Ariel.Club Forum

Hi,

I’ve been wondering about the hot country radiator options for my atom3. I’ve been out enjoying the weather, the light traffic and cheap-ish ‘race’ 100 octane fuel but noticed my car seems to be suffering a bit in the heat (as have my strangely sun kissed forearms).

It’s been between 28 and 34 here recently and the car doesn’t seem to like it much, especially when going back through town or moving more slowly after a bit of a run.

I usually use shell optimax fuel which seems to run the engine hotter than some other 100 octane fuel brands available here but don’t think it makes a huge difference overall.

My fan cuts on at around 90(on the dash) but once it’s been on a while drops back to about 86 before creeping back up again. I don’t think it’s a huge issue (I’m not tracking the car) and aside from changing the oil and filters more frequently is there anything else I should look out for?

I also wondered if anyone retro fitted the hot weather radiator (fan too?) and / or an oil cooler and could share their experiences or advice?

Cheers!

AtLarge

When the factory rebuilt my Atom from a bare frame to the 3.5R spec in 2018 because I live in Cyprus where the summer temperatures regularly get up into the 40s I had a long discussion with Steve Rooke and he recommended going for the Atom V8 radiator rather than the optional hot weather dual radiator dual fan unit (one vertical and an additional horizontal unit) as the V8 radiator is a single much bigger cored unit with a much bigger and more efficient fan.

So far it has worked very well and kept the engine temperatures well within bounds.

Thanks [mention]autobackup[/mention] some good info there. Was the V8 radiator and fan comparable price wise? Also any panel modifications required to accommodate a thicker (presumably) dimensions of the larger one?

Cheers!

To be honest I can't remember the price comparison between the two types - for me it was more the case that I wanted the most efficient solution rather than worrying about the price.

To the best of my memory (at 2 years distance) there were no panel mods required - you are right about the V8 radiator being thicker but it fits into the space ok.

The plumbing mods required were also simpler than fitting the dual 'hot weather' radiator set-up, again I have a 'folk' memory that the coolant pipe running back to the engine is a slightly larger cross section to allow for the greater coolant flow rate needed to maximize the efficiency of the V8 radiator cooling.

When the fan ran at the Silverstone Super Sunday event in June 2018, after I picked it up after the rebuild, it was perceptibly louder than the fans in the other Atoms on the day.

I would suggest giving Rookie a ring at the factory to discuss it (and the price difference/comparison) - from memory Steve was pretty positive that installing the V8 radiator would be the better solution for my use in the often extreme heat of a Cyprus summer!

Thanks again, the price point is (unfortunately) a factor for me - I’m over budget with the wife as it is!! It seems like the V8 rad and fan route is the way to go, especially if it’s holding up well in 40+ heat and doesn’t need any body or frame modifications.

I’ll call the factory and hope they have one on clearance...... does that ever happen!?

Cheers.

The only thing on clearance is your wallet!

[mention]John Scherrer[/mention] yep, I expect so!