Atom 4 buyers spec discussion thread

[Trigger]

I do get people’s concerns but Atoms and Nomads are never base spec cars - when I bought I first new one the reports said Abu £30k - yet I spent £45k in not a ridiculous spec. The point here is you can have an Atom 4 at just over £40k - it won’t have much on it and will be bog standard colours etc - but you can and some want that. As Karlv said - in the Us you get 2 specs of Nomad and neither were the spec he would have bought. This way you choose it all. And yes plenty I know trailer the car to track.

Adjustable suspension isn’t needed on the road. Sport brakes all round will still give way better braking than most sports cars. So the best thing in today’s world in Ariel giving us, the consumers, full choice on what we get imho.

And yes it is the closest thing I have to a religion....

Trigger,
Remember sports brakes are not standard they are a significant cost option. Do you think even on the road base model brakes (smaller than sport) are suitable or sensible for a 160mph 320BHP car? They certainly look rather weak. I would agree sports brakes would be fine for the road. I don't think the base ones should be used on supercharged / turbo cars over 300BHP. IMO same for the LSD on the turbo car due to the additional torque. This is purely for safety on the road.

Yes Sports brakes are an added extra - and I would recommend at least that - personally I wouldn’t buy without the big brakes but then I will always be looking at track work.

But even standard brakes will I am sure be fine on the road. It isn’t a 160 mph car on the road is it. As I said before even the minimum brakes I get will have better braking than a lot of very fast cars. All I am trying to say is that you can get a car at very little above the £40k mark - it wouldn’t be what I would get but if you really want one and that’s all you have....

[K20A2]

Regarding the brakes and as far as I remember:

the standard brakes of the 3.5 were with 240mm discs. The sports brakes option had the same disc size but including holes design and different pads.

The standard brakes of the 4 now are 278mm front and 253mm rear.
Provided, that the disc thicknes has not changed, this is already a big step forward compared to the 3.5 standard.
For the case, that the discs are even thicker now (which is probably the case), the difference compared to the 3.5 Alcons may not be too big anymore for the front brakes.
However it is still a 2 pot caliper instead of a 4 pot like the Alcon brake so at least a matter of braking sensitivity, but I would agree, that this new standard brake could really be a quite reasonable one for road use.

[K20A2]

I would be interested, why so many would tick the box for Decat.
I guess, that it is a stainless steel high flow catalyst for all models til 3.5 Ariel used, so it should not really increase power deinstalling the cat.(?)
Or does it significantly influence the sound?

[Corky]

Newbie here.

Order placed, 2 years away.

Spec:

LSD
Full aero
Traction control etc
Colour chassis, gloss black or white
Aero screen
4 pot front brakes, sport rear, good enough for what I need
Brake balance control.
Passsenger foot rest
Not sure on shocks, 3k for One way Bilstein or 5k for Öhlins.
Towing eye
12 v feed
Black brake and clutch lines
Exhaust not sure. I will wait to hear what they sound like. But must be trackday legal
Decat pipe

That is to start with.

[Luckky]

Newbie here.

Order placed, 2 years away.

Spec:

LSD
Full aero
Traction control etc
Colour chassis, gloss black or white
Aero screen
4 pot front brakes, sport rear, good enough for what I need
Brake balance control.
Passsenger foot rest
Not sure on shocks, 3k for One way Bilstein or 5k for Öhlins.
Towing eye
12 v feed
Black brake and clutch lines
Exhaust not sure. I will wait to hear what they sound like. But must be trackday legal
Decat pipe

That is to start with.

Corky, I’m not too dissimilar:
LSD
Full windscreen (what are people’s thoughts who have these, worth it?)
Baffled sump (will be doing 5/6 track days)
Traction control etc
AP basic 4 pot front and rears brakes (seems worth it on the back for the small difference)
Brake balance control.
Passsenger foot rest
Öhlins (again because of the small difference and they look pretty)
Towing eye
12 v feed
Interested to see price of wheels

My thoughts are that the nice stuff that I want (but don’t need) I can get later ie power boost, front and rear spoiler etc as I’m trying to keep it around £50k ish


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[Anon]

I would think that spec comes under £50k.

[Anon]

Now I have looked at the spec sheet here is mine:

- LSD
- Seq gearbox (dependent on cost as it's TBC hope to be around £8k)
- Lightweight flywheel
- Baffled Engine Oil Sump
- AP Racing brakes front and rear (possibly track spec disks, but need to understand the difference whether they are thicker)
- Cockpit Adjustable Remote Brake Bias
- Ohlins TTX 3 way shocks
- Race grade rod ends
- Fire extinguisher
- Towing eye kit rear race use
- Forged alloys track tyres (depends on price)
- Aero screen
- Locking fuel cap
- 12v USB
- Carbon rear and front wings
- Carbon instrument panel
- Black wheels
- White chassis (not sure on price of this)

It leaves a little bit of cash for other things, but not much but I hope this will be a good handling fast Atom on track.

