Ariel Atom Faster than a road bike?

There is a small car company in the UK called Ariel that has just released an exoskeletoned car that would give most top of the range road bikes a run for their money. Ariel is a small car company (only 7 employees) who have been building cars since 1898.

The Ariel Atom is a car with out all the non-essential fittings/luxuries of every other super car. The team at Ariel go by the philosophy “If it doesn’t need it, it hasn’t got it”. With no doors, roof or windshield and no panels!

First impressions are ‘it’s just an open wheeler, nothing special’, but this thing is capable of accelerating from a standstill to 100k’s in 2.9seconds! As Jeremy Clarkson put it ‘if you’re capable of changing gears quick enough’. Powered by a Supercharged Honda V-tec motor pumping out 300hp. Combine that with the weight of the Atom - 500kgs - an amazing power to weight ratio (~600hp per tonne!).

Watch the video links below, the power, handling, acceleration and Jeremy Clarson’s facials on the videos are simply amazing! Plus you get to hear the whining of the supercharger.

The Atom 2’s weight-to-horsepower ratio is better than the Ferrari Enzo and the Porsche 911, but perhaps the most important bit of information when comparing this car to others is the price tag… the Atom 2 starts at under £20,000, which is about $36,800 U.S. at today’s exchange rate. Compare this to the 911 at about $132,000, or the Enzo at about $645,000.

Atom Video Links

Atom Home Page

Ariel Atom Video

20mb Video from Top Gear

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