How does the Atom dominate if it's mid pack in each of the statistics you cite?
i love people who don't read.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-= * * * Pabst Blue Ribbon * * * =-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=- I am not living, I am just killing time. -=-=-=-=-=-=-
not surprising but pretty sweet considering you get better performance than a z06 for less money and with less than half the horsepower.
The Ariel isn't even a car though, it's a motorcycle with 4 wheels. With the ZO6 you have all the performance (since the ZO6 will turn all the same lap times, cornering, etc on equal tires) plus you get a vehicle that's street legal (which the Ariel tested was not) has a roof, windshield, crash protection, climate control, and so on. All the comforts and conveniences of a real car with all the track performance of a track car.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
...plus you get a vehicle that's street legal (which the Ariel tested was not) ....
Wrong.
The Atom is street legal in most states, including California, where that car is located and the test was conducted. If the Atom in the photos didn't have plates, it was because it was new. I'm sure that car has plates by now.
Its true that the Atom isn't a "complete" car like the others, but that's part of its beauty. Just as obvious as that is the fact that none of these cars would be great daily drivers, and none would be purchased for that use.
The Atom is street legal in most states, including California, where that car is located and the test was conducted. If the Atom in the photos didn't have plates, it was because it was new. I'm sure that car has plates by now.
Its true that the Atom isn't a "complete" car like the others, but that's part of its beauty. Just as obvious as that is the fact that none of these cars would be great daily drivers, and none would be purchased for that use.
The Atom is street legal in most states, including California, where that car is located and the test was conducted. If the Atom in the photos didn't have plates, it was because it was new. I'm sure that car has plates by now.
Its true that the Atom isn't a "complete" car like the others, but that's part of its beauty. Just as obvious as that is the fact that none of these cars would be great daily drivers, and none would be purchased for that use.
While this is true, I think the point he was trying to make was that the particular one in the test was not street legal.
The Atom is street legal in most states, including California, where that car is located and the test was conducted. If the Atom in the photos didn't have plates, it was because it was new. I'm sure that car has plates by now.
Its true that the Atom isn't a "complete" car like the others, but that's part of its beauty. Just as obvious as that is the fact that none of these cars would be great daily drivers, and none would be purchased for that use.
IT IS A KIT CAR, NOT A PRODUCTION CAR! How do you not understand the difference?
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
IT IS A KIT CAR, NOT A PRODUCTION CAR! How do you not understand the difference?
if it's street legal then what is the difference. i wouldnt pick either car to drive every day and i would rather drive an atom on a track than a zo6. and if you can legally drive it to said track than i dont see anyone wouldn't pick it over a more expensive corvette or 911
The Corvette was the only car on street tires. All the others are known as "DOT R" race tires, common to autocrossers and road racers who don't want to run a full slick. Let me help explain it in picture form.
More proof that the Z06 is an absolute steal of a car! And I agree with whoever said the Z06 really showed up the competition, not the Atom Huge, huge kudos to GM for making such an amazing machine at a decent price!
While this is true, I think the point he was trying to make was that the particular one in the test was not street legal.
and the point I was trying to make is that he was WRONG! The car in the test belongs to an owner in SoCal., and I'm sure its licensed by now. THE ATOM IN THE TEST WAS STREET LEGAL.
Call it a kit, call it limited production, call it impractical as hell, but don't call it illegal (unless you just want to make stuff up).
My God, what is the tread mileage for those? 500km? That tire probably leaves chunks of itself on every corner. Chris
Oh, about 100 runs. Um, so about 100 minutes. Or, say, about 100 miles..
Quote, originally posted by jayseal22 »
and that's all that matters. If he had a magic genie in a box and said wa da ya think and the genie said tranny crapped out bam its been seen 89 dollar to zobra the great.
More proof that the Z06 is an absolute steal of a car! And I agree with whoever said the Z06 really showed up the competition, not the Atom Huge, huge kudos to GM for making such an amazing machine at a decent price!
This was a test of high performance track cars. The Atom was nearly 2 seconds a lap faster than the Vette, and was faster in every other category as well. Thus the term "dominance".
The point about the different tires is a good one. The Vette would certainly have been faster on R compound tires. But Ariel/Brammo could counter that by bringing out their top of the line 300hp Atom.
Of course the Vette's fast, look at how BIG the engine is! As they say, "there's no replacement for displacement". BUT, with that said, I have to agree that the Z06 is impressive. What GM did right IMO was keeping the weight down despite the massive engine.
But all things considered (except maybe price), I'm personally most impressed by the Porsche.
