Want to drive one of these?! Oh trust me...You certainly will!!!

[Kowalski]

Another Top Gear road-test.

It may take a while to download, but It does worth a watch.

Gobsmacking Pleasure !

OMG! Quite simply the most Awesome "car" ever!

Jeremy Clarkson's face!

[yassir(snowman)]

ya that is a crazy car and i heard it will be street legal. they should have tested it agains a 1000cc bike. check out this link http://www.openwheelers.co.nz/newmodel/atom2.htm

[Kowalski]

It's got the same 2.0 16V VTEC from the the Honda Civic Type-R (the old one) but with even more punch.

So let's do the maths...

...Normal Civic Type-R 200 Bhp + Supercharger 100 Bhp = Awesome 300 bhp!

300 Bhp in a car that weighs...1000 Ibs (465 Kg). OMG! That means 600bhp per ton. It's more than a Ferrari Enzo!

0 to 60 in 3.5 Seconds and Top Speed of just 135 Mph, but the acceleration is so phenomenal, that certainly compensates the "slow" top speed due the lousy aerodynamics.

But if you fast enough to handle the shifter...it's possible to do 2.9 seconds from 0 to 60 mph. How cool is that?!

[yassir(snowman)]

ya the cool thing is there is no body work so u can see the internals or the cars do their thing. but that car needs a bigger roll bar cus some one could get beheaded if they filp it even though the cars looks is on all fours like a cat.

[Kowalski]

Yeah, you right. It definitely needs a anti-roll bar, but then as you said, the Ariel handles so tidy and neat, that it is almost impossible to rollover.

The Atom makes even a Caterham Seven and the Lotus Elise feel stodgy and wooden.

Honestly, I want one badly. And I don't care if someone calls me crazy, but I think the Ariel Atom is one of the best looking cars around.

I mean come on...the idea of an exoskeleton body, is downright cool and unique. And you can see all the parts working. It's cool as it gets!

Only if I had £30.000 to spare. I'm bit short of money right now and I'm saving money to buy a new (family) car (probably a VW Passat Turbo or Mazda 6).

Oh man...just imagine how much fun you would have in track!

The Ariel Atom is definitely a car I have to drive before dying.

The Atom can rip people's face. That might explain why it's limited at 140 Mph. If it was faster than that, it would literally rip your skin!

[Matt 08]

All I gotta say is wow! That thing is frickin awesome, I want one! You get an instant face lift when you drive it too, lol. I'd also have to agree, that thing defintely needs a roll bar and if I was driving it I wear a helmet too. Just imagine a stone flies up or even a bug and hits you in the face, your a goner. That is the only stupid thing about it, no shield for your face.

[BobLikesBunnies]

I wish they were available here in the US but people in there **************** SUV's
I wonder what you could pump it up to with a smaller pulley on the charger? there was an old issue of top gear though where Jeremy raced Richard and beat it with an E55 AMG but I think it would of been the 200hp version cant see it beating the 300hp

[yassir(snowman)]

i heard somewhere that that thing is street legal, but it will have a hart time dealing with speed bumps and pot holes? i cant get enough of that vid. when the guy floors it his face turns in to a monkeys face . that thing was faster than carrara gt on the track.

[chaseabryant]

I do believe that they are available to the US. I have seen one before, on the road. It looked like an absolute beast! I would love one of these!

*edit* for those interested: http://www.arielatom.com/ariel/site.php */edit*

-Chase

[DanCBJMS1988]

Now THAT is awsome! How does it manage to do that?

[plane]

There is a 9-turn track less than five miles from my house. That puppy would fit in nicely with the local Porsche and BMW clubs that race there on weekends.

lytemup!

[Ramair-WS6]

Originally Posted by Kowalski

The Atom makes even a Caterham Seven and the Lotus Elise feel stodgy and wooden.

The Caterham R500 is nowheres near being stodgy or wooden, in fact I believe it is still the fastest production car from 0-100-0 at 11.44 sec. The previous record time of 11.50 seconds had been set in 1999, in a MacLaren F1 LM car, specifically shod in bespoke race tires.

[acascianelli]

I'd rather have the Campagna T-Rex...

http://www.fast-autos.net/roadtests/trex05/index.html

[yassir(snowman)]

they should put a zz572 big block crate motor in it instead of a sisy honda engine.

[BobLikesBunnies]

Originally Posted by yassir(snowman)

they should put a zz572 big block crate motor in it instead of a sisy honda engine.

But then you would loose all the handling quality this car has to offer Too big and heavy in the rear