Some track oriented questions

[aussie35]

A friend and are thinking about investing in a Ariel 300 to import into Australia (track duties only).  I have a few questions for those who regularly track their Ariel:

1. How do the lap times compare to say Forumla Ford or Carrera/GT3 Cup at your local tracks (this will help me benchmark times).  The Atom looks like a blast to drive but lap times are important (for me) too.

2. Anyone run slicks on their Atom?  How does the car respond, did the added grip translate into much improved lap times?  I've used A048's before, granted on much heavier car, and i found them terrible vs other track oriented r-comps.  We would most likely run slicks going for outright lap speed.

3. Aero.  I notice some (track) Atoms have a wing and front splitter.  I'm interested in opinions on how the aero helped.  Was it worth it?

Thanks for any pointers!

[wisp]

Welcome. It would be nice to see a few more cars over the ditch. It will be even better if they ever let them on the road in Oz. You'll have a lot of fun with an Atom as a track car. This member http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Hill , after all his different rides, loves his.

1. Some of the UK & US members may have a better idea on this. Here's an old comparison of a 220 HP car running at Ruapuna in class with single seaters.. http://www.canterburycarclub.co.nz/extr ... cd5_06.php

2. Some have used the Hoosier A6 slick. You need to beef up the rear uprights to not eventually have problems. If you search or browse the forum you will find plenty of topics such as this one.. http://forum.atomclub.com/https://atomc ... ic.php?t=6

3. Once again there are topics about this on the forum. Try a search for wing.

The 300 posted a pretty quick time on Top Gear. Hopefully others that own 300s will help with more useful comments.

[CalScot]

I'll probably get burnt at the stake for saying this, but you asked.   
I'd buy a GT3 Cup car or a FF long before I'd buy a new Atom for track only. It's a brilliant machine, but it's not a race car and is not meant to be. That answer would be different if you could use the Atom on the highways over there. It might not be the fastest car at a track but it sure as heck is 99.999% of the time the fastest one that can drive home on it's own!!

The new Spec Racing Atom series in the US changes the game but only if you live over here. The new spec racers have fuel cells, proper roll bars, race seats, fire extinguishers and modified frames/floor pans that are under the driver. Maybe they would sell you one??

[aussie35]

Thanks for the comments, guys.

We already have regular road cars that we track and are as quick as FF or porsche cup.  But making a large/heavy cars circulate at those times is expensive.  A set of tyres is $3200 alone, and they may only last a day.  So we're looking for something else which will give similar lap speed at a fraction of the cost.  FWIW a new GT3 here will cost about $300k, or a used cup car maybe half that.  Running a FF car for a year will cost six figures too. FF or carerra cup are good benchmark times, anyone have direct time comparisons?

About running costs, how do you find track consmables like brake discs, pads, fluids, clutch replacement etc.  We've had a lot of success using E85 too, anyone use that in their Atom, what sort of gains did you see?  I've been trawling through the forum and there is a lot of great info, great forum.  However i am sure consensus opinion on a lot of things changes through time, sometimes rapidly.

[wisp]

What group/class are you intending to track the Atom in? Is it a proper competition class or casual pay and drive track day?

Any motorsport regulations criteria (e.g. rollover protection) that you have to meet for the track work you're doing?

[aussie35]

John we are looking at Aussie CAMS Class 5 (essentially Open wheeler / Clubman / Kit Cars / Replicas category).

We are looking mainly at Sprints (not racing exactly).

We've done a bit of research and there will be some mods required (for the Atom) but nothing too drastic.

[atomathics]

There is at least one member here that is running E85.  If you search, you should find the threads.

If you're planning on running a track with long straights, the Atom will probably lose ground to the bigger cars because of its aero profile.  It will, of course, be able to brake later into corners than bigger cars because of its lower mass.

Whether you'd be competitive with a FF or GT3 really depends on the circuit you are planning to run!

[aussie35]

Thanks.

I'm still very interested in lap times, if anyone has them!

[payne]

http://www.fastestlaps.com/tracks/laguna_seca.html

DP35 on here went 1:33.2 in his A6 shod AA2 - 245.

[aussie35]

thanks!

Anyone with FF or Cup car times (at any track) with slicks.  For comparison sake?