News from New Zealand

[Bruce Fielding]

car.co.nz has a story on the 300bhp Atom: http://www.car.co.nz/newsevents.asp?articleid=8848

The 300 BHP Ariel Atom is coming to our shores and will be without doubt the quickest production road car in New Zealand. Powered by a supercharged 2L Honda i-VTEC Civic Type-R engine, the 520 kg Ariel Atom exhibits staggering performance â?? 0 to 60 MPH (96 km/h) in 2.91 seconds, 0.3s faster than the benchmark McLaren F1 from the mid-nineties.

â??The Atom is a cat amongst the pigeonsâ?� said Andrew Mackie of Open Wheeler Imports. â??Itâ??s stunning to look at, extraordinary to drive and now with 600 BHP / tonne ex-factory, the quickest production car in the country.â?�

To match this acceleration, Arielâ??s Alcon 4-pot braking package is now standard on the 300 BHP Atom, taking the car from 100 MPH (161 km/h) to rest in an impressive 3.8 seconds â?? almost 0.7s faster than a Porsche 911 Carrera S as tested back to back by Autocar UK.

The Atom range now spans 160 to 300 BHP with the same unique chassis & two seater layout across the range of Honda powerplants. Each Atom is built to customer specification from more than thirty options and orders are turned around in six months. Prices start from $66,480 on the road for the 160 BHP Atom and from $98,920 on the road in 300 BHP trim.

â??Why wait for a Ferrari F430?â?� continued Mackie. â??For significantly less you can own both the new BMW M5 and a new 300 BHP Ariel Atom. And no car is as quick, as capable or as much fun as the Atom.â?�

Interesting thought... is 800 bhp for £100k a good deal?

[Dezoris]

Thats good that they are making that brake package standard it sure needs it.

[FAST BUCK]

Bruce, 800hp for 100k    what's that all about?

[Bruce Fielding]

M5 = 500 bhp @ £60k

Atom = 300bhp @£40k