New member

[Tom Horton]

Hi guys, my name is Tom and I live in Worcester Park in Surrey. I've just been given the green light by my wife to buy an atom. I'm looking to buy a secondhand one fairly soon so she doesn't change her mind if anybody can give me some tips on what to look for do's and dont's it would be much appreciated. 

[phil4]

Hi Tom, welcome to the club, and hope to see you motoring around in the near future.

It might not be a bad idea to give a rough idea of any atom decisions you've already made.... such as what generation/age does your budget allow for.  Are you going supercharged?  Are you intending to drive mainly on the road, or mainly track, or a mix?

It just might help us make suggestions that are relevant. 

[Steve Gibson]

Hi, Tom

You're about ten minutes from me (Putney).

As Phil said, what's your intended use and budget? Then we can be more specific with help.

S

[Lord Studley]

Welcome Tom, well done on your decision (and talking the wife round) and good luck on your search, I'm sure your get all the help you need on here.

[SvenTheHammer]

Hi Tom

I'm also just down the road in New Malden. There's a few owners in this area.

Look forward to hearing when you get yours.

Sven

[Tom Horton]

Hi guys, thanks for the response. I can't believe there are so many of you locally to me .I'm thinking generation three but I don't know what the difference between two and three is.  I would like it to be supercharged mainly for the road but a few track days. I have a budget of £37k ish. I do like the look of the ones with the spoilers. I hope this helps.

[AtomMadStew]

Supercharged & spoilers Two mighty interesting subjects.
Have a ride in an N/A car, it will make decisions a whole lot easier.......

Stew

[Tom Horton]

Hi stew, sorry for my ignorance but what is a N/A car

[AtomMadStew]

Normally aspirated  (non supercharged) your basic civic type R engine with 245hp
Unmolested & some say the best...

Happy hunting.
Stew

[Steve Gibson]

A good summary of the Atom 2 to Atom 3 transition. All very welcome improvements, in my view.

http://www.evo.co.uk/trackdays/trackdaycars/234096/ariel_atom_3_245.html

[Alex Brandon-Smith]

Welcome Tom, great to see another man has successfully circumnavigated the wife issue!

As Stew said, I think you need to try both to make a judgement. I have an NA car and it was superb to start there. Even on track it has enough for a good few years of getting to know it as it can be quite a learning curve. 37k buys a lot of second hand car, although if you go SC it's unlikely you'll get spoilers as well depending on age. You will get a lot of NA car for that though. Why not think of buying a second hand NA car fully loaded and keeping an amount set aside to upgrade the charger later?

Recommendations...Alcons all round, LSD, adjustable Bilsteins, normal exhaust + sports exhaust (don't both with stainless steel exhaust), Dymags (magnesium wheels) if you can get them.

Ask away for any other help mate.

Alex

[John Scherrer]

If you're going to track it, the Baffled Sump option is essential - v.exensive to fit as an after thought ..

[Alex Brandon-Smith]

[quote="John Scherrer"]
If you're going to track it, the Baffled Sump option is essential - v.exensive to fit as an after thought ..

[/quote]

Tracked my quite bit now John and never had any issues at all. I probably would next time but if only doing a few a year it should be fine you'd have thought? I'm sure you'd know more than I though!

[Toilet Duck]

[quote="Alex BS"]
Tracked my quite bit now John and never had any issues at all. I probably would next time but if only doing a few a year it should be fine you'd have thought? I'm sure you'd know more than I though!
[/quote]

The trouble is, if you do suffer oil surge/starvation (even briefly) on a high speed bend etc, that's your big end bearings gone and the bottom end of your engine wrecked. Its not really a question of how many track days you do, if you just did one a year but pushed the car hard enough to send the oil in the sump away from the pick-up point, that's your engine gone. 

[Hedge]

[quote="Tom Horton"]I would like it to be supercharged mainly for the road but a few track days[/quote] That's quite an, er, interesting rationale!
Cheers,
Hedge