Ariel.Club Forum

Advice please.
First track day tomorrow and I'm unsure what tyre pressures to run.
I have the 16" mag wheels with A048s. Soft front, medium/hard rear.
Also have front and rear wings that appear to be set fairly neutrally. I bought the car used from the factory last autumn and haven't adjusted the wings. Apparently they are more show than go anyway?
Any help would be appreciated.

First of all the Aero.....all show, so just leave as is.

Tyres, quite a lot of debate over the years, but consensus seems to be circa 14psi front and 16psi rear. I find this a tad too soft so normally run 16 front and 18 rear......in that range and you won't be far off....remember to get some heat in them first before giving it full beans (can be hard if ambient temp is low)

Good luck and enjoy......first spin us always the worst 

Thanks for the advise, including the bit about spinning.....

From my experience 14psi -16psi will do fine for starters, but that's HOT temps (measure immediately after a session)

I often run a bit lower than that but it comes down to preference.

As has been stated take it easy to begin with, learn the cct first, braking points, gearing and the lines.

Also every session warm the tyres before you start pressing on. I take it easy lap 1, then ramp it up from there depending on ambient temperatures. Those 048 are EPIC when you get them up to temp.

Have fun. 

Remember to leave sufficient road legal tread to get you home 

Thanks for the advise chaps.

just enjoy it, its supposed to be fun.

Yep. You gotta warm those tyres !

So, first track day under my belt in the Atom at Donington yesterday.
Loved it but scary!
I am a novice and jumping into a supercharged Atom.............
The front end seems planted but the back end not so much and its seriously quick.
I know it's early days but if I can get the back end to feel half as good as the front I will be a lot more confident.

My first track day tomorrow in atom 3, 300.
Glad to find this post on tyre pressures etc and mine has AD08 r. have covered about 1,500 quickish miles on road and have done the circuit (croft) 3 times this year in Audi tt. Thanks for your input on debut track day in atom Simbo. Lots of info for me especially front end confidence 

[quote="Simbo"]
So, first track day under my belt in the Atom at Donington yesterday.
Loved it but scary!
I am a novice and jumping into a supercharged Atom.............
The front end seems planted but the back end not so much and its seriously quick.
I know it's early days but if I can get the back end to feel half as good as the front I will be a lot more confident.
[/quote]

I know this thread is old, but I'm new here and just reading through this interesting forum.

To get more rear grip, how adjustable is the car? can you increase rear toe? or roll centres? clearly you can soften the suspension. What about ride height and droop are these things you tend to change on the Atom?

Soon to be Atom owner, placed a order a few months back.

Cheers
Simon

Pretty much all these things are adjustable, some easier than others.

My advice would be to just drive it!
It's more than capable out of the box ..

I know this thread is old, but I'm new here and just reading through this interesting forum.

To get more rear grip, how adjustable is the car? can you increase rear toe? or roll centres? clearly you can soften the suspension. What about ride height and droop are these things you tend to change on the Atom?

Soon to be Atom owner, placed a order a few months back.

Cheers
Simon
[/quote]

Simon,

Set up wise the Atom is very adjustable. Leave the toe well alone, but increasing camber will give more grip, but also promote lift over-steer. The more aggressive the camber setting, the more you will feel the effects.

Reducing the rear ride height by 10mm also reduces roll through the corners.

The Aerofoils do produce down-force (tunnel tested! - sorry no I don't have the figures) - but its on the faster tracks that you will feel the difference. Having the wing set in a fairly 'neutral' setting is best, as if you give to much 'angle of attack' on the rear wing, it can press the rear of the car down into the road so much it can change the down-force to lift...

Thanks for the responses. I find part of the fun is changing the car settings to suit driving style or track conditions, it's also a learning thing for me. So rear camber and ride height are two things you change. The Atom doesn't appear to have sway bars, does it need them/or has anyone ever tried the car with them? The wing advice is good, alot of things I have read is it's for show, I do plan to get a front and rear wing at some point. Do you ever play with track width? for example increasing track width on the rear should give more grip on corner entry. This car seems to have enough steering at least from the videos I've seen. Also can you adjust the anti-squat on the rear easilly?

Cheers
Simon

Simon,

When you sway bars - do you mean an Anti-roll bar? If so, it has been tried and will help, but its a complicated thing to fit, and to make look nice too - and to be honest, i think it would be excellent on track, but ruin the car on the road.

To give more rear end grip you could fit a wider rear tyre, perhaps a 245 or 265 width. You would need to change the rear mudguards (we have wide, and extra wide widths to suit the 245 and 265 available). you would have to run either a custom wheel or a magnesium wheel as the standard alloy wheel is only a 7" wide. whereas the Mag wheels are 8" wide and will suit the wider tyre much better.

RE Anti squat - the only way to do this on an Atom is increase the spring rate and increase compression damping.