Of course we all have our opinions and preferences, and that's what makes these arguments fun.
and the point I was trying to make is that he was WRONG! The car in the test belongs to an owner in SoCal., and I'm sure its licensed by now. THE ATOM IN THE TEST WAS STREET LEGAL.
Call it a kit, call it limited production, call it impractical as hell, but don't call it illegal (unless you just want to make stuff up).
Shall I quote what it says in the article? Under a picture showing all but the Ariel? The caption says that the Ariel in the article was not registered for use on the street. While it may be a semantic arguement that fact was, at the time of the test, you could not drive the Ariel on the street. Hence not street legal.
Shall I quote what it says in the article? Under a picture showing all but the Ariel? The caption says that the Ariel in the article was not registered for use on the street. While it may be a semantic arguement that fact was, at the time of the test, you could not drive the Ariel on the street. Hence not street legal.
Thanks for the clarification. I don't have the mag yet, only the stats.
It sounds like Car & Driver are the ones making the semantic error. Its possible that a lot of cars they test aren't "registered for use on the street", because they don't yet have license plates.
There's a big difference between "not street legal" and "not yet registered". That Atom should've at least had a temp permit, making it legal to drive on the street while awaiting the plates.
If the car was indeed not street legal, then it wouldn't belong in this test.
This was a test of high performance track cars. The Atom was nearly 2 seconds a lap faster than the Vette, and was faster in every other category as well. Thus the term "dominance".
It's a 2-minute track. Everyone knows R tires are easily worth 1 second per minute on most any road course - sometimes even more than that. The ZO6 should run the same, if not better lap times than the $60,000 as-tested Atom when run on R tires.
But what would I know.. I'm just a guy that ran that same exact track configuration in my own car on Kumho V700's years ago, and someone who has plenty of experience with both street and R tires on the track and in autocrosses.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
I have the mag in front of me. C&D is not to blame. The car was not street legal and the owner (so far) only uses it/wants it for track use. It may never become street legal if the owner chooses...
The car was not street legal and the owner (so far) only uses it/wants it for track use. It may never become street legal if the owner chooses...
That could be said about ANY car. If the owner of a Civic chooses to never make it street legal by paying the DMV fees, etc, then it won't be. That doesn't make all Civics illegal.
Let me put it this way - Atoms EXACTLY LIKE the one in the C&D test are legally driving the streets of California with license plates.
It seems that you prefer to believe that Atoms aren't street legal, regardless of the facts, and nothing's going to change that. So I'll stop arguing about it now.
It's a 2-minute track. Everyone knows R tires are easily worth 1 second per minute on most any road course - sometimes even more than that. The ZO6 should run the same, if not better lap times than the $60,000 as-tested Atom when run on R tires.
Excellent point.
How much faster do you think another 55hp would make the Atom? That's a 22% increase in power, which would be like adding another 111 hp to the Z06.
Personally, I don't know why they didn't supply a 300hp Atom for this test.
How much faster do you think another 55hp would make the Atom? That's a 22% increase in power, which would be like adding another 111 hp to the Z06.
Personally, I don't know why they didn't supply a 300hp Atom for this test.
I don't think it would make the Atom any faster at all. Look at the 911 to the ZO6. The GT3 is down a hundred horsepower, but since it has cheater tires, it still turns an extremely competitive lap time. The article says the Atom is already a huge handful to try to drive and more power will only make that worse. The thing that would probably help the Atom the most is going to V710's or just flat out true slicks.
As for why didn't they "supply" a 300hp Atom, probably because there's no such thing as supplying a kit car for a road test. Manufacturers have various cars available. Kit car builders have no cars, at least unless they've Factory Five or some similar company selling a thousand kits a year or something. This was a customer car, and the customer didn't order the 300hp engine package. You get what you get when testing personally owned vehicles.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
I love the atom so this is clearly no surprise but what impresses me the most with these results is just how amazing the z06 is. Jesus man that's a normal car not a track day special, it has lux. features and backed by GM it can be totally driven everyday with nearly zero compromise. It has aircon, power windows, nav, leather, and even carpet! wow < ! >
Truly amazing, I think that car is a masterpiece it never disappoints!
I don't think it would make the Atom any faster at all. Look at the 911 to the ZO6. The GT3 is down a hundred horsepower, but since it has cheater tires, it still turns an extremely competitive lap time. The article says the Atom is already a huge handful to try to drive and more power will only make that worse. The thing that would probably help the Atom the most is going to V710's or just flat out true slicks.