Regarding the remap, my thinking here is to wait to see what the 4R options are before opting for the 350bhp.

Simon

[phil4]

Corky, I’m not too dissimilar:
LSD
Full windscreen (what are people’s thoughts who have these, worth it?)
Baffled sump (will be doing 5/6 track days)

Be careful. Someone like REIS will either insure your car with the windscreen OR provide 6 trackdays of insurance. But not both.

Sure you can find other insurers, and other ways of covering trackdays, but thought you’d like to be aware of the above.


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[Luckky]

Corky, I’m not too dissimilar:
LSD
Full windscreen (what are people’s thoughts who have these, worth it?)
Baffled sump (will be doing 5/6 track days)

Be careful. Someone like REIS will either insure your car with the windscreen OR provide 6 trackdays of insurance. But not both.

Sure you can find other insurers, and other ways of covering trackdays, but thought you’d like to be aware of the above.


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Thanks Phil,

I didn’t even think of that. What are people’s views on a windscreen, I see real value in at least front 4 pots, decent suspension etc but I just don’t know if I would be happy with or without a full screen, this is the only option I’m really unsure of?


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[Anon]

My view on the windscreen is this, if you will drive the car on the road a lot then it makes more sense to get one because you do not need a helmet in this case. But if tracking it more then you have to wear a helmet so in this case the full windscreen adds little benefit.

Aside from that, I don't like the look of the windscreen at all, I think it ruins the look of the Atom.

[autobackup]

I would point out that the full windscreen, with the shortened more arched bonnet is an optional extra!

I would imagine that a new Atom 4 would also still be supplied with the basic aero screen front panel and long bonnet - i.e. if you specify the full windscreen option you should get both?

To switch the full windscreen for the aero screen panel takes me about 12 - 15 minutes to accomplish - undo 5 bolts, switch the panels then redo 5 bolts and disconnect/connect the electrical push-fit connector for the wiper & washer.

In my personal opinion having the full windscreen makes driving my Atom far more pleasurable, warmer, less painful (no 'rain rash'), removes the need for a helmet and, together with the side panels, generally keeps me much drier while driving in the wet - providing, I would hasten to add, I actually keep moving!

- if I actually have to stop due to traffic, a round-about or traffic lights etc etc - I still get pretty wet!!

I personally would disagree with Simon Hart re the look of an Atom with the windscreen fitted - most people I know who have seen both fitted to my Atom far prefer, as I do, the considerably more rakish and meaner look of an Atom with the full windscreen - it looks as if my Atom is speeding while standing still!

[reg]

I would be interested, why so many would tick the box for Decat.
I guess, that it is a stainless steel high flow catalyst for all models til 3.5 Ariel used, so it should not really increase power deinstalling the cat.(?)
Or does it significantly influence the sound?

With the turbo car the decat is going to give decent gains, I have some numbers but they're second hand so I won't share them> when you've got a turbo in the way it's never going to be noisy, not that much anyway

[reg]

I personally would disagree with Simon Hart re the look of an Atom with the windscreen fitted - most people I know who have seen both fitted to my Atom far prefer, as I do, the considerably more rakish and meaner look of an Atom with the full windscreen - it looks as if my Atom is speeding while standing still!

Like you say, each to their own, I think a windscreen looks odd on them and it has to blunt the performance. Years back when I switched the Caterham to aero it was night and day. The Atom one is less of an air brake but stil, it must create a fair amount of drag? I've seen 158 on the dash out of mine (standard 3.5 SC) , on a private test track and definitely not on the road honest, two up.

[autobackup]

Reg

At Silverstone Supercar Sunday (June 10th this year) I had 162 mph (261 km/hr on the TomTom 550 satnav) indicated down the start/finish straight with 2 persons up!!

My 6' 2" grandson was my pax!

- in my opinion, along with the side panels, fitting the full windscreen has significantly improved the aero on my particular Atom 3.5R!

[John Scherrer]

I would imagine that a new Atom 4 would also still be supplied with the basic aero screen front panel and long bonnet - i.e. if you specify the full windscreen option you should get both?

The Aero Screen is an option and it mounts to the standard, included in base model front tea tray

If you order the Full Windscreen option (and don't want the Aero Screen), the Aero Screens and standard front tray are deleted and you get the full windscreen plus the special shorter bonnet and the special windscreen front tray.

Should you want to be able to switch configuration between Aero screens and Full Windscreen, then you pay for Aero Screen option, a spare standard bonnet and spare standard tea tray option and the Full Windscreen option.