Gregson Mathe
The Ariel Atom is a piece of kit that will tear your face off, so confirmed by Jeremy Clarkson driving it in a segment when he and the boys were still on Top Gear. Ariel’s #1 seller has been the stuff of legend with it’s insane power to weight ratio and mid melting speed. But apparently that’s not good enough and they want more. Engineers after our own hearts.
According to a report from Autocar, Ariel wants to do a multitude of new things to the Atom including electric power. However, the most interesting part of the conversation stemmed from the new hybrid technology used in the NSX and how Ariel’s head honcho, Simon Saunders, wants to use that in coming models.
Simon Saunders explained that his company is happy to follow the path of Honda, which is expected to adopt more hybrid technology into its range following the launch of the NSX.
“The technology in the NSX is cutting-edge and expensive, but it will work its way down the food chain to the hot hatches,” he said. “At that point, it becomes achievable for us to use in the Atom.”
Saunders said Ariel had already considered integrating other Honda hybrid powertrains into the Atom but had concluded that none was powerful enough or appropriate for a sporting application. “Obviously, for Honda it’s more about emissions, but for us it’s mostly a performance thing.”
Saunders added that Ariel’s approach always revolves around getting maximum performance from its engines. Reduced emissions and improved fuel economy are positive effects but not the priority. “It is important to us, though. We’re looking at taking the Atom to EU6 now,” he said.
If they add the NSX engine to this thing, mark my words it’ll be the fastest car in existence. It already weighs next to nothing and that kind of power would put the Atom in a league of it’s own.
Time will tell if Ariel is crazy enough to do this, but, I mean, they’ve made a car that looks like it’s made of bridge supports with a V8 in the back. Anything’s possible.
(Source: Autocar)
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