The Ariel Atom is a
road-legal high performance
open-wheel car
An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have the ...
made by the British
Ariel Motor Company
Ariel Motor Company Ltd is a British, low-volume performance motor vehicle manufacturing company in Crewkerne, in Somerset, England.
History
Founded by Simon Saunders in 1991 as Solocrest Ltd., the name was changed in 1999 to Ariel Motor Comp ...
based in
Crewkerne
Crewkerne ( ) is a town and electoral ward in Somerset, England, southwest of Yeovil and east of Chard all in the South Somerset district. The civil parish of West Crewkerne includes the hamlets of Coombe, Woolminstone and Henley – and b ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, England, and under license in North America by TMI Autotech, Inc. at
Virginia International Raceway
Virginia International Raceway (commonly known as "VIR") is a race track located in Alton, Virginia, near Danville. It is less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina, on the banks of the Da ...
in Alton, Virginia.
There have been eight Ariel Atom generations to date: Ariel Atom, Ariel Atom 2, Ariel Atom 3 (including the Ariel Atom 3 Mugen Limited Edition and Honda Racing Edition – of which only one was made) Ariel Atom 3.5, Ariel Atom 3S, Ariel Spec:Race Atom, Ariel Atom 500 V8 Limited Edition (only 25 to be made), and the Ariel Atom 4. The limited production Ariel Atom 500 V8 featured a
V8 engine
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and u ...
. The Ariel Atom 4 uses a turbocharged 2.0 litre engine, also used in the
Honda Civic Type R
The is a series of high-performance hatchback/ sedan models based on the Civic, developed and produced by Honda since September 1997. The first Civic Type R was the third model to receive Honda's Type R badge (after the NSX and Integra). Typ ...
, with 3-stage boost.
The Ariel Atom features a prominently visible
chassis (i.e., an
exoskeleton
An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...
, no roof or windows, a small optional windscreen) and a
drag coefficient
In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient (commonly denoted as: c_\mathrm, c_x or c_) is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment, such as air or water. It is used in the drag e ...
of 0.40.
Design origins
The Atom began as a student project by
Coventry University
, mottoeng = By Art and Industry
, established =
, type = Public
, endowment = £28 million (2015)
, budget = £787.5 million
, chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford
, vice_chancellor = John Latham
, students = ()
, undergr ...
transport design student
Niki Smart
Niki Smart is a British car designer, known for being the lead designer on the Ariel Atom project and his concept car design for Cadillac, as design manager for the General Motors Advanced Design team in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
Sm ...
. Known then as the LSC (Lightweight Sports Car), it was developed at the university in 1996 with input and funding from various automotive industry members, including
British Steel and
TWR. Ariel Motor Company boss Simon Saunders was a senior lecturer whose responsibility for the project was primarily as financial manager and design critic for Smart, whom he described as "The best all-round design student I've ever seen." The car was first shown publicly at the
British International Motor Show
The British International Motor Show is an annual motor show held by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders between 1903 and 2008 in England, and as The British Motor Show since 2021 by Automotion Events.
Initially held in London at T ...
at the
NEC
is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...
in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
in October 1996.
Suspension
![ArielAtomFrontSpring5808](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/ArielAtomFrontSpring5808.JPG)
The Atom suspension setup was tuned by the engineers at Lotus.
Edmunds "Inside Line" noted that "anyone who has driven a selection of Lotus-tuned cars, such as the
Lotus Elise
The Lotus Elise is a two-seat, rear-wheel drive, mid-engined roadster conceived in early 1994 and released in September 1996 by the British manufacturer Lotus Cars. The Elise has a fibreglass body shell atop its bonded extruded aluminium chas ...
, the
Aston Martin Vanquish
The Aston Martin Vanquish is a high-performance grand tourer introduced by British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin in 2001 as a successor to the Aston Martin Vantage (1993).
