350bhp power option, what do you get?

[hamtt]

I have no experience or knowledge of radicals whatsoever but I would have thought any radical would have left any iteration of the Atom for dust in corners being a true slicks'n'wings car and all the bodywork to make real use of aero.

Unless there's a tinny one with a 1 litre engine or something.

[Anon]

The Radical SR1 is the baby car, it's much narrower than the SR3 and SR8 and has a 1340cc engine with 185 bhp. It is blindly quick on track but the Atom is quicker with the right diver. I did consider getting a SR1 recently ~ £30k will get you a 2017 works car with around 10hrs on it. But it just feels too slow to me. They also lose money like a stone, something to bear in mind. New the SR1 is around £50k with 1 season of racing if memory serves correct.

[hamtt]

Ah OK, I can see the atom having the advantage on the straights however I would have still thought through the corners they would be able to carry through a lot more speed.

[reg]

The Radical SR1 is the baby car, it's much narrower than the SR3 and SR8 and has a 1340cc engine with 185 bhp. It is blindly quick on track but the Atom is quicker with the right diver. I did consider getting a SR1 recently ~ £30k will get you a 2017 works car with around 10hrs on it. But it just feels too slow to me. They also lose money like a stone, something to bear in mind. New the SR1 is around £50k with 1 season of racing if memory serves correct.

At least Radical are honest in the pre-sales

The bike engines ones aren't the last word in reliability but do go well. Bigger ones are spectacular.

[Anon]

I actually found dealing with Radical directly somewhat frustrating, nothing like Ariel. The guys to deal with is performance time - Chris Preen knows everything about these cars. I nearly bought this SR8 recently from him, but decided on a Ultima instead: https://www.performancetime.co.uk/showr ... 2013-build I will get one at some point, I can't decide between the heavier RXC v6 version or the V8 RPE SR8 - they both are unbelievably quick! SR8 a little quicker because you can brake a lot later.

The RPE engines are very reliable so long as you warm the oil up properly and get a rebuild at 40hrs for the V8 and SR3 1500, the rebuild on a SR8 (v8) though is around £12k, gearbox a little less. No Atom though will hold a candle to the SR3 1500 or SR8 V8 on track, completely different league.

[Herohonda]

I really do have to agree with phil4 and reg.

The Atom4 options list prices, some items are shockingly high. The Atom3 and 3.5 seemed like very well specced cars for the money, but going through the optioned Atom4 and the cost it came to has me reverted back to a Atom 3 or 3.5 and have a 400bhp turbo kit fitted, if more power is needed.

Having a few fairly well tuned k20's in the past I know what the engine is capable and at what cost.

I thought some of the mark ups on the options were a bit much, e.g Remap and decat £3k for 30bhp (reason why i started this thread) shocking, 30bhp is a good gain and will be felt very well, especially on such a light car, but at £3k il never be convinced its worth £3k, thats extortion.

....Ohlins at almost £5k,.....the list goes. A well specced atom with sequential can cost circa £70k.
For a car initially made to look like a £40k toy.

I think the Atom4 seems like it can be a fantastic toy, certainly is very capable no doubt. I wonder if its a certain clientele Ariel are aiming for with the new atom4 now?

[robfitz]

This will be my first Ariel and with a few exceptions I don’t have a problem with the options prices.

I do think 3k for a remap and a cat replacement pipe is taking the mickey, though it sounds as though the end result is more enjoyable and I’ll look to go out in a 350 car before forming up my spec.

Getting the frame powder coated a non standard colour seems incredibly expensive for no apparent reason.

Other stuff like the Ohlins cost what they cost, 5k+ is the going rate for set of TTX dampers.

I think we all know the car isn’t going to be starting with a 4 though there is no need to end up with something starting with a 6 or 7 either.

[speedmachine]

I think saying that a 70k specced atom isnt fairly advertised at 40k is just talking trash.
If you tick the sequential box, ohlins, 2 piece brake kit and all the track goodies, surely you enjoy the car far more compared to the lot buying for 45’ish.