As for why didn't they "supply" a 300hp Atom, probably because there's no such thing as supplying a kit car for a road test. Manufacturers have various cars available. Kit car builders have no cars, at least unless they've Factory Five or some similar company selling a thousand kits a year or something. This was a customer car, and the customer didn't order the 300hp engine package. You get what you get when testing personally owned vehicles.
That's definitely the case. With these smaller specialty manufacturers, the magazines take what they can get.
The Noble was parked at some guy's house. You take what you can get:
The car parked in my driveway. It had a bent tie rod for the test. That accounts for the murky steering. Something left over from the Autoweek test that couldn't be fixed in time. I realigned it in the driveway, cleaned it up and sent it on its way to the C&D test. The car also had a well used set of rear Corsas. When I got the car back, the tires sported a flint like hardness. Still, it handled like a Noble.
Besser Nürburgring als Ehering
"And what type of vehicle is required to make a 996 Turbo S feel as brisk as a Mondeo V6 around the Nordschleife? Yup, a Noble M400. The M400 is so much faster around here that even locals in tricked-up GT3s become mobile-chicanes." - GT Purely Porsche Magazine
Considering one of the things the Noble is known for is it's incredible steering, that makes perfect sense. Nothing will ruin steering feel quite like having bent up tie rods, I would imagine.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
It seems that you prefer to believe that Atoms aren't street legal, regardless of the facts, and nothing's going to change that. So I'll stop arguing about it now.
You must have me confused with somebody else - I've never said any such thing?!
The Atom is faster than a Z06, but when it's 45 degrees, pissing rain and the wind is blowing sideways, which would you rather be stting in...
if it was raining out i wouldn't go to the track. meaning i wouldn't be in either car but if i had to choose i would still rather be driving an atom in the pouring rain and loving every second of it.
Not sure if it was mentioned but the Atom has a honda K20 in the base and a supercharged GM ecotec in the top of the line. Its a niche car and this is more of a display of how good the others are compared to a dedicated track car. There was a Top Gear segment on it with the 300Hp supercharged version. Nothing stayed with it and they claimed it handled the power really well.
Not sure if it was mentioned but the Atom has a honda K20 in the base and a supercharged GM ecotec in the top of the line. Its a niche car and this is more of a display of how good the others are compared to a dedicated track car. There was a Top Gear segment on it with the 300Hp supercharged version. Nothing stayed with it and they claimed it handled the power really well.
As far as I know, the US model will only use the Ecotec.
"And what type of vehicle is required to make a 996 Turbo S feel as brisk as a Mondeo V6 around the Nordschleife? Yup, a Noble M400. The M400 is so much faster around here that even locals in tricked-up GT3s become mobile-chicanes." - GT Purely Porsche Magazine
I don't think it would make the Atom any faster at all. Look at the 911 to the ZO6. The GT3 is down a hundred horsepower, but since it has cheater tires, it still turns an extremely competitive lap time. The article says the Atom is already a huge handful to try to drive and more power will only make that worse. The thing that would probably help the Atom the most is going to V710's or just flat out true slicks.
That's a ridiculous statement. A 22% increase in power won't make it faster around a track "at all"? Please.
But what do I know, I've only driven a few hundred laps on tracks in a 245hp Ariel Atom.
Quote, originally posted by AZGolf »
The GT3 is down a hundred horsepower, but since it has cheater tires, it still turns an extremely competitive lap time.
Why are they "cheater tires"? Are they not the tires that the car comes with from the dealer? If they are, then they aren't cheating (I honestly don't know which tires the 997 GT3 comes with stock).
Is having an engine that's two or three times the displacement of the competition cheating?
Why are they "cheater tires"? Are they not the tires that the car comes with from the dealer? If they are, then they aren't cheating (I honestly don't know which tires the 997 GT3 comes with stock).
Is having an engine that's two or three times the displacement of the competition cheating?
The GT3 has R tires, also known as autocrosser tires or road racing tires. They have a treadwear rating of 80. They really shouldn't be street legal at all. The Corvette has standard street tires, treadwear of 220. If you ever autocrossed for example, you'd know that manufacturers have adopted 140 as the magic number at which anything lower than that is not a street tire any more. 80 is obviously below 140.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
i agree w/ you AZGolf, they are in a way "cheater tires." however, i am flabbergasted as to why GM would hinder their car like that (anyone feel free to chime in here). if you are talking about buying AS IS, the Porsche is now in the same league.
For advertising information Click Here
Huge, huge kudos to GM for making such an amazing machine at a decent price!