The Aston Martin "V12 Vanquish," designed by Ian Callum ...
and the
Opel Speedster
The Opel Speedster is a mid-engined, targa-topped, two-seat sports car sold by German automaker Opel and introduced in July 2000. It was built in both RHD and LHD versions at the Lotus Cars plant in Hethel, Norfolk, England. It was presented ...
, will notice a common feel or signature, and it's replicated in the Atom."
The Atom's suspension derives from single seat racing cars and is fully adjustable, requiring only a
wrench
A wrench or spanner is a tool used to provide grip and mechanical advantage in applying torque to turn objects—usually rotary fasteners, such as nuts and bolts—or keep them from turning.
In the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zeala ...
. Both front and rear double unequal length
wishbones and inboard, pushrod-operated
dampers contribute to the Atom's dynamic handling. Adjustable suspension rod ends feature inboard rubber/metal bushings to promote a more comfortable road-going ride. The front and rear
Bilstein dampers are also adjustable. Stacked helper coil springs and main coil springs produce a low spring rate for minor deflections and a higher rate for large ones.
Acceleration
In 2005 ''
Track and Race Car'' magazine published the results of a comprehensive test of a range of cars, from the
Porsche 911 Carrera S,
Ford GT
The Ford GT is a mid-engine two-seater sports car manufactured and marketed by American automobile manufacturer Ford for the 2005 model year in conjunction with the company's 2003 centenary. The second generation Ford GT became available for ...
,
BMW M5
The BMW M5 is a high performance variant of the BMW 5 Series marketed under the BMW M sub-brand. It is considered an iconic vehicle in the sports sedan category. The majority of M5s have been produced in the sedan (saloon) body style, but in so ...
to the
Caterham CSR 260. The supercharged Ariel Atom 2 won the 0–161–0 km/h (0–100–0 mph) test by a clear margin at 10.88 seconds, ahead of the Caterham CSR 260 (11.41) and the Ford GT in fourth (13.17).
The following year, the Atom won ''
Autocar''s 0–100 mph challenge as the new Ariel Atom 2 300 bhp supercharged edition achieved a time of 6.86 seconds, and then stopped from 100 in 3.8 seconds. At the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, the Atom broke the indoor speed record. The high gloss floor that the cars ran on was only long, with an open door at the end of the hall. The driver of the Atom launched in fourth gear and still had wheelspin until the car reached and started to get traction. The Atom was beaten only by a class nine
Autograss car powered by a 2.0l Lexus-Toyota touring car engine which set the official indoor speed record, beating the previous record held by a
Toyota F1 car driven by Toyota's test driver Olivier Panis dressed as ''
Top Gear
Top Gear may refer to:
* "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission
Television
* ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme
* ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
s driver
The Stig
The Stig is a character from the British motoring television show '' Top Gear''. Created by former ''Top Gear'' presenter Jeremy Clarkson and producer Andy Wilman, the character is a play on the anonymity of racing drivers' full-face helmets, ...
.
''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'' measured the time taken for the Atom to accelerate from 0 to at 2.89 seconds, making it the world's third-fastest accelerating production car then available, after the
Bugatti Veyron
The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engine sports car, designed and developed in Germany by the Volkswagen Group and Bugatti and manufactured in Molsheim, France, by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti. It was named after the racing driver P ...
's 2.46 seconds and the
Ultima GTR
The Ultima GTR is a super car manufactured by Ultima Sports Ltd of Hinckley, Leicestershire, England, and described by commentators as a ''supercar''. The car was available both in kit form and as a "turnkey" (i.e. assembled by the factory) ...
at 2.6 seconds; the review was in 2005.
United States licensing
Brammo Motorsports
Brammo, Inc. was an American producer of electric traction motors and traction batteries based in Talent, Oregon, United States. Brammo also developed and sold a range of electric motorcycles via the company's website and motorcycle dealers throu ...
of
Ashland, Oregon
Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 ...