A porsche GT3 is about double the base car, nobody complains, people say those 2 cars can’t be compared.
Same goes for the Atoms, you can spec to a couple of completely different cars.

It also isn’t true the 3.5 where such great value compared to the 4. I know of about 100k Atom 3.5R’s, which is the car to compare with if you order the 350 Atom 4.

Hell I ordered a 4 because adding a sequential to my 3.5 would cost north of 22k and adding 40hp would cost about 9500. The same options cost 14k on the 4.

No reason to complain in my book.

Apart from this, IF they where getting more expensive, let it be, I rather have them beeing expensive than leave the market in a while. They are great value and all cars need to be more expensive, surely the handcrafted ones are allowed to make a little money too

[Italianpaul]

There is one point which has seemed to have been missed.

All large manufacturers have extensive R&D budgets/departments. As a lot of the car manufacturers fall under one umbrella, they also have the great advantage of being able to share resources,technology and testing facilities.

Ariel don't have this luxury, and therefore probably pay more for R&D per car 10 or 20 times more or over compared to other manufacturers.

I am not defending Ariel, as I too have a problem with what they charge for certain items.

The cost of a change in colour to the frame or wheels to a fairly bog stand colour is horrendous.

The rest of the items are purley a matter of choice and with the exception of the 350 upgrade, suspension and brakes, they rest are purley toys or bling again with the exception of the safety items, harnesses etc.

[Herohonda]

Saying nobody has an issue with the price of a GT3 compared to a base model 911, really??? Thats trash. Its two different cars. GT3 you get a completely different engine to begin with for your money, high powered n/a that is. Not a 30bhp £3k remap. Then the carbon seats, titanium cage, magnesium wheels/roof carbon panels, steering racks, suspension, chassis reinforcement, it IS alot different to base 911. Its not a base 911 with bits stuck on. Also the GT3 is advertised as seperate model, because it is. Its no comparison to a base 911.

Also saying manufacturers should charge more for cars? Have you seen the economy. Again which goes back to me saying, if it is a certain clientele Ariel are aiming for and this sure does seem to be the case.

This just comes down to personal preference I guess and what something is value for money, or not for that individual.

[reg]

I think saying that a 70k specced atom isnt fairly advertised at 40k is just talking trash. .

So you think the press car was 40K?

[Peter255]

Ariel are now a well known (successful) company with a full order book. They can now charge premium prices. They no longer have to shoot for bargain pricing.

Back when the Top Gear face melting video came out you could get a new Atom for under £20k. Less than 15 years later you cannot get a new Atom on the road for under £40k. Yes i know inflation etc but the pricing back then was "performance bargain", now its "premium performance icon" with pricing to match.

Its pretty easy to do the man-maths on an Atom for around £30k, now arguably a decent spec is £50k (350, LSD, baff sump, APs front & rear, handbrake, 1 way adjustable suspension, gun-sights, IVA). New 4's for enthusiasts are getting upto around £60k (often more). Thats a lot to splash on a car with as little usability as the Atom.

Some ultra enthusiasts paid over £100K for the older Atoms but they are exceptional and the cars don't sell well second hand. In those domains there are far too many other alternative that are frankly much more attractive.

[Peter255]

I think saying that a 70k specced atom isnt fairly advertised at 40k is just talking trash. .

So you think the press car was 40K?

The car from Top Gear has almost everything on it. Ask Sven! Gotta be over £65k list price easy. Nothing like a £40k(+tax and IVA) base spec model. If they had stated the "price as reviewed" then the review would have been fairer.

[Hedge]

Once I knew the R was likely to be in the region of 120k, I dropped off the waiting list (I was number 2 in the queue at the time). Much as I love Atoms, there are way too many other cars I want to to sample/ own for that sort of mullah.

Cheers,
Hedge

[Alistairbuchanan]

Lets also not forget that the Atom is one of the slowest depreciating cars out there so for every pound you put in you will see almost all of it back(to a point) So you will get ur 3k back for the 350 upgrade as most people i think will look for this in the buyers market in the future.


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