Hello from Germany!

[Oli1122]

Hello everyone,

now since i got my Atom official registered in Germany about two weeks ago I finally managed to write something down to say "Hello" and introduce myself and my Atom properly.

My Name is Oliver and I'm from Germany (as you can easly guess from my shitty english... sorry for that in advance  ).


If you don't like stories skip the next paragraphs!
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Almost eight Years ago I drove an Honda Civic Type R (EP3) and quite frankly i did not bought it because of the "faboulus" Honda design they came up with. It was purely a decision engine wise. As I take a look back it was the time as almost every manufacturer was turbocharging there Hatchbacks (in the VW Golf class) because of environmental reasons i guess. So it was the last dinosaur of highreving four-stroke units….till the EU finally killed it in the end of 2010.

Three and a half years later I sold my EP3 in order to buy my number one childhood dream, car wise.
It was an early Lotus Elise MK2 (one of the lighter ones with no assistants). Engine… yeah if you looking at the engine bay that was a pretty big downgrade to the k20a. The K-Series Rover (non VVC) thing that Lotus put in the back was not really overwhelmed with such an light car. But the ideling, reving and the gearbox of it is far from brilliant… anyway the Elise was pretty fun to drive in any other car this engine is propably a nightmare.
I really like the style of the MK2 Elise and the lightness and feel in the steering wheel when braking hard etc… a blast on twisty roads and also on track.
So after another four and a half years of fun I started to think of an power upgrade. First that came into my mind was having something similar to the old k20a. There were just a few options to get something like that and not lose that lightness and aggility I became addicted to in the last years.
1. Put a new engine in the Elise but you have to be nuts to pay that amount of money to get it fitted proberly and registered over here.
2. Buy an Toyota VTi powered Elise/Exige... but Lotus decided with ongoing build of the Mark 2 it has to be significant heavier as the old ones. So a bit more power and hell lot of more weight to carry. So not the upgrade for me.
3. "The Caterham Option" but those Versions which provide the most fun to drive are quite expensive and partly aren't to register over here.
4. and last the I came up with the "not-home-supported but better as a big bike" idea of buying an Atom.

As I live pretty near to Hockenheim and and the Nordschleife i drove my former cars there quite often so i guess driving an Atom can be quite entertaining and much more radical and faster as an elise always could be.
So it was the obvious choice if you want unassisted driving experience and the option to scare the sh** out of you. I also fancied a bit with the possibility that YOU ARE the driver and when you fu** up things there is a big chance that it will "kill" you. I'm far from having suicidal tendencies but that is a bit of the attraction of driving such an car to me… I'm sure it makes not sense for everyone.

Anyway due to registration limitations in Germany there were quite few obstacles to pass and I also wanted a, for me, good equipped car thats suits my requirements (as basic as possible). So my search began in the "wanted section" of this forum and very quick i got a few replys on it. I got in touch with Ben and, to make the story much shorter, finally bought his former green Atom. I'm pretty sure a lot of you know this car since Ben is an active member of this forum as well.

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The end of story time.   
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Now a few stats of the car:

Ariel Atom 2-245
MY 03/2005
K20a without electronic throttle!
ECU PRB Hondata K100 with OBD Port
Adjustable Bilstein Dampers
Race Needle Roller Bellcranks
Starcom Intercom
Carbon Speedo souroundings
Carbon Air Intake
Alcon Brakes Front + Back
Brake Bias Adjuster
Battery Master Switch
Atom 3 Seat
Detachable steering wheel with shift lights


I guess thats pretty much it. Hope I forgot nothing important on the equipment side.
Since the registration I drove as much as i get the chance to because end of October will come soon and that is the expiry date of my seasonal number plates. Next chance will then be the first of march.

As the eagle eye jabs among us can see on the rear are still the silly little competition brakes mounted. It is due to registration and handbrake issues. I promise it will be soon
fixed with the Alcons back on. :-)

There will be some improvments to do to make it much more suitable for me to drive.
- Neoprene "seat cushions" because the seats are pretty slipery --> ordered!
- Mtec Gearbox Springs "Racing Version" as discussed in thread for a much better gearstick centering --> ordered!
- Clutch pedal readjusted because Ben is pretty tall guy and i'm not :-)
- Front Body Panel and Airbox hood will be vinyl wrapped --> during this seasonal break
- Handbrake Option for the rear Alcons
- LHD Conversion with new Chassis powder coating and Wishbone refurb

So as things change i want to keep you updated and give a small review of the changed things.

[John Scherrer]

Thanks for posting your story Oliver and pleased that you managed to get the car registered in Germany at last.
Sounds like you have its future well planned with some upgrades over the winter.

