OMG, I want one!!!!

Website: http://www.arielatom.com/

Anyway, it was quite the adventure...

The shop is located up on Oregon (its on the website so I wont post it up because they did mention to me they wanted to remain somewhat annonymous) and I decided to stop there on the way to seeing my cousin in Portland.

So we showed up in the town in the middle of the afternoon on a Saturday, drove around trying to locate the address. WTF, where is it at, all we can find is some wierd science museum and a National Guard Armory!?

I decided to head into town to locate some locals who might have a clue (I figure with some fancy shop building cars in such a small town, EVERYONE would know about it and at least see them driving around).... NO such luck!

We did manage to find a shop owner with a phonebook and looked up "Brammo Motorsports" and low and behold, it was the SAME address as the science museum What the heck!?

On the way back out of the town, we take one last stop at the science museum to see if they know where it is... (they better, its the mailing address for brammo, LOL!) and of all things, they say is in the next door over. WHAT next door over!?

So we go out the door, see a small pathway next to the "echo tube" and take it, and guess what, we see the back of an atom under a half open garage door...



I ring the door beel (which is actually a speaker phone) and ask if i can come in to take a look... LUCKLY there is someone there (I highly recomend calling ahead, and if you arent SERIOUSLY looking at buying one, dont do what I did and just show up to look around, these are busy people ) and Joe and the other person whose name I forgot already invite me in and are extremely polite about the whole thing as I am showing quite a bit of interest in the car (and do plan to purchase one sometime in the (far) future...)

Low and behold, I do get a chance to sit in the demo model, WOOT!!!



Impressions of the Ariel Atom:

Yes, it doesnt have a roof, and yes, its as bare as bare can be...
But you know what? I just don't care. Its everything I want in a car (basically a sports motorcycle that you dont have to worry about falling over).

The seats I sat in were the optional seats. OMG they fit me perfectly. I would DEFINATLY go with these over the fiberglass stock seat.

The shifter was SUPER fluid. I just sat in an Elise the other week, and I thought that shifter was rather crummy... The atom even though it had the base Ecotec 140hp motor and 5-speed, was VERY nice, reminded me of a Miata.

The pedals were a tad far for me, I believe thats adjustable.

The steering wheel was AWESOME!!! Super small, and PERFECTLY placed.

The big news: Getting in and out. I must say, it was EASIER to get into than an Elise. That sounds insane, since you have to hop into the Atom, but with the Elise you have a roof and a SMALL door thats hard to get around while with the atom is like hoping onto a short motorcycle... No big deal. The removable steering wheel is also a GREAT option for this, especially as a theft deterant if its going to be a daily driver.

 

Anyway, I can't think of anything else to post right now so ill go ahead and put up more pics









Brammo Motorsports shop:






I must make a special thanks to the folks at Brammo for letting me visit! (I lucked out, that covered car had a customer coming to pick it up)

Let me know if you have any more questions!!!

P.S. No, I didnt drive it, I cant afford to take a test drive (yet)

 

very nice ............................i would have been even more jealous if you got to drive one or even just ride in one.

 

Is it street legal yet?

 

Its been street legal.

Any state you can legalize a Cobra kit car you can legally drive an Atom.

 

Nice,awesome vehicle. There was one at our autocross race last Sunday with Oregon plates. He didn't run though.

 

i thot it had a civic type r engine thats supercharged?

 

Nope. If you go to the website it says that they use the GM Ecotec, the optional one being based on the supercharged Ecotec used in the Cobalt SS and Ion Redline.

-Chris

 

what the..
it's a 2 seater now?

and i think that it had a type-r supercharged engine in it,
according to top gear.
maybe they change it for the 2 seater?

 

Honda stoped supplying the motor I think.

Anyway, if you read the website, you can see the Top Gear vid again.

Oh, and the Ecotec motor is good for 1000hp I just wish it had the 6-speed...

 

so what do they run for?

 

Brammo Ecotec 2.2- $35,000 145 HP/ 155 Ft./lbs.
Brammo Ecotec 2.4- $38,000 171 HP/ 163 Ft./lbs.
Brammo Ecotec 2.0 Supercharged- $40,000 171 HP/ 163 Ft./lbs.
Honda K20 Supercharged- $45,750

 

That's weird. The Ecotec 2.0 SC in the Ion Redline and Cobalt SS is good for 205-210hp stock. Strange that is makes so much less in the Atom. Me thinks there is a typo since the 2.4 and 2.0SC have the exact same figures. Regardless, that Ecotec is good for some serious power if the owner decides they want a custom motor build. It's a fairly smooth and very reliable motor as well.

-Chris

 

Im not sure where those numbers came from, here are the numbers from the actual "build it and buy it" part of the website...

Drivetrain options:

General Motors Drivetrain

GM Ecotec 2.2 Liter 140hp 150ft/lbs (Avail Q3 2006)
$33,299.00

GM Ecotec 2.0 Liter 205hp 200 ft/lbs Supercharged
$38,790.00

GM Ecotec 2.0 Liter 230hp 205ft/lbs Supercharged
$39,950.00

GM Ecotec 2.0 Liter 245hp 215 ft/lbs Supercharged
$41,110.00

GM Ecotec 2.0 Liter 300hp 250 ft/lbs Supercharged
$43,640.00


Honda Drivetrain

Honda VTEC 2.0 Liter 300hp 163ft/lbs Supercharged
$48,500.00

Honda iVTEC 2.0 Liter 245hp 143ft/lbs Hondata ECU
$44,250.00

 

you should watch the top gear video its insane