, signed a deal with Ariel, Ltd to manufacture the Ariel Atom in the US, starting in late 2005. In the US the Atom 2 was available with the supercharged GM
''Ecotec'' engine, which was introduced in 2004 on the
Saturn ION
The Saturn Ion is a compact car sold by Saturn between the 2003 and 2007 model years. It used the GM Delta platform. The Ion replaced the Saturn S-Series in 2002,
and was replaced by the new Saturn Astra in 2008. Production of the Ion ended on ...
Red Line and is also used in the
Chevrolet Cobalt SS. There was a limited run of 10 US-built Atom 2 cars in 2006–2007, which were powered by imported Honda K20As.
Brammo ceased production of the Atom in 2007 to focus on the manufacture of an electric motorcycle.
In January 2008, it was officially announced that licensed manufacturing of the new Ariel Atom 3, for the US market, would be undertaken by specialty motorsports manufacturing company TMI AutoTech Inc at a purpose-built facility at
Virginia International Raceway
Virginia International Raceway (commonly known as "VIR") is a race track located in Alton, Virginia, near Danville. It is less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina, on the banks of the Da ...
(VIR). Since 2008, all Atom 3 cars were powered by a
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...
Civic Si drivetrain. In January 2016, TMI moved from its 20,000 ft/sq facility at VIR to a newly refurbished 60,000 ft/sq building in
South Boston
South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformat ...
, VA. To separate Ariel manufacturing from its thriving sublet manufacturing services, TMI started all Ariel brand manufacturing and marketing efforts under the Ariel North America name.
In 2011, VIR started the VIR Cup in which specialty designed track dedicated Ariel Atoms would compete in a series of races. This specially designed Atom was called the Spec:RaceAtom (SRA). The VIR Cup was managed and operated by the track club while TMI offered technical support for the race cars, the VIR Cup ended in late 2015.
Generations and variants
Ariel Atom
The first Atom arrived just in time for the new millennium with 190bhp from a naturally aspirated 1.8-litre
Rover K-series engine
The Rover K-series engine is a series of internal combustion engines built by Powertrain Ltd, a sister company of MG Rover. The engine was a straight-four cylinder built in two forms, SOHC and DOHC, ranging from .
Design history
The K ser ...
.
Ariel Atom 2
Launched in 2003, the Atom 2 that followed had as much as 300bhp courtesy of a new supercharged Chevrolet engine.
Ariel Atom 3
The Atom 3 appeared in 2007, utilizing the Honda Civic drivetrain.
Ariel Atom 500
Introduced in February 2008, the Ariel Atom 500 features a 373 kW (500 hp) 3.0 litre John Hartley-designed V8 engine, carbon fibre body panels and aerofoils, chromoly aerofoil wishbones, an integrated function steering wheel, Alcon four-piston brake calipers, and Dymag magnesium wheels. The engine weighs and is coupled to a
SADEV
Sadev is a French company that designs and manufactures transmission systems for racing and high-performance vehicles.
Precision machining subcontractor and motorsports enthusiast Benoît Vincendeau established Sadev in 1974. By the early 19 ...
six-speed sequential gearbox to cope with the increased power over the Honda unit. During the development process the RS performance engine was replaced by a unit prepared by Hartley Enterprises giving the final production version of the car 678 kW/t (909 bhp/tonne).
Ariel claims this variant will accelerate from 0– in less than 2.3 seconds, making it the
fastest accelerating production car when initially released.
On 23 January 2011, the Atom 500 set the lap record around the
Top Gear test track, with a time of 1:15.1, making it the
fastest road-legal car to go around the track[6x01- 2011.01.23">] – a record that stood for just over two years, until the
Pagani Huayra
The Pagani Huayra () is a mid-engine sports car produced by Italian sports car manufacturer Pagani, succeeding the company's previous offering, the Zonda. It is named after Wind, like the previous model (Zonda), the word Huayra came from a Que ...
completed a lap in 1:13.8 on 27 January 2013.
