Ariel.Club Forum

[quote="silver"]
is that the car that had 40k on it or was the tester the one they had a 40k mileage car on it....they told me the same story but I thought they were talking about the yellow tester not the black mule car?
[/quote]

I'm not sure. Tom would know.

The issue is that parts tended to frequently migrate between the early cars.

[quote="Terry Kennedy"]
[quote="silver"]
and they did test the US model to achieve 2.88 seconds.........................I think that was with the mule which had 280whp, which might be why.
[/quote]

Interesting story about that car - the engine has an unknown mileage, but when asked about it, the GM guys at the proving ground said that it probably had more than 40K on it by the time it landed in the Atom for the first time, and that it had been flogged mercilessly at the track during earlier GM testing.
[/quote]

is that the car that had 40k on it or was the tester the one they had a 40k mileage car on it....they told me the same story but I thought they were talking about the yellow tester not the black mule car?

[quote="silver"]
and they did test the US model to achieve 2.88 seconds.........................I think that was with the mule which had 280whp, which might be why.
[/quote]

Interesting story about that car - the engine has an unknown mileage, but when asked about it, the GM guys at the proving ground said that it probably had more than 40K on it by the time it landed in the Atom for the first time, and that it had been flogged mercilessly at the track during earlier GM testing.

[quote="maverick1"]
On the bright side, since all other competitors times are also made by abusing the car and not real world times....it's all relative.
[/quote]

That is the point.  However I don't really think you significantly risk damaging your car by doing an emergency start, all of the components are massively understressed and the odd balls out run will not do any harm.

Ben

[quote="maverick1"]
I really don't think the Atom, even a 300hp model can hit 0-100kph in under 3 seconds, without an absolutely perfect launch, revving it high and aggressively dropping the clutch.


Nothing wrong with a car that can hit 60 repeatedly and reliably in the mid to high 3 second range.
Funny thing is I don't believe all the magazines that publish Atom 0-60 times of 2.8 or 2.9 seconds, I don't believe they actually tested out the cars and got those numbers. They just printed what they were told by the manufacturer.
[/quote]

I know of two owners with 300s who have pulled sub 3 second 0-60 times. One is actually the one used by the factory - it wasn't a factory car that did it, just a stock Atom.

Yes you have to be aggressive, but that's what timers do...

[quote="dreamscape"]
i totally agree with you Hedge, but i still can not resist to disagree when stupid journalist are telling bullshit, thats all.
[/quote]

i totally agree with you Hedge, but i still can not resist to disagree when stupid journalist are telling bullshit, thats all.

I've got a point about this (oft-quoted) 0-60mph time:
Who really gives a flying duck? Honestly.

Atom's are mental fast, period. 2.88/ 3.88 etc, what's the big deal. Just get out and drive em.

Cheers, Hedge

I have abused it gently to see the DL1's acceleration curves, and the Wikipedia top speed was wrong! I went a lot faster!

My point was, in the real world you won't see a 0-60mph time under 3 seconds unless your willing to damage your car.
Let me ask this then, have any of you Atom owners ever timed(instrument) your acceleration pulls and achieved a time under 3 seconds??
On the bright side, since all other competitors times are also made by abusing the car and not real world times....it's all relative.

and they did test the US model to achieve 2.88 seconds.........................I think that was with the mule which had 280whp, which might be why.

[quote="maverick1"]
Sorry to burst everyones bubble about the Atoms 0-60mph or 0-100kph,
[/quote]

Almost every UK magazine has managed 3 seconds or less in the UK 300.  Magazines are not gentle with any of the cars they test so comparisons are valid, owners will be more sympathetic with their cars so don't match magazine times.

Ben

When i first tried a 0-100 kph in my new 245 early last year, i counted 1 thousand, 2 thousand, 3 thousand and there it was, 100 kph!
No clutch dropping (didn't want tire slip), and a passenger just insures the car stays on the ground!

Oh, did i mention i had a passenger? LOL

Impressions?

Late last year, i went to the nurburgring and did a flying lap alone that seemed like it was 8" minutes flat! I was taking off at almost every jump and at one jump (plantzgarden or something) i just kept making the jump longuer and longuer just before the turn... Scary but ok, i was amazed at the speed and control...

Then comes my passenger and told him i'd drive cool (i was kind of wobbly after that long jump before the turn...) and we did our lap which my passenger firmly commented as not driven "cool" - but i know i drove cool!

Behold the DL1's times later that night... my flying lap was 8:30 and the lap with the passenger was 8:22! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh  At least the car felt a lot more stable!

I wish journalists would do tests like these...

[quote="maverick1"]
Sorry to burst everyones bubble about the Atoms 0-60mph or 0-100kph, ...
[/quote]

I don't think anyone here would confuse published times with real world.  The drop clutch times are important to some people (and perhaps the brand) for comparison purposes / bragging rights.  It's sad; manufacturers have been known to compromise optimum real world gearing to move the 2nd shift point above 100kph to make the number look better.

For all the complaints about Car and Driver magazine, they did come up with something years ago to try to more realistically quantify acceleration.  Along with conventional 0-60 figures, they include a 'street start' number in all their road test results, which consists of timing a rolling 5mph start to 60.  (Times are usually higher than the 0-60 and the ranking order in comparison tests often differs.)

Did they see the england versus the germans top gear episode quarter mile drag? Need i say more