Its not a secret, but I've been loathe to say anything till they confirm my delivery date, however...........
Went to the Ariel factory last weekend for a meeting with Simon Saunders to review the spec of my car. Despite having the flu, there wasn't much going to stop me making this appointment
What a great group of guys though, Simon and the 2 Steves who put the cars together. If the rest of the UK motor industry had the passion and enthusiasm of these chaps it would be in a far better state!
Spent a fair bit of time looking round the cars and getting a good understanding of what all the different options are on the car. Talking to the Steve's , who were working on Atoms in various states of repair was a massive help in determining what was, and what was not needed on the Atom.
The spec so far;
Atom 245 (which now included baffled sump, LSD and roadpack)
Cat Bypass Pipe
Sport Brake Package Rear
Alcon 4 Pot Caliper/290 Disc Front
Aluminium Dampers Adj Bump/Reb
Two Piece Spring Kit
16" Wheel Package/Track Tyres
Locking Fuel Cap
12v. Auxillary feed with Lighter Socket
Intercom system
Exterior Car Cover
Battery Optimiser
Protection Kit Chassis & Wishbones
Protection Kit Nose & Hoop
Shift Light Steering Wheel
Haven't gone too made, but hopefully this should prove quite a good package and certainloy the feeling at the factory was that it should be ideal for my needs
Heres a few shots from the workshop;
A few in the showroom;
Taking out 470M for a wee spin (thankfully not literally!)
Having spoken to Simon about car choice, engine wise, his advise was to buy the 245 and run it for 1-2 years and see if i then wanted it supercharged.
I'd really like to feel i was driving the socks of it before making the move from very rapid to stupidly rapid, and driving 470M (300 Supercharged) was the highlight of my trip.
After being told that he wouldn't normally let anyone drive the car in these conditions, but given he would make an exception in my case, I felt a strange pang of "please don't stuff it syndrom"!
I have never felt acceleration like this, an entirely new level. Overtaking is staggering and given the road conditions that was only on short blasts of throttle. Simon did open her up though on a dual carriage way, and Mr M3 (who fancied a challenge) was despatched like he'd done an emergency stop....staggering! The increase in pace was relentless. And what a noise......
Its very very very very very addictive, and just to hear the Supercharger go nuts again is so tempting everywhere!
This thing is genuinely Superbike fast!
On they way back to the factory i over took a fair few cars, and found myself arriving at corners way too quickly, in shock at how quickly the pace was being racked up. Mckeann would love this car! The big brake package is awesome too! (thankfully!!)
The pace it will hit 130+ tuts is staggering, the fact that it shows no sign of slowing in any regard is even more impressive.
Well, I've got the option at any time to send mine back for the SC, but I'd like to be able to drive it well first, so that will be my challenge for now. After all 500bhp per tonne, isn't too bad for starters.......
Needless to say a TSE badge will be one of the first things to go on it, and hopefully I'll have it in time for TT2007