[9x01- 2013.01.27">]
Ariel Atom 3.5R
The Ariel Atom 3.5R is the upgraded version of the Ariel Atom producing 261 kW from a 1,998cc supercharged Honda engine which propels the 550 kg car to 100 km/h in 2.6 seconds and to a top speed of 249.45 km/h. In June 2014 a 3.5R was presented to
Avon and Somerset Police, the force local to the Crewkerne factory, to support a local motorcycle safety initiative. It has
pursuit lights and police livery.
Ariel Atom 3S
In October 2014, TMI AutoTech, Inc. announced the arrival of an all new Atom for the US market, the 3S. This turbocharged upgrade to the Ariel Atom 3 produces 365 hp (272 kW) and over 300 ft lb (407 Nm) of torque, propelling it to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds (100 km/h in under 2.8 seconds).
Featuring an all-new cockpit adjustable traction control system, JRi adjustable dampers, and a choice of three transmissions (including a new SADEV 6-speed sequential race inspired gearbox with paddle shifters), each Ariel Atom 3S is hand built by TMI AutoTech at their facility at
Virginia International Raceway
Virginia International Raceway (commonly known as "VIR") is a race track located in Alton, Virginia, near Danville. It is less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina, on the banks of the Da ...
.
Ariel Atom 4
The Ariel Atom 4 was launched at the
Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hill climb and other events, held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, in late June or ...
in July 2018. It features the latest Honda Type R turbo engine with as standard, a new chassis, suspension, steering, brakes, bodywork with significant aerodynamic improvements, new seating and instrumentation together with a host of design improvements and changes.
Wrightspeed X1
The Ariel Atom was unofficially used by
Wrightspeed
Revo Powertrains is an electric vehicle powertrain company based in Alameda, California founded by Tesla co-founder Ian Wright.
The name Revo Powertrains is a Fictitious Business Name filed with Alameda County, California by Wrightspeed, Inc. (a ...
as the base of a one-off prototype called the
Wrightspeed X1, which is a proof of concept of the company's all-electric powertrain.
Atom Cup
In mid-2012, it was announced that for the first time in the UK, the Atom would have a dedicated single make race series called Atom Cup.
The series would feature on
Jonathan Palmer
Jonathan Charles Palmer (born 7 November 1956) is a British businessman and former Formula One racing driver. Before opting for a career in motor racing, Palmer trained as a physician at London's Guys Hospital. He also worked as a junior phys ...
's MSVR programme of racing with eight race weekends featuring 16 races. The cars were 183 kW naturally aspirated, 3.5 chassis with an MSA approved welded roll bar protection system. The standard suspension was replaced with
Öhlins
Öhlins or Öhlins Racing AB, is a Swedish company that develops suspension systems for the automotive, motorcycle, mountain bike and motorsport industries. Approximately 97% of all production is exported and Öhlins has distribution in over 5 ...
racing suspension. An
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backs ...
approved fire extinguisher system was also installed.
See also
*
BAC Mono
Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) is a British car manufacturer that created Mono, a road-legal sports car with only one seat. BAC is based in the city of Liverpool, United Kingdom, Mono cars are exported to 46 countries around the world.
Backgrou ...
*
Caterham Cars
Caterham Cars is a British manufacturer of specialist lightweight sports cars established in Caterham, England, with their headquarters in Dartford, England. Their current model, the Caterham 7 (or Seven), originally launched in 1973, is a d ...
*
Drakan Spyder
*
KTM X-Bow
*
Radical Sportscars
Radical Motorsport is a British manufacturer and constructor of racing cars. The company was founded in January 1997 by amateur drivers and engineers Mick Hyde and Phil Abbott, who built open cockpit sportscars which could be registered for roa ...
References
External links
{{commons category, Ariel Atom
www.arielmotor.co.ukAriel Motor Company website
Product website (English)www.arielatom.comTMI AutoTech website
Cars of England
Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Roadsters
Coventry University
Cars introduced in 2000
2010s cars