I wrote up a review of the Ariel Atom that I posted in the Corvette forum. So I just copied and pasted it for my good friends over here to read it. It was a blast.
Well I took Eddie Hill up on his offer that he made here in post number 13:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/other-cars/3103469-fourfather-eddie-hills-ariel-atom-gee-readings.htmlAnd what a great visit...
Eddie epitomizes the people that live in this part of Texas. He is the good old boy type that will do anything for you, with a smile on his face, and all while having fun doing it. The Southern style hospitality of this area is one of the things I like best about it, and what I miss most when I travel to other places. And Eddie has it in spades.
So if you are looking at, thinking about, or even a little bit interested in an Ariel Atom then Eddie is your guy. Eddie is clearly not your typical car salesman. He doesn't NEED to sell you a car. Eddie has done well for himself over the years, and is a known celebrity the world over besides being a very successful business owner. Eddie clearly has become a dealer for the Ariel Atom because he is really having fun with them. He gladly showed me everything with an obvious excitement. He's into it and wants to share it with others. This is the guy that you want to buy an Atom from. He knows them coming and going, and he can tell you all about them. :thumbs:
From his web site Eddie speaks of other super cars that he has:
http://www.eddiehillsfuncycles.com/p/Ariel-AtomYep, I was there. I saw them. Having read all about the Ultima Can-Am and Ultima GTR's, I was very familiar with them. And Eddie's Can-Am was REALLY nice.
The super charged Ford GT was really nice too. That's me in the short paints.
And yes, those cars are REALLY cool, but were clearly taking a back seat. He was not out having fun with those super cars. According to Eddie, the Atom is WAY more fun, and after today, I believe him.
My first impression of the Atom was that the workmanship was very good. It was simple but effective. It is clean and efficient. A purpose built car for all out fun. No radio, no AC, and no cup holders. These things are all "go".
And the track tires on this one showed clearly that someone has been really having some fun with it. The Atom is not a show car. It is a drivers car.
Everything on the car was purpose built to get the job done. The radiator tucked neatly into the nose with a duct on each side and a small electric fan that kept the engine cool even on the track. So over heating is never an issue or a concern for daily driving.
And unlike any racing program I have ever been involved with, the Atom was almost maintenance free. Sure, you will go through some tires running it on the track all the time. All cars go through tires on the track. But there was no repair time, breakage, or overhauling of the engine, transmission, clutch, or anything. While the engine does crank out some power, the car doesn't weigh anything, and there is very little load put on anything. The engines and transmissions were designed to be used in 3,000 and 3,500 pound cars, plus passengers, and built to run a couple of hundred thousand miles with no issues. Drop that power plant and transmission into a car that weighs about 1,350 pounds and most of the load is taken from it. Being able to run something as hard as these cars can be run and not have to worry about breaking anything or even turning a wrench on it is a big deal. A really big deal!
I am a Vette guy just as everyone else here on the Corvette Forum. And if you really want to go fast then buying a new Vette is usually just the beginning. Then comes the tuner tweaks, new exhaust, headers, dropping in a bigger cam. Some even swap out heads, rear end gears, add super chargers, etc. With the Atom you are not likely to worry about any of that stuff. You might only have to decide if you want the standard fenders of the carbon fiber ones. Here is Eddie showing me fender choices. I caught him off gaurd with the picture. I caught him just as he turned around.
Oh, you can accessorize the Atom and make it your own. Wings or no wings, and all of that stuff... But it doesn't need ten or fifteen thousand dollars worth of mods to get it up to speed. It is as fast as most people can ever handle right out of the box. This one has the little shorty wind screens.
This one is the Honda powered version. It was also about to get some new tires.
Here is one with the body panel off showing a clean electrical system and race track computer.
Now for the really fun part. Eddie showed me how to get into all the harnesses, and he just hopped in on his side to strap in. We are going for a ride. :woohoo:
Here we are letting it warm up just a little before taking off. Eddie was showing me everything all the time as if it were the coolest thing in the world. Yep, that's my Vette to the right.
