. In their "used" section.. they have like 20 atoms listed ALL WITH SOLD written accross them

So... TAKE THEM OFF ?

They want you to actually think you have a chance of finding a used one until you get too impatient and mail them a check

I've always liked the cateram. Might not be the fastest or best handling, but I dig the styling on them.

[makenzie71]

A 13Brew is very different from a CSR260.

Yeah I know...there's a little difference between a 300chp Cosworth built Duratec and a 440hp, ported, single turbo 13BREW.  Either way you crank it, the little 250whp Dodge just ate it up...and it wasn't a "driver's" race, either...both guys had plenty of track time (longtime M3 owners...how I knew who they were).  The also got to toss around a turbo-H22 powered K1 Attack.  Now that's a sexy ass car...I'd love to see the performance level of the Atom mixed with the down right sex of the Attack...



I love the suspension on that bastard...



And that brings me back to the Caterham...which, as a car, doesn't impress me but damn that suspension just gives me hard on after hard on...

[sanjay]

Yeah I know...there's a little difference between a 300chp Cosworth built Duratec and a 440hp, ported, single turbo 13BREW.  Either way you crank it, the little 250whp Dodge just ate it up...

Do you have a video of this?  I'd love to see it.  I also didn't know the 13BREW went up to 440.  Biggest I heard of was under than 300, stock at least... 

That Attack looks spectacular.

[makenzie71]

In stock trim, in the FD3S, the 13BREW is cranking about 240hp (twin turbo, 1.3 liter two rotor).  As I said, though, it's a single turbo, ported motor and it runs about 1 bar.  She's a baby compared to most single turbo FD's.  most of those guys are throwing out way over the 500rwhp mark without breaking a sweat.

www.rx7club.com  you can find all the 500+ hp RX-7's you could ever want there.

[sanjay]

Sure, but how did a 3000 lb, .84g skidpad, 230 hp car beat a 1500 lb, 1.05g, whatever hp car?

[makenzie71]

never asked the drivers why what happened had happened.  All I know is that of the two experienced drivers out there, the guy in the caterham wasn't the faster of the bunch.  They both ran about the same in a Z06 and the Attack.  I do know the Caterham was breaking loose a lot where the SRT would just pull through the curves like a tank.  Down side to cars that don't weigh anything is that there's nothing holding the tires down.

[sanjay]

Ah I gotcha.  My buddy with the Atom has a 330xi and with the Atom he is constantly breaking loose at the autox track.  Reason being that he's gotten used to trail braking with the 3, and that doesn't work on the Atom.  Since your friends both race M3's, that's probably why they were having trouble with the Caterham.  One of my other friends here owns a Superformance 7 and does just fine with it on trackdays.  I don't really think that's a fault of the Caterham...

In any case, the Atom was a sweet ride (and comparable to a muscular Caterham in terms of handling characteristics).