Moving from Atomic to Nomadic?

[Fastlane]

I have had my supercharged 3 for 3 1/2 years now and I love it. I have done over 7,500 miles in it around Cornwall, and up to the factory for servicing, (I don't do any track days) and I have spent c.£5k servicing, maintaining and upgrading it. In that time it hasn't depreciated (which is important to me) and it stills looks bloody great! Here a couple of photos of it.




Over the last few months I have been contemplating selling it to buy an Atom 4. My ideal spec. would be £60-65k, but of course I would then have to wait 30 months or pay a premium for a less-than-ideal spec. car.

The problem is, whilst Cornwall has lots of great roads, the A and many B roads that are perfect for an Atom are very busy with tourists from March to October, i.e. when I take my Atom out, and many of the other quieter roads just aren't best suited to a low slung sports car like an Atom.

So, I have recently been looking at the Nomad, or more specifically at a supercharged Nomad. My thought is that a Nomad would be much better suited to exploring the quieter Cornish roads, and off the beaten track, whilst the supercharger would still give me the wonderful rush and whine that I have grown to love in my 3.

Nomads are far rarer than Atoms (less than 200 Nomads worldwide?) and I believe they will hold their values just as well and cost a very similar amount to maintain.

Will I miss the pure adrenaline rush of an Atom, or will the (relative) usability of a Nomad outweigh that? For mainly road and light off-road use, what spec. would people recommend?

I welcome your thoughts (I have also posted this in the Atom forum).

[reg]

Best bet is to try one...I am sure someone will oblige a passenger ride on here?

[mynamesnotbob]

Was lucky enough to be working in Cornwall last year and it led to me wanting a Nomad - just felt it would be much better in avoiding the tourists, it just made sense so totally get your feeling.

Unfortunately when I got back home they seemed to make less sense, as I could use an Atom properly in N Wales - plus I couldn't find one to go in, so the Nomad idea went away

If I was down your way I really would try to get out in a Nomad on your roads to see if the logic stacks up to the reality

[phil4]

I've had both a 3.5 SC and Nomad SC.

They have their strengths and weaknesses, and each sort of fill the others weakness. The Nomad doesn't feel anywhere near as responsive or fast as the Atom did, but it's still quite quick. The Nomad can have quite playful handling, without needing to take massive risks sliding the backend like the Atom. It'll still clank a little over bad roads, and you will still feel the bumps... but it's much better on uneven roads, and indeed off them (obviously). With a screen and side panels, it's also quite a nice place to be for cruising compared to the Atom.

Each to their own of course, but if the roads around you are narrow and not great, I'd see the Nomad as a good one to drive.

Also as you've seen, they can hold their value quite well, so perhaps worth dipping your toe in. You can then swap to an Atom 4.5 in the future.

[Fastlane]

Thanks for the feedback - very useful. At my request, the factory have just sent me the 2021 Nomad pricelist, but have said that by the time it would be delivered (c.28 months) they reckon the Nomad 2 will be out, which makes the decision even harder.

I am a couple of hours away from the factory, and without any Nomads and only another Atom 3 here in Cornwall, I reckon a trip up there may be in order...

[Antong]

I think it depends on how and where you drive your nomad. I've not really experienced atoms but in amongst the wye valley, I have my Nomad (S/C) Ohlins set to close to off-road settings. the roads are awful here but brilliant and twisty. It works very well and far far better than any of my old Porsches or loti did. My only real comment is that my old n/a nomad didn't allow drift on demand and the s/c nomad gets to high speed rather briskly!

I'm definitely a fan of softer suspension, 18" wheels and the short ratio box with hydraulic handbrake. This combination overcomes the significant bump steer on the 15" wheels and the appalling steering lock! Welcome to come up to the Wye Valley and have a play - I'm about 2.5 hours from Cornwall!

[russty_james]

I would try and get behind the wheel of both a Normad and an Atom 4.IMO I’d go for with the Nomad if you really want to take it off road and have somewhere to do so… if you’re comparing both cars purely for road use I’d pick the Atom 4 every time. It’s changed considerably in its ride and driving characteristics compared to other models. I’d happily drive one around Cornwall just maybe not with the front wing!!

[Fastlane]

I think it depends on how and where you drive your nomad. I've not really experienced atoms but in amongst the wye valley, I have my Nomad (S/C) Ohlins set to close to off-road settings. the roads are awful here but brilliant and twisty. It works very well and far far better than any of my old Porsches or loti did. My only real comment is that my old n/a nomad didn't allow drift on demand and the s/c nomad gets to high speed rather briskly!

I'm definitely a fan of softer suspension, 18" wheels and the short ratio box with hydraulic handbrake. This combination overcomes the significant bump steer on the 15" wheels and the appalling steering lock! Welcome to come up to the Wye Valley and have a play - I'm about 2.5 hours from Cornwall!

Thank you for that and your kind offer, although 2.5 hours would be push as we live in Truro - perhaps the Nomad enables you to take a more "direct" route across fields? I see you have/used to have a 996. I got rid of my immaculate Zanzibar Red aero kited 996 C4 for the Atom, because the 996 really wasn't suited to Cornish roads. In terms of spec., I had already decided that the hydraulic handbrake is a must, but hadn't really thought about the shorter final drive - apart from acceleration, does this have any other benefit? The 18s would seem to make more sense for a occasional off-roading.

I would try and get behind the wheel of both a Normad and an Atom 4.IMO I’d go for with the Nomad if you really want to take it off road and have somewhere to do so… if you’re comparing both cars purely for road use I’d pick the Atom 4 every time. It’s changed considerably in its ride and driving characteristics compared to other models. I’d happily drive one around Cornwall just maybe not with the front wing!!

Thanks for that - I think my next move will be to go to the factory to do just that. I'm not really thinking I'll take the Nomad off road very much (although Bodmin Moor has some interesting potential routes) more that I'll be able to explore many more Cornish back roads that I tend to avoid in my Atom because of the potholes, grass in the middle of the road and of course, mud.

Of course ideally I'd have an Atom and a Nomad!

[Antong]

Having taken the nomad along green lanes and some interesting tracks I can absolutely say I'm not bothered about doing it again. Where they excel is on forest roads, big open gravel/mud spaces and awful tarmac roads...