This is going to be fun. You know I couldn't quit smiling. This particular one was Eddies track car. It had no muffler. It had just a header and straight pipe. Was it loud? Not really. At idle and at low speeds it was pretty mellow. At wide open throttle though, it did sing out.
We eased down Eddie's long concrete driveway and onto a narrow paved bumpy road. I had just been down that bumpy road to get there. I was a bit concerned that it was about to be a rough ride. Surprisingly, it was not. Okay, my Vette may have road a little smoother. It does have the adjustable magnetic suspension carried over from Cadillac after all. But the Atom was not rough at all. And as we went around the first hard 90 degree curve in the road I noticed how easy it is to make the car hold any line you want. You can hit any apex of any curve real easy with this car. You can see the front wheels! It was in a way like riding in a big go cart. And clearly it handled like it was on rails. But it went smoothly into the curves. I could get real used to this in a hurry.
So we casually headed down to the main road and turned around. Then Eddie stopped in the middle of the road, looked over at me and asked me if I was ready to feel it out? Or something like that. I of coarse said, yeah! And then he stopped it to the floor. That car shot off like a little rocket. He was all out for three gears then stomped the brake. As quickly as the car shot up to nearly 100 miles and hour it came to an immediate dead stop. This was on a cool road a little before noon, and with fairly cold tires. It never chirped a tire, squealed or skidded. It was glued to the road. Wow! :eek:
The straight line acceleration reminded me of some of the faster crotch rocket style sport bike that I have ridden. I have some seat time drag racing with a few of them, including a nitrous equipped FZR1000 that finished the 1/4 mile at 160 miles an hour. So I know what going fast feels like. And the Atom was right up there with those sport bikes. Eddie of coarse has a different frame of reference for speed. So you'd think that maybe this was no big deal for him. He has hit speeds and accelerated in ways most people can't even image. Funny thing though, he looked like he was having a ball.
We drove around some more and made a few more hard throttle passes. We felt out the corning and handling too. It was ridiculously fun. I don't think I have ever ridden in a car more FUN. We then turned back onto Eddie's long concrete driveway and came to a dead stop again. And again full throttle through three gears and a hard stop. I think we hit a little over 80 in his driveway. And oh yeah, it stops really fast. And it was your typical one lane driveway with no room for error. And there was none. It was perfectly straight on the gas and on the brakes.
So we unharness and climb out. I'm all grins. I had a blast. Funny thing was Eddie was grinning too. He may have been having more fun than me. I guess it doesn't matter what you've raced in your life and how fast you've been. Taking one of these out for a ride is a blast even for Eddie. And I don't know how old he is now, but he popped in an out of that car like a kid. And you could tell that he is still a kid at heart. A kid having fun. I think if Eddie had a parking lot full of these things and people lined up to buy them. He'd have someone else handling the sales and paperwork because he would be the guy giving rides. :thumbs:
Afterword the computer recorded everything about our run via satellite telemetry, and G meters.
Seems like it said we hit 1.6 something G's in acceleration and 1.7 something G's in deceleration. I don't remember the numbers exactly. It was a lot to take in and parts of it all are still a blur.
Getting back into my Vette to go home felt like getting into a delivery van. It suddenly felt very heavy and slow. I can't even begin to compare my Vette to the Atom. The Atom will literally run off and leave it in every possible way. One thing about them is comparable though. The cost is pretty close. A base model Corvette and a base model Atom are in about the same price range. Just like the Corvette there are options that can add to it just like moving up the Corvette ladder into a Grand Sport or Z06. Still, they are pretty close in price. I think that is about where the comparisons end though.
I highly recommend anyone even remotely interested in one of these to get a hold of Eddie. One test ride and you'll be writing out a check. If my bank account would have supported the size of the check, I would have written one myself. If you can afford to buy one. Get it! Life it too short to not have that much fun.
Thanks Eddie!
