What the press have said ...

"Britain's quickest car'

Autocar 0-100-0 2005 (Atom 300 Supercharged)

'The Atom was truly a surreal machine to extract times from. It reached 100mph in just 6.8 seconds. Overall time 0-100mph-0: 10.88 seconds. WOW'



Click on the link below to see the video of the Atom 2 on it's Autocar 0-100-0 run.
http://www.autocar.co.uk/popups/video.asp?AR=215770


BBC Top Gear (Atom 2 220 & 300 Supercharged)



Atom 2 segment - 48mb mpg file
'I think this is one of the most beautiful cars in the world partly because it's so elegant and partly because it's such a wonderful piece of engineering.'
'The Atom is fast on an entirely new level. I have never, ever driven anything that accelerates so fast.'
'If anything this car is even more impressive in the bends than it is in a straight line. Anyone who wants to know how a car should behave should drive one of these. This is driving nirvana.'
'Over the years I've flown F15 fighters, done power slides in airboats, straffed the desert from helicopter gunships, but for sheer ecitement this thing is off the scale.'


5th Gear (Atom 2 300 Supercharged)

Atom 2 - 20mb mpg file
'The Atom's performance in a straight line is mind bending, but the trump card is the way is goes round corners. The cars are built without any concession to comfort, all that matters to Ariel is handling.'
Autocar (Atom 300bhp Supercharged)
How to describe this car's acceleration? Well you're effectively entering a Spirit World. It's more than a parallel universe you didn't know existed: it's an entirely human-created land, an almost religious place which at first shocks you into muted fear, but after a time draws you in and traps you. The fastest of all Atoms, a track tool that will give everything - and I mean everything - something to think about, and one that looks properly 21st century and handles like a mid - engined single seater.

Sunday Times (Atom 2)
It’s as cool as a Phillipe Starck Juicer, as tempting as any of the brushed aluminium toys you find in an airport gadget shop. But unlike underwater currency converters, I doubt you’d ever get bored with what it can do. In terms of sheer thrills the Atom is easily a match for the Porsche Carrera GT which makes its price look almost ludicrously low. That’s yet another reason why I have no hesition in giving the Atom five stars. This car is motoring nirvana.

Jeremy Clarkson
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Evo (Atom 2 245)
The Ariel Atom has a real, tangible sense of integrity. Okay so it's got no doors or roof but that exposed Honda iVTEC engine is bulletproof and the beautifully detailed suspension and substantial steel chassis are brilliantly executed. It feels special before it's even turned a wheel.
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Evo (Atom 2 Supercharged 275)
The combination of a VTEC engine with a blower is a scream in more ways than one. But the thrust is almost unbelievable and the experience of being fired towards the horizon is amplified by the fact that the Atom has no skin. The gearbox is superb and it needs to be as the revs pile on so quickly you’re constantly grabbing for the next ratio. The surge of power is relentless – intense doesn’t even begin to explain it.

Autocar (Atom 2 220)
'The Ariel Atom was barely believable, and for more than just its hottest lap. Now with Honda iVTEC power, a six-speed 'box and thoroughly revised suspension, it is a remarkable car, and the perfect antidote to the super-sticky racers. The Atom was all about controlled drifting from one turn to the next: using every last rev and capitalising on the torque. With just 500kg to lump about, 152lb/ft of torque suddenly becomes twist-worthy. There was just something so rewarding about the Atom, something so intense and raw that it was the car we all wanted to stay in and lap... It's ability to match what is at time eye-opening speed with a grippy and yet totally exploitable chassis was amazing. Every one of these (the cars on test) will make you feel a hero, but the Atom gets into your veins like nothing else on four wheels.
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'Amazing. This car feels just like a Formula Vauxhall that someone just happens to have attached a set of number plates to. It was much quicker, but also much less tricky to drive, than I was expecting somehow. A really good fun car, in other words.'
Justin Wilson


'No matter how handy you think you are, there's nothing likebeing a passenger with someone who can really drive to return your feet to terra firma. Abiding memory for me will be sitting alongside tiny Takuma Sato, in an Ariel Atom, passing Tiff in a Boxster... with two wheels on the grass. And not a lift.'
Alastair Clements

Track and Race Cars - Battle of Britain
We've devised a points scoring system that gives you a pretty good idea of what went on. In a nutshell though, if we were allowed to race all these cars head to head, there would be one clear winner and that's the Atom. On a track day or in a race there's nothing that will come close for the money.

Track and Race Cars (Atom 2 160)
It’s a great soundtrack and with a direct driving position sitting my body low in the cockpit and a whole host of data in front of me on the trick SPA display, it really is a lovely place for the dedicated driver to be. There has only been a handful of cars that I’ve driven which have encouraged me to just have fun while at the same time supplying me with a product that will also set a tasty lap around our test track around our test track. That’s very tough to achieve, especially as I’m always out there to get the most from the track test. I take my nomex-layered hat off to the guys at Ariel – bravo.

Car (Atom 2 220)
'So you're anticipating something pretty special – but even so, the first time you really unleash the Honda motor you're left mouthing like a stranded trout. Bared teeth shine for the first 4000 rpm as lips are parted and pressed towards ears; hit 5,200 rpm and the traps go up for the dogs of war. The Atom 2 launches forward like it's scented blood and chases down forward traffic like a cheetah wired tight on amphetamines.'

Inside Line (Atom 245)
The comfortable low-speed rise, the supple damping and the exceptional high-speed body control are all present and correct, despite the challenges posed by the car's lowly mass. It has become a cliché to talk about a car handling like a single-seater, but the Atom is about as close to a genuine road-going racecar experience as you're likely to get.

