When is a 3.5R not a 3.5R?

[Jamier27]

Since my last post in here I have bought another atom with the R upgrade.. by the factory.

Tho am sure many will say it’s not an R.. it kinda is really

When people have the 245 and then send to factory for a retro fitted supercharger they definitely call it a supercharged atom :p

[AlanP]

Looks like a damn fine 'R' to me! Good choice.

A

[Jamier27]

Looks like a damn fine 'R' to me! Good choice.

A

Why thankyou Alan.

I just need to save for a sequential

[wasp]

Looks like an R to me too.
A very nice one at that.
Enjoy.
Cheers,
Stu

[Jamier27]

Looks like an R to me too.
A very nice one at that.
Enjoy.
Cheers,
Stu

Thanks stu.

I can’t stop looking at it…. Wonder if the wife wants a passenger ride as her Mother’s Day treat…

[Fastlane]

That looks lovely and yes very much a "proper" R. I would highly recommend the Atom 4 machined aluminium mirrors (the Rizoma RS, which can be sourced online or from the factory) which I have fitted to my 3 - they give a much better/safer field of view and look a lot better than the standard (Pitking) mirrors.

I blame AlanP for the inspiration as he has these added these to his R...

[Jamier27]

Great thanks! Will look into that

[Winmoz]

I specced my 2018 K20 3.5 245 with the intention of progressively upgrading the car to R spec over time.

The first big upgrade was the supercharger, which transformed the car. The next is the R kit, although for this round the car will stay on Bilsteins, but roll on dymags.

To my mind there are two upgrades that I ‘may’ not make and won’t make - the move to Ohlins and a sequential box.

Will the car be a true R? Not sure, but it will be one of, if not the, last K20 R upgraded cars around and more importantly, it will make me grin like a freaking idiot.


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[Yorkshire]

I'm getting a little confused with this 3.5R or NOT a 3.5R.
My understanding back when i had a 3.5 and sent to factory for the 3.5R upgrade was purely if it had the 350hp upgrade of chargecooler in manifold with associated radiator and water pump (separate circuit), crank pulley changed to create more boost and ECU remapped accordingley also oil cooler for engine.
Is this not the case?

[Jamier27]

I’m not sure what the base standard 3.5r came with over the normal 3.5 other than the side pods/ancillaries and power upgrade…?

Ohlins were an option and the Dymags as I’ve seen an R recently for sale without those.
Not sure on aero kit? Or in fact any other options.. presume big brakes front and back were standard ?

[Fastlane]

I'm getting a little confused with this 3.5R or NOT a 3.5R.
My understanding back when i had a 3.5 and sent to factory for the 3.5R upgrade was purely if it had the 350hp upgrade of chargecooler in manifold with associated radiator and water pump (separate circuit), crank pulley changed to create more boost and ECU remapped accordingley also oil cooler for engine.
Is this not the case?

That is as I understand it, listed at at £9528 inc. vat in 2017 (on top of the supercharger option at £5251.56). There is a 2017 3.5R listed by the factory for sale that had the TD wheels, no front or rear aero and was running the single adjustable Bilsteins. It's still on the Used section of the factory website if you scroll down https://www.arielmotor.co.uk/wp-content ... scaled.jpg There are Rs that have been based on the K20 red top, K20 silver top and the K24. (There is even, I believe one-off, factory built "2.5R" based on an Atom 2 with the older K20A2 engine.).

The magnesium wheels (not actually Dymags at all, as I believe Dymag stopped making them by the time the 3.5 was launched) front and rear aero, Ohlins and Sadev were all just options available to buy for any 3.5. The magnesium wheels were the same size on all Atoms, the only difference on an R was that the factory fitted 245 section rear tyres, which required wider rear mudguards. I'm pretty sure looking at the photo that the car listed by the factory above has the regular (225 width) tyres and mudguards, so it would seem the factory still classed that as an R even with the regular tyres and mudguards.

[kelvin12382003]

IMG_7341.jpg (131.72 KiB) Viewed 1046 times

My 3.5r back in 2014


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[Jamier27]

This dealer is claiming that this 2012 3.5 has the 3.5R 350bhp upgrade kit, and so is asking £55k. It also claims it's done 7300 miles, despite the dash clearly showing 9150.

One to avoid.

image.png

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... posit=true

This one has been bought now. A young fella has it I diplomatically said I thought it may not be an R and if it’s not wouldn’t be worth anywhere near the £55k and to be careful and speak with Ariel regarding the car.
But looks like it has had the R upgrade without the pods….
As has the 245 rear tyres and just done a 10.9s 1/4 mile at 124… that’s quicker than the 310 would do I think..?

[Yorkshire]

When i originally had my 3.5 converted to a 3.5R at the factory they did have both options available with and without side pods. It just meant the charge cool radiator was positioned where the hot weather radiator goes horizontally in the front nose section. If the car has a charge cooler in the intake manifold then it possibly is. If it hasn't and is just has a larger crank pulley and more boost it will only do one quarter mile at that as heat soak will soon reduce its output. I was told 3% loss for every 10 degree increase in intake temp which without a charge cooler is likely to be 60 degrees plus (Over a naturally aspirated). So 350hp becomes 287hp!. Which is why even the normal supercharged atoms feel faster on the first lap than the last.

[Fastlane]

This dealer is claiming that this 2012 3.5 has the 3.5R 350bhp upgrade kit, and so is asking £55k. It also claims it's done 7300 miles, despite the dash clearly showing 9150.

One to avoid.

image.png

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... posit=true

This one has been bought now. A young fella has it I diplomatically said I thought it may not be an R and if it’s not wouldn’t be worth anywhere near the £55k and to be careful and speak with Ariel regarding the car.
But looks like it has had the R upgrade without the pods….
As has the 245 rear tyres and just done a 10.9s 1/4 mile at 124… that’s quicker than the 310 would do I think..?

Where did you hear about the new owner's quarter mile time? I don't doubt it had had tuning work done, that was clear in the advert but as Yorkshire says, without a charge cooler, the power will drop off pretty quickly with repeated use. I know a few of us were suggesting on FB that he may have been hoodwinked by the dealer into paying hugely over the odds for a non-factory tuned 310. Then the whole thread discussion got deleted, and I don't think he ever confirmed that it was a factory R upgraded car - he just showed an options list.

Perhaps he'll pop on here to confirm it one way or another?