Are you ready…this will be a long one - I have been writing this over 2 months.
Run in:
Try not to boot it under 4,500 rpm and go easy on the clutch, i.e. no standing starts until 1,000 miles - Ariel will tell you this but make sure you do rev it a bit in different gears - I like to rev the nuts off mine...haha not really but I did allow it to red line on occasion...
This process is exciting, or not, you get to figure the car out without driving at full chat, don't be a statistic and "break the record". Factory will tell you drive in a high gear if you have to.
If you don't get your car PPF'ed until way into your run in, buy some temporary PPF film and cover the entire front of the rear arches. The gel coat is like butter soft and it will chip. Stones stick to the front tyres and launch themselves at the rear arches, without protection, they will look like swiss cheese in no time. My wheel arches were covered in it, although it looked awful until my detailer got the car and applied it properly, it saved them. I never knew how hard it was to apply PPF neatly.
Checkout the PPF thread on the forum for templates, a few of us have enlisted in the skills of Paul at Definitive Detail and he has done a fantastic job on my car.
Immobiliser:
Ariel will tell you if the "keyless entry" immobiliser does not enable the fuel pump once you turn the ignition on, press the little button in the middle of the fob - this will re-pair your fob with the immobiliser. In order for this to work, you MUST first turn on the ignition, without the ignition turned on there is no power so this re-pair procedure will not work. I learned this the hard way being stuck at the side of the road while talking to Steve on the phone haha. I felt like an idiot after that phone call! Steve is good as gold and will help with any issues like this very quickly.
Ariel will also give you a little USB style fob. With this fob you can deactivate the immobiliser should you wish to, for any reason - hopefully only temporarily because with the immobiliser turned off, without stating the obvious anyone can start your car. Anyway, to do this you first need to turn the ignition on, then insert the USB fob in its slot under the bonnet (hood for any US folks/people watching) and hold it in for 10 seconds. The manual doesn't tell you this last bit, but you must hold it in, it has a spring so you will feel some resistance meaning you have to push it in and hold it there for 10 seconds. The immobiliser will then be deactivated. To reactivate it again, simply push it in one time and that is it with the ignition on.
Fuel cap:
I have the locking fuel cap and now all fuel caps are tethered to the fuel tank pipe/entry on Atom 4. This is to stop people leaving it on top the car and driving off without it. This sounds like a rather stupid thing that you would never do ! wrong, I have done it twice. It's because you get distracted at fuel stations, people always come up to you and talk to you about the car. So with this, you can easily forget to put the cap on. So what I do now out of habit is unlock and lock the cap - this way it becomes a habit and you won't forget when the next person comes up to you and asks "how fast does it go?" to put the fuel cap back on.
Stickers:
I don't like stickers personally at most the big ones, the arielmotor.co.uk sticker commonly seen down the sides of the tub on both sides. So I had a go at removing them myself. The problem was it left a load of glue residue behind and getting this off is almost impossible without taking the paint off the tub. If you take the paint off the tub, it will look shiny and awful. So if you don't want those stickers ask the factory not to include them at build. I had a go at taking mine off, I gave up and asked the factory once I could see the glue was being left behind.
If you opt to PPF your bonnet, it's best to remove the Ariel sticker and stuck on number plate first if you have this and then put these on the PPF afterwards. I liked my bonnet without the number plate and the Ariel logo, I left both off and it looks even more stealth like now.
Cleaning the wheels:
The wheels get coated in the black stuff really quickly especially if you have been putting the brakes through their paces. I am lazy so cannot be bothered to take the wheels off every time I clean them which is quite regularly - multiple times per week.
I spray fallout by Gtechniq and just leave it for 5 minutes. It dilutes all the brake particles. I then use a hose pipe to rinse the residue away, then important take it for a drive to dry the pistons otherwise they can rust up along with the discs.
My wheels have been ceramic coated so it does help to keep the crap off of them.
Cleaning the bodywork
All the body work on my car is matte because I have the carbon fibre and the fibreglass is also matte out of the factory. I use Chemical Guys Meticulous Matte Detailer Spray Sealant as recommended by the factory for all these parts and the gloss version for the chassis. Simply spray it on and whip off with a microfibre cloth, it gets rid of all those bugs.
Suspension:
The default compression setting for road out of the factory is a little soft for me, such that the front of the car is quite low I can imagine it's easy to graze speed bumps or roads with dodgy surfaces. I run mine on position 17 on the road - I have the Ohlins shocks - so it's is quite a bit stiffer than factory. The rear I left as 17 also - which is the default setting.
Oil temperature:
There is no oil temperature gauge in the car, only a coolant gauge. As such, sometimes it can be tempting to give the car what for when the coolant/water is up to temp i.e. 91 degrees c. But remember oil takes a lot longer to get to temperature than water does. I will get an oil temperature installed in my car at some stage. Giving your car full throttle when the oil is not up to temp will introduce unnecessary wear.
Aero screen:
Be careful, it scratches really easily. So I had mine PPF'ed both sides and this greatly improved the transparency of it, it also allows me to clean and scrub it without scratching it. Highly recommended to ask your detailer to do this.
Master cut off switch:
I wish I spec'ed this, it will prevent people from turning the ignition on without the key fob. Anyone is able to just turn your ignition on without you present without this option.
Clutch:
If you find your clutch feeling a little "sticky" meaning it will not disengage properly after being depressed for some time, it is likely you have air in the system or the brake master cylinder is faulty. I had a faulty master brake cylinder with my car and Ariel replaced it FOC and now all is fine.
Steering wheel:
If you don't already have some driving/racing gloves get yourself a pair. I never drive my car without my gloves on. It will save the steering wheel from turning into a polished wheel.
Pedals:
The pedals are close together and cannot be positioned/adjusted sideways. The accelerator and brake pedal are close, so if you don't have any racing boots, probably best to get some otherwise you will be pressing the accelerator when trying to brake or pressing the clutch when trying to rest your foot.
Brakes:
I have the AP racing brakes on my car and when they are up to temperature, they work really well. Just remember to get some heat into them first before wanting to stop very quickly.
Exhaust:
If you want to do track days then you will need the standard exhaust. The sports exhaust is too loud for track days and you will likely get black flagged at most events. The standard exhaust with the default 320bhp map does not sound that fantastic, but when you get the 350bhp map the car sounds very different. I put together a video showing the differences so you can hear it on my youtube channel.
I also decided to polish my exhaust myself. I only wanted the box polished and not the manifold and exhaust pipes. To do this you just need a good drill, a polishing kit - from machine mart for example and a metal polisher. I use White Diamond metal polish and White Diamond high shine and the results are amazing, plus I saved a lot of money doing it myself instead of at build. Of course this requires elbow grease and needs to be done often to stay looking like a mirror.
To finish, I did a youtube video on explaining all the options on the Atom 4 spec sheet, you may find this useful or may have seen it already. If not, it's here: https://youtu.be/1FC5wyqkEXI
I now wait for the Atom 4R - hopefully with a 400bhp power upgrade and F1 wings!
