Another NOMAD hits the road...

[gavstoke]

Hi Russ,
Looks great! I have said that my next Ariel will be a Nomad, might have to wait for a while yet as I have recently adopted a stray TVR Cerbera!...........well I never said I wanted an easy life! lol
Hope you enjoy your Nomad and look forward to updates here from you and other Nomad owners.

Cheers,

Gav

[Andrew300]

What do you think of the ohlinns and does a supercharger make it better for top end speed

[russty_james]

What do you think of the ohlinns and does a supercharger make it better for top end speed

It's early days at the moment, I need to get some track time in to get used to the car and see how it drives. I was really impressed with the Ohlins on the test drive, so far they seem really compliant and plush, car felt nice and planted today. Couldn't push beyond 50% today as otherwise I'd have been testing the Nomads off road capabilities...

[Peter255]

Ohlins and s/c. NICE!

Looking forward to more feedback on this one as you get used to it in better weather (and especially on track).

The Atom 4 better be good or I am probably going over to the dark side next year!

[russty_james]

A nice Sunday drive today taking a few brave passengers out. Got absolutely soaked on the last run, bring on summer lol

Slowest Nomad off road maybe?!? Still great fun...

[PhillipM]

That number on the top right there seems to be faulty - it said 17mph instead of 71....

[russty_james]

That number on the top right there seems to be faulty - it said 17mph instead of 71....

I can't imagine the speeds you pull off road, it must be brutal... My backside hurts from hitting a few speed bumps too fast, I need to start wearing my impact shorts from Snowboarding.

[PhillipM]

There's two ways of doing offroad with potholed or rucked up lanes - you either go slow like the range rovers, landies, etc, do and stick to 10mph and the car will follow all the dips up and down, or you go fast and skip over the top of it - if you have the power and grip to stay up.
Anything in between is brutal as the car drops in the holes and slams back up.

I often go down routes like that in my daily (Pug 406) and 10mph is fine. 35-40mph is fine, anything between that beats the hell out of it, but I daren't go faster without a sump guard 
The buggy would be 70-90mph down there  but we don't have to worry about someone walking their dog the other way!

[russty_james]

What a busy 8 days the car has had... It well and truly needs a wash now, it's still got grass stuck to the frame. It's clocked up over 350 miles since collection, not bad going considering the weather is now turning for the worse. I've really enjoyed going for a morning coffee just because I can...

Thoughts,
I love the way the  car handles, it seems very progressive and gives plenty of feedback. It squats nicely on hard acceleration and nose dives on the brakes. Playing with the weight transfer on the track will be fun. It doesn't seem to roll as much as I expected or looks like it could but then maybe I'm not trying hard enough.

Geolanders are holding up well and don't do bad on the grip front either, I can't believe the Nomad has snow rated tyres fitted! It's fairly reasuring to see the amount of tread depth available, hopefully limiting the chance of aquaplaning. Car feels very planted through deep puddles so far...

I opted for the hydraulic handbrake as a fun option, why have a crazy car without a few crazy options... I thought I'd never use it but its proved really useful. Apart from touring McDonalds car parks its great for hill starts and also launching the car from standing, much easier to use than the impossible to reach mechanical version. I'd highly recommend selecting this when ordering a car.

I must be getting old as having the windscreen in is fantastic. It allows you to have a conversation with your passengers up to about 70mph and you never need to wear a helmet again.  It also keeps most the rain off whilst moving, just don't use the screen washers as these soak both you and your passengers. The windscreen for me will make the car much more useable for touring and getting the wife/son out in the car. Definitely opt heated screen as this has been used many times over the last few days.

I've had an endless stream of willing passengers (even in the wet) wanting to go out in the car, they've all thoroughly enjoyed it. My friend did need two hours defrosting in front of the fire after our tour around Oxfordshire.. I've fitted a heated seat in the drivers side, might need to do the passenger side next!

Whats a thread without pictures, here's a few more

[russty_james]

I also managed to get the Nomad along to the Sporting Bears event at the NEC where people donated (£50 for the Nomad)  to charity for a 10 mile ride on public roads. I did around 5-6 rides which was fun, good experience learning the car and the roads were dry for a change. It was also the first time it was towed, the car fitted on the trailer (always a good start) and the Yeti didn't do bad pulling it either.

Thoroughly recommend these days as you get to drive people around all day which is one of the most enjoyable parts of owning such a car and all money raised goes to charity.  When you're not driving you get to chat cars all day with fellow members, there were some incredible machines on offer including the Pagani and XJ220.

The Nomad was by far the dirtiest car in the hall which was entertaining, when I pulled in many had their dusting cloth's out. The hydraulic handbrake proved useful as well and was used throughout the day. The car isn's as recognised as the Atom yet but still draws a lot of attention, not many people making the link to the Atom or even understanding who makes it!

[russty_james]

The Nomad just about fits on my trailer...

[Rick]

heated seats?

Didn't see that on the option list - did you post your full spec list somewhere? I am looking at speccing now probably ordering in the new year

[russty_james]

heated seats?

Didn't see that on the option list - did you post your full spec list somewhere? I am looking at speccing now probably ordering in the new year

It wasn't on the option list when I ordered but I think they are now with a custom seat... I added my own under the foam on the original seats, works fairly well although 5mm of foam acts as a great insulator! Still a lot better than nothing, I'll continue to experiment with it over the winter. If all else fails it will be a heated jacket!

[Rick]

custom seat as in the individual carbon ones?

Did you go for the Alcon brakes also? Saw your point about the hydraulic brake system is it an either or?  Sounds like you specced both that and the 'normal' handbreak (there is an option on the spreadsheet for mechanical break level surely that isn't an extra!)

[russty_james]

I think Ariel will maybe offer different seat options which are more track focussed/better fitting as mine currently seems huge... The heated prototype was GRP or something similar.

Yup the car has Alcons (F&R) and both mechanical and hydraulic handbrakes. You will need the mechanical brake to pass an MOT and yes it is an extra + vat... ;-)