We continued on our drive towards Dead Indian Memorial Road. Mr. Sanew was the first to drive the car, and he noted immediately: “Driving the Atom was almost exactly like driving a go-cart.” The car has no power steering. With its quick steering and 1.5 turn lock to lock even the slightest movement of the wheel had it changing course. Missing are the 20 or so different rubber bushings, evident in standard cars, that numb steering feel, so the driver is completely connected to the road. The suspension on this vehicle had threaded body Bilstein adjustable shocks with Eibach coil springs, in addition to helper coils.
The purpose of helper springs is to create a more comfortable ride for normal driving. They provide initial load bearing before passing off the duty to the main single rate springs which are extremely stiff. This package is exceptional, for anyone who wants the best of both worlds with no sacrifice in ride quality, both on and off the track. Not to be misleading, the car is still extremely stiff and bumpy. Most of our friends from atomclub.com, the definitive Atom owners’ site, agree with us that first gear starts or using first gear at all in this car is counterproductive. There is so much torque available, in any gear, that starting in first is actually slower if you want to accelerate hard, and believe us, the car beckons that. We would have to agree second gear starts in the Atom were like first gears starts in average sports cars.
Driving around normally in high gears was exceptional. There was no need to ever downshift, unless the driver wanted to pitch the rear end sideways a bit. The Atom’s engine simply wound up in any gear as if we were driving on jack-stands.
We decided to wear helmets, not because we had to, but because the idea of getting cracked in the head or face with a rock was not an aspect of the car we wanted to explore. For those not used to riding motorcycles, with a helmet on, the wind gently blows through the air vents, making it feel like someone installed a hard top and rolled down the windows. The engine drone through the intake behind the seat was fairly loud, and could get annoying after a few hours of driving at cruising speeds. The instrument cluster was simple, and with the road pack you get turn signals, horn, rear tails, and headlamps.
The control for the turn signal was like toggling a circuit breaker on and off, and with no auto-off, it’s likely the average motorist who will be driving with them on during the day.
The horn button is exactly the same geometry and texture as the start button, get hasty and an unfamilar driver will grind the starter. There are some obvious ergonomic issues with the console and interior for daily driving, however these all melt away when it’s time to really drive.
When we arrived back from our ride in the valley, we spoke with Tom about our driving impressions. The car was cleaned up and prepared for our last round of photos. We mentioned to Tom that the car was incredible when driven aggressively, but going even 7/10ths in the car on the street gets extremely nerve racking. We wondered how it would behave on the track, more importantly in a medium speed autocross setting.
Tom’s eyes lit up, he told us that he might be able to help us with that. He did not make any promises however. He invited us to the Jackson County Sports Park the next day, home of the regional go-cart clubs and the Siskiyou Sports Car Club. We were incredibly grateful and said our goodbyes. That evening we took a further tour of Oregon on the scenic drive to the coast, past the Red Woods and down to California. It was a long drive, but again we were amazed by the beauty of the mountainous landscape. The trees were so large that we felt like Lilliputians among an army of Gullivers. We later stopped for some food and admired the ocean. As amazing as it all was, we wanted to get back at a reasonable hour. We had yet another long day ahead of us.
At the crack of dawn we rose, made our equipment ready, and checked out of our lodgings. We met at Brammo Motorsports and followed Tom as he drove the Atom. We took a quick detour for breakfast, during which we learned some of his history as a fabricator and business owner, and also how his family factored into his happiness. His wife and daughter share his motorsports passion. His zeal for driving started with carts, and his daughter has gone down the same road. As luck, or rather, as skill has it, she is extremely talented.
We followed Tom to the track where his daughter Mallory met us. He took us for a few sprints in the car to show us the track, and then took Mallory for a ride while we set up our equipment to film and capture the vehicle in motion. After a few laps of testing the limits we were ready for some hot laps. Despite having a host of driving schools, track days, and countless auto crosses under our belts, nothing prepared us for driving this car full out.
For starters, like any high performance machine, you need to be 100% ahead of the car. Fall behind for mili-second and you will lose it at higher speeds. Throttle lift when it gets edgy and the driver best hold in the clutch because the Atom is going to go sideways. If the pilot carries too much speed in a sweeper, the car will snap around before you can count to three. Push it into a turn too hard and the car will understeer. Throttle out too hard and you will power oversteer. The car exhibited every handling dynamic, but was always neutral when staying ahead of it. Although the equipped Bridgestone S03 is an incredible tire it is showing its age for this type of driving. Tom’s daughter Mallory commented on how the car could be pushed much further with a set of stickier tires, namely in the sweeper. We hope that Brammo will take into consideration the newer powerhouse street tires, such as the Falken 615 and the Hankook RS2, when building wheel/tire packages.
The car was near perfect, although we felt the brakes were too soft. That would be an easy fix, considering the bias can be adjusted front and rear. The race pads, calipers, and rotors did not offer enough initial bite, and even after heating them up, we found that we were braking much earlier than we wanted. Without ABS on these cars, braking is also more of an art. If the driver is sloppy with threshold braking, going straight off the course from a lockup will be common.
Last but not least, we will cover the car’s durability and fuel economy. Between the four drivers, we pitched the car off the course, spun it, flung it, put it sideways, and it never missed a beat, not once. The only item that did not survive was our car mounted camera, perhaps the g-forces were enough to put it to sleep. For a car built to race, even going off-road was not a problem for the Atom, driving it right back on the course was easy, and aside from picking up some major plant life, the car kept savagely dicing through every turn, every redline shift, and constant abuse. We did all this on 6 gallons of petrol, logging 150 miles. Try doing that in any other sports car.
The press thus far has suggested that the Atom is one of the fastest road cars on Earth.
In the US we will have to hold that opinion back until we are able to see them legally running on the roads. Every state has different rules about what makes a car street worthy. As of now we could drive the Atom in about 3 states. This is not an issue right now because Brammo has not started manufacturing them yet.
Since the Atom is not a kit car like the Caterham or Factory 5, it may be a bit more difficult to get registered in certain areas. Also, finding affordable insurance is something owners will likely have to deal with. With that noted the debate has begun, on where a driver can compete with the Atom. A driver competing against themselves gets tiring for most with a competitive spirit. If a driver has a need to compete against others in a like class, the Atom may be a disappointment. Initial owners are urged to push local clubs or sanctioning race leaders to get the Atom classed. Spec Atom racing seems to be the most likely outlet, but for now this will be up to the new owners to get started. The real world issues of owning an Atom in the US seem rather sketchy. With 7000lb SUVs, horrible road conditions, inclement weather, earthquakes, blizzards, road raging cell phone drivers, who would want to own this car?
The answer is fairly obvious; the true enthusiasts who want one of the best sports cars ever made, at a price the modern American can afford. No more drooling over cars that cost more than a house, or 2 generations of college funds. The Atom is a dream come true.
We will let the major American automotive journalists strap on all the high tech geek gadgets to tell us exactly how fast the car is, and how much better it is for anything in the price range, but for us, after taking a real world drive, followed up by 50+ laps of track time, we can honestly say that the future of sports cars has arrived to the United States.
Brammo Motorsports is accepting orders beginning on September 1, 2005
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Want to learn more about the Atom in the USA or want to know how to get your hands on one?
The Official Owners Website - Atomclub.com
http://Atomclub.com
Ariel Atom USA - Brammo Motorsports
Automotivetech.org
The Source of the Article
http://www.k20.org
K20a.org
The Ultimate K20 Honda Motor Site
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