The 3.5R is 550kg. The 45 kg will be easily felt in a car this light. The 3.5R is weighted with all the aero and the side pods, because there is no way to option the car without them.simonrhart wrote: ↑Fri Oct 12, 2018 12:24 pm I am not so sure it is heavier. The spec says 595 kg but I'm yet to see any outgoing car to be this light.
Source for 3.5R: https://www.evo.co.uk/ariel/atom/13905/ ... deo-review
Even up to 7,000 rpm the K20a has the benefit of the 4 port exhaust, the better flowing head, and the variable lift on the intake valves. It is true that with direct injection the K20C1 can have a small compression bump all things equal. However, on the balance the K20a is a far superior motor, and given equal boost it will make more power than the successor easily. Ariel's choice was to use an Eaton to boost the K20a, but if it was turbo instead I don't think there would be a single point in the powerband where the K20a would not make more power. I disagree wholehardedly that the K20a has to be spun to make more power than the K20C1.simonrhart wrote: ↑Fri Oct 12, 2018 12:24 pm Those engines the old K20a and the new k20C1 are very different. You have to rev the bollocks off the k20a engine to get the power which comes a lot later. The new torque'y engine is (from what I have read) instant all the way to the red line. The red line is way less than the outgoing engine, but I know some Honda specialists have found ways to improve this.
But the K20a can be spun to near F1 speeds and I think we're forgetting the appeal of that. Honda has given us exotic valvetrains that have no valve float in excess of 8,500 rpm and rotating assemblies that can exceed 25 m/s that will easily double the run time of cup engines. Supercharging maintains most of the throttle response of NA while improving the soundtrack further. Must be the reason why Ariel went with Eaton. That is a choice, an exotic powertrain is not always the one with the highest peak torque/hp. If you use turbocharing on the K20a, the ability rev will reward you with higher peat torque/hp than a 3.5R or a 4. I don't see this as a drawback, but actually the biggest appeal to the K20a.
While tuners can upgrade valve springs and such, good luck getting one to implement variable intake lift in a K20C. With K20a you didn't have to worry if the chain tensioner will fail prematurely or had to adjust the valvetrain clearances before each track day.
The single port head gets the catalytic converter hot faster, hence improving emissions. In return it limits head flow. With most direct injection systems the aftermarket merely ports the OEM pump or otherwise maxes out the headroom the OEM leaves in there. I've seen OEMs add port injection but it's typically big $ R&D for the aftermarket to come up with it. Even if the aftermarket will provide parts to rev the engine higher, I suspect it will never flow as well as the K20a up top, hence it will return lower power gains. Perhaps the next Type R will add PGM-FI to DI, I'm not holding my breath for it.simonrhart wrote: ↑Fri Oct 12, 2018 12:24 pm The single exhaust port head is all about cooling and simplicity, but this does limit tuning capabilities here. This is where the direct injection pump will be the limiting factor, simple solution is to increase this to gain more power and more burn. There are cheaper ways of increasing the performance though such as increasing the RPM of the engine. I suspect, once the options are released to get more power will be a combination of this. i.e. just increasing the vale spring pressure is a low cost way of doing such. More expensive ways is to add port injection in addition to direct like on the current engine. I am not a car mechanic, but it will be interesting to understand the tuning options supplied by Ariel.
I've seen the power quoted anywhere from 306 to 320. I picked something in the middle.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/f ... w-chassis/
I can't speak for all of America. I suppose I've driven in Mexico, Belize and the U.S. but I don't believe that qualifies me. I have a hard time wrapping my head around "in Europe we" coming from a Briton post Brexit. The situation is complicated by the fact that I was born in Europe and am a EU citizen by birth, spent half my life there, and own a 4 cylinder 1.6L French-built Clio. So is it "in Europe we," "in Europe us," or "in Europe you?" Perhaps we can start small and someone can explain to me how come Britons don't like high cylinder count, horsepower, and skidpads, and yet they build the Ultima with a 1,020 bhp Chevy 6.2L eight cylinder engine and tout its skidpad performance:simonrhart wrote: ↑Fri Oct 12, 2018 12:24 pm I know in America, the community is often focused heavily on horse power and number of cylinders. In Europe we are less so because we understand half of building a great car is making it handle. See the BAC Mono, it has way less power than the Atom (280 if memory serves me correctly) but sometimes kicks the Atoms butt on track, including the 3.5R too.
"Chevrolet V8 LS fuel injection from 350bhp to 1020bhp"
http://www.ultimasports.co.uk/Models/EvoConvertible
"Skidpad 200ft dia: 1.176g"
http://www.ultimasports.co.uk/records
I will take this opportunity to propose a trade: my sophisticated Japanese powered 2.4L four cylinder Ariel Atom for the presumably entry level 3.0L eight cylinder Ariel Atom, with an engine built in Milwaukee, WI USA.