Ben will be weeping into his beer at the sight of his former loved one 

[benyeats]

[quote="John Scherrer"]
Ben will be weeping into his beer at the sight of his former loved one 
[/quote]

I would be lying if I said that picture did not bring a small tear to my eye.

Great to hear you got the car registered, I look forward to seeing it in future and seeing pictures once you have done the work.

[John Scherrer]

Are you playing electronics, karting or both Ben ?

Any update on that ?

[lemmy01]

Hello Oliver.
Have seen your car when i bring my atom to Chris.
Nice. I hope we could meet sometime and talk some fuel :-)

Yesterday i get my papers so the atom is street legal from today :-)

[Oli1122]

Hey Ben. I will sent you on weekend some more pictures in better resolution. I'm a bit confused because I can only post pics in here which are 128k max.
I guess I have to use a filehoster and link the pics.

@lemmy
I have seen your red supercharged Atom as well. If I'm honest i took a closer look at the supercharger install. 
Maybe some time we can meet at the Hockenheim Ring or the Nordschleife. At the moment I'm thinking about doing the second to last School of Racing Trackday on October before my plates expire for this year. But I have to check this first with my working schedule. 

[Oli1122]

So…. a long time after my first write up a lot has happened over winter time.

- The neoprene cushioning is put into place. I decided to go with a 6mm Neoprene on the seating surface which prevents me from sliding around and one piece on the top of the headrest to stop the annoying  “clonk” noise in my helmet every time I hit the headrest. 
- MTEC gearbox springs “race version” are installed and already road and track tested. As mentioned in another topic it was a pretty easy job to do and gearshift is much more accurate than before.
- The pedals are also now re-adjusted to my height or better to my leg length.
- New headlamp glasses are mounted and the brackets are painted black.
- Hood panel and airbox cover are vinyl wrapped. I think it looks awesome and it is a tiny little bit more “in your face” as the green ones. The basic idea was to get into the direction of the Mugen design but not to duplicate it 100%. Therefore I decided to do a rising sun with the Ariel “A” onto the airbox cover. The front bonnet on the other hand is different in the lettering and spelling. After getting the things back from the vinyl guys I just got the impression that it would be good to powdercoat the wheels also in the same colors but mix it on each side. I did this several times with my other cars so no headache in making that decision. All the wheels got color matching weights in it and are placed on a specific place. When you take a look from the right side, the dominating color on the airbox is red therefore to “balance” it (color wise) I placed a white wheel on the back. On the other side it’s the opposite way round. I totally like the look of it and for safety reasons it only can be better than the camouflage green with the anthracite wheels.
- As the speedo surroundings and airbox intake are in carbon fiber I also got an Carbon Mugen spherical gear knob. It also fits within the overall look with carbon and red.
- Last but not least with new things I decided to put a new and lighter rear number plate bracket onto the back. As the car is originally fitted with the wing mounting kit (front and back) and I did not like the look of it at all I got rid of the front and back one. On the plus side the new one is a pretty little thing which is almost 70% lighter than the old one  and of course the front wing bracket is also a heavy little monster. Ok I know that is a bit geeky but not more or less than the vinyl and painted wheels :-D.

Since almost half of the car was dismounted a good clean was obvious. I did as much as I could do including a repaint of the radiator (which had horrible stone chips), polishing the exhaust etc. … the normal program I guess. I did also refurb the brake disc hubs cause they were looking rusty and ugly. Attention when your’re doing this please do not wildly paint the whole thing. It is necessary that the center plate where the wheel meets the disc is clean and not coated due to safety reasons.

Things that are still on my to-do-list:
- Eliminate Gearstick wobble. That has absolutely nothing to do with the springs in the gearbox!!! The source of the wobble is within the gearstick mechanism in the front (also mentioned in another topic). Till now I was not willing to drain my cooling liquid to dismount the alloy pipes to get free access to the whole mechanism. I think that will be a job for the seasonal brake 2015/2016 or service. The main thing is that it will need a really good clean/lubricate or better a complete overhaul. I would also recommend to replace the nylon bush but be careful this white bush cannot be provided from the factory (only the whole mechanism is available). I will report when I tackle this area.
- Well the Alcon Brakes on the back are still in my garage (cleaned but not mounted). I do need other uprights and the handbrake kit but at the moment the € value is a real pain in the ass. I will shift the purchase. If you guys are willing to help please drop the value of your pound. ;-)
- Also chassis powder coating and conversion to LHD are still to do but maybe in the late 2015. Same problem as with the uprights and handbrake. 

After all I have to thank Tom from the factory big time! He was absolutely patient and helpful with every email… a really good customer service!!

My first Hockenheim track day i did on 6th of march. Really educating 3h for me with heating up the front tires problems due to 5deg celsius.

[John Scherrer]

Spot the mirrored pictures making it left hand drive 

Looks great !

[Oli1122]

Low budget left hand drive conversion.