First trackday in my Atom 4

[abcoro]

Hi gents,

Have been reading a lot here on this forum about all things...great forum and hope to be able to contribute at some point too.

I received my new Atom 4 recently. After breaking in the engine a few full tanks, I had my first trackday at Mettet, Belgium. First time on the circuit of Mettet for me, first time on track in an Atom. So it was a very steep learning curve...

All in all very very happy with the handling and performance of the Atom 4. The Atom 4 is very predictable on track and it's "reading" the road/track very effectively (also probably thanks to the Öhlins?). It drives quite easy compared to my previous tracktoy. Memories/feelings/emotions come to my mind when I was quite active in the Belgian Karting scene in the late nineties (so that were 2 stroke engines...not the 4 stroke lawnmowers/ ). The experience in the Atom 4 is awesome, so low to the ground, fully exposed to elements of nature and forces involved, amazing!

It was quite a warm day, with temps of around 30°C in afternoon. In the morning I took it quite easy...having to learn the circuit AND the Atom 4... In the afternoon, I took the pace up little by little and was soon confronted with overheating of the engine...once it reached 103/104°C it went in "safe" mode, loosing a lot of power/boost...which I regret as the fun was building up fast too with going faster and faster...I was a bit disappointed this happened to be honest. Engine is stock 320hp, no aero…so I wasn’t expecting this actually.

Handling understeer/oversteer still to be considered as I did not come yet to full pace. Also with "missing" power when the engine overheated I lacked the ability to steer the front with my rear as I wanted...so I had a lot of understeer when the car went into "safe" mode. I'm quite used to understeer in entry corner from my previous car, so I'm used to trail braking already.

Brakes remained good and responsive all day. Heel/toe was a bit difficult and I will need to adjust pedal (plates) a little to make it easier for me. Also not convinced by the Avon ZZR’s…but again…first I need a few more laps in this beast ;-)

Best regards from Belgium,
Abel.

[plip1953]

When you say it went into limp mode, was it purely that you felt a loss of power or did a warning light come on etc and you had turn the engine off and back on before it would reset?

What power setting were you using?

Literally cutting off the left hand side of the accelerator pedal seems to help for heel a toeing!

[Luckky]

Wow that’s an extreme mod…. Like what you did there to the pedal!

[Yorkshire]

I did similar on my throttle but only 10mm off the edge as kept catching it which stopped sequential downshift as car thought you were accelerating. You can also move the brake pad across to the left if you unbolt it there are different mounting points behind to offset it to the left

[abcoro]

When you say it went into limp mode, was it purely that you felt a loss of power or did a warning light come on etc and you had turn the engine off and back on before it would reset?

What power setting were you using?

Literally cutting off the left hand side of the accelerator pedal seems to help for heel a toeing!

Once water temp reaches a certain point (around 103°/104°C), the red warning light for high water temp, lights up in red. Engine has less power (I presume turbo pressure is reduced significantly by ECU)...untill it goes again under a certain temperature and it gets its power back again. No need to turn engine off and restart (at least not that I remember). But ofcourse...when on track...you just do a cool down lap (or 2) and then let the engine cool off in the paddock...

When I was at my first trackday with the Atom 4 I adjusted my pedal like in photo attached...could do this without drilling or any other modifications to the pedal plate...but not ideal yet (besides of the funny sight). I was not aware that the brake pedal could be moved to the left as well...might be a good mod as well for me.

Thanks,
abel.

[Yorkshire]

Photo showing my pedals with offset brake

[Billyb]

What is the solution to the overheating issue? This seems a fairly serious limitation of the car.

[reg]

What is the solution to the overheating issue? This seems a fairly serious limitation of the car.

Ideally more cooling

But seriously, a winter project for me I think along with improving the intercooler. I need more time in mine on track to see how much of an issue it is as at Anglessey it appeared to be ok....although more likely as I was slow

[plip1953]

What is the solution to the overheating issue? This seems a fairly serious limitation of the car.

There's a separate thread on this.