Autocar (Atom 220 Race Car)
The car is sensational and deserves every success as a club racer. It looks quick and is quick. The Type R 2.0 litre iVTEC engine driving a kerbweight of about 500kg. Add slick tyres and front and rear wings and you have a serious, angry little 150mph racing car, similar in character to a single seater. We won our class over the weekend but it paled into insignificance next to the achievement of Ariel with their Atom Honda racer. It’s the best thing to happen to club racing in many years, and it flattered us. What a great little car.

Sunday Telegraph (Atom 2 220)
'My drive in the new Atom 2 was the most thrilling and elating time I have had in a road car in all the years that I have been writing this column. For providing limitless sensations of pure propulsion and of communication with a machine the Atom 2 offers the nearest experience on earth to a bike that has been crossed with a single seater racing car... I may never be happy till I own one.'

Auto Express (Atom 2 220)
'The ultimate engine for a sports car of this nature, Honda's VTEC unit delivers high-revving thrills in every gear. Able to rev beyond 8,500rpm, the Atom is gob-smackingly fast, and if you thought the Civic Type R sounded good – well, you aint heard nothing yet. From the crowds that gathered at petrol stations to the crystal-clear steering feel and the startling engine, the driver becomes immersed in every aspect of the Atom experience.'

Wall Street Journal (Atom 2)
Open and exhilerating and liberating. You have the sense that you can go anywhere in one. When you get in a normal car afterwards it feels claustrophobic
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Circuit Driver (Atom 2 220 Race Car)
First impression compared to something like a Caterham is one of space. The cockpit is wide and accommodating with the pedals perfectly positioned. The Atom takes off with zero fuss thanks to that standard Honda engine and slick six spped gearbox. A couple of laps to warm up the tyres and now time to push a little bit. WOW! This is one well sorted car. It feels absolutely terrific. Fast, flatteringly easy to drive and with serious levels of grip.

Autocar (Atom 160)
'...it's an absolute riot to drive with keen feel-some steering and the sort of adjustability that really makes circuit driving fun.'

Sunday Times (Atom 2 220)
'The Atom was mind blowingly fast – like a go kart that has been on a fat dose of steroids and has grown up. What a blast!'
Jodie Kidd

Track and Race Cars (Atom 220 race Car)
With 460bhp per tonne, which is damned impressive, I didn’t struggle with the Atom much to my pleasure – it was a dream to drive with no nasty surprises. Everything about the car complemented my driving style, even the driving position. The brake bias needed some adjustment but I was seriously impressed with what I experienced. Caterfield had better keep checking those mirrors, the Ariel Atom is coming – and fast.

The Times (Atom 2 220)
'It is one of the most user friendly cars you could ever race. Better still, when you're finished with all that screeching around the track, you can simply take off the overalls, fire up your Atom and drive it home again.'
Louise Goodman

EVO (Atom 220)
The Atom is powered by a 220bhp Honda Civic Type R engine and with the standard short throw gearbox it's absolutely brilliant on the track. In addition we have found a set up we both revel in, fitting stiffer rear springs to create scalpel-sharp turn-in.
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'Hit the throttle in the Atom 2 and the scenery scrolls backwards at astonishing speed. Suddenly all other cars on the road appear to be standing still. For comparison with the stripped down racer feel I get behind the wheel of the Lamborghini Gallardo, a car rightly regarded as being an exceptionally exciting machine in its own right. The Lambo, incredibly, feels about as quick and responsive as a passenger bus. My senses have become horribly warped by the Atom, in a twilight zone where otherwise normal physical laws have been renegotiated... I'm off to find a very accommodating bank manager.'

'Brush the gas and you're gone. Shifting down for corners is optional, mainly serving as tach needle tickler. Steering is more mental activity than arm exercise and when the tarmac kinks or crests, the Atom tracks like a cruise missile locked to the landscape. Subtle variations in thumb pressure keep the aim locked on. Even without seat padding or sound deadening, harshness and road noise are never annoying. Roll and pitch are other non-issues.'
'The term 'driver involvement' could have been invented for the Atom. Driver and passenger are strapped tightly into a smooth, unupholstered one piece seat unit. The result is a corny sounding, but actually a very reassuring oneness with the car, which really works when you get down to some serious track driving.'
'The Atom is one of the most entertaining cars ever, not to mention the most affordable. A truly wonderful experience.'
'You could teach yourself an awful lot about set up and driving technique in one of these, and have a lot of fun in the process.'
'Atom – goes like a bomb!'
'It's the closest thing I've ever seen to a four wheel motorcycle. But I warn you, I'm in the queue before you. I haven't got this excited about a brand new British car for years.'
'Short of making an F1 car road legal, if you want to get some no frills thrills, the Ariel Atom provides one of the few alternatives. The best bit about the Atom however is the price, you definitely don't need to be on a Formula 1 salary to buy one.'
A run up through the gears smears your backside against the molded fiberglass shell. Braking for turns is optional. Keep the throttle down while adding smooth and carefully timed bits of steering lock. There is little pitch or roll to complicate matters, so pushing the tires to their grip limit takes determination.
'Is this the most amazing car of the century?'
'It has no roof, no doors and no windscreen, but one squeeze of the throttle will be enough to leave Porsche divers struggling in its wake. The Ariel Atom turns conventional wisdom on its head to embarrass some of the biggest names in the business.'