My Ariel Atom in car vid and laptimes

[rage2]

So I got to do the Ariel Atom Experience at race city... fun little car. Here's the in car vid, along with lapchart. The video is a bit blocky until middle of lap 2. They tell me their equipment was on the fritz.

224486303998793342


Lap VMax S1 S2 S3 Lap Notes
1 159 40.000 29.609 35.781 1:45.390 Out lap
2 175 36.797 28.203 36.203 1:41.203 Clean easy
3 174 37.000 29.000 36.000 1:42.000 Clean easy
4 173 37.000 30.000 40.203 1:47.203 Traffic S2 S3
5 166 38.204 32.187 37.203 1:47.594 Traffic S1 S2 S3
6 156 37.797 28.406 43.188 1:49.391 Traffic S1 S3
7 148 39.203 28.797 35.625 1:43.625 Traffic S1 S3
8 159 40.375 39.797 38.203 1:58.375 Yellow Flag S1 S2 S3
9 176 36.594 28.796 38.407 1:43.797 Traffic S3 started driving hard for laptimes
10 170 37.203 28.609 *35.578 1:41.390 Traffic S1
*11 *177 *36.203 28.594 35.610 *1:40.407 Clean Lap
12 174 36.593 *28.000 36.797 1:41.390 In Lap Slow S3

Too bad I didn't get top 3 sector times in one lap... would've clocked a 1:39.781, almost a second faster than my best time (mostly from a very clean S2 on lap 12). I think I overdrove just a tad trying to get the best laptime when I started going hard at lap 10 hehe, got sideways a few times. But I guess you have to go sideways to go fast, because I got a lot of opposite lock in the front straight temp chicane on lap 10, and clocked the fastest sector 1 time lol.

If you want to skip all the boring parts, jump to the 16 min mark, that's where I decide to start driving hard.

[syeve]

That is badass :thumbsup:

[clem24]

So you gonna buy one now that you get a slight discount..? :rofl: Jebus that looks fun.

[rage2]

Thinking about buying one. Wouldn't be really practical though... can't drive it in winter that's for sure! :rofl:

[Nav13]

so did you get to compare lap times with other drivers or even the instructors? how did you compare, what was considered fast, or what was the best lap time?

[Trini]

real cool:thumbsup:

[cityhunter2501]

that looked fun.

wasnt it a whole day of ride?

[rage2]

Originally posted by Nav13
so did you get to compare lap times with other drivers or even the instructors? how did you compare, what was considered fast, or what was the best lap time?
I've only got a few best laptimes from the others guys during the day, and I'm about 6 seconds faster. Since all of us are just getting the DVD's now, I should know where my laptime sits in about a week or 2. Relying on E36M3 to get me the info, since he organized the day for us. I did drive the last few laps (when I was down to the last bar and a half of fuel) aiming for the fastest time, so I hope I got it lol.

The instructors would definately be faster than me. I think I only got about 10 or so traffic free laps in all day to find the limit and to get comfortable with the car, which I never really did even after the day was over. Also, the instructors gave me crap for using 2nd gear as well as the curbs thru the chicane, which would've been a lot faster. The instructors gave out hot laps where they did use 2nd and the curbs. Oh ya, I also pussyfooted around turn 5... seeing as my first lap out I spun right out there, so the thought of wrecking the Atom if I went hard was on the back of my mind all day. Turn 5 is not a fun place to go off, so I didn't push my luck. You'll also notice that for most of the corners, I'm braking early, so my entry speed is low but I speed back up at the apex... basically the safest way to go fast. The Atom has no downforce, so braking into corners is kinda scary, the rear end always wants to step out. If I was to guess, I'd figure the instructors were going all out, curbs, 2nd gear, braking at the limit... probably another 4-5s.

If I had my own Atom to myself for 30 laps, I would definately be able to go WAY faster. I'll let you know if I buy one haha.

[Canmorite]

How fast do you think you would of been going if they didn't have the makeshift corners on the main straight?

[gram]

You kicked my ass Rage. best time I had was 146 I think..I'll have to rewatch the DVD.

[Sky]

damn, you're good Rage. Those things are twitchy....you controlled her pretty good even without downforce.:thumbsup:

[infected]

That's some pretty good driving right there. Are there any vids of the instructors demonstrating?

[BigMass]

very very cool, :thumbsup: BUT i thought they'd be a lot faster than they are. Maybe because i'm thinking of the supercharged version that Top Gear tested. I was thinking laps in the 1:20s

[gram]

These are the supercharged ones. Top gear may have had the Honda drive train maybe?

These cars are 260HP I think. They are damn fast. 0-60 in about 2.8 seconds

[BigBadBear]

Not bad, still based on your lap times I would own any of you.
While doing it in a car that weighs almost 2-1/2 times more that could carry that thing in the trunk.
This is how: 1:39 - 3seconds for the chicane = 1:36
less 1 more for the bus stop = 1:35's give or take, yes?
Heck even 3 more for the extra pylons = 1.32's

Vs. me at < 1:30

Still they look like fun and probably get better mileage than my sled.




:thumbsup:

[gram]

The pro drivers made us look like crap. I would really like to see what their lap times would have been. I bet that they were WAY WAY under our times by about 20 seconds to be honest. They have no sense of danger at all.

[BigBadBear]

They probably wouldn't be more than 10 seconds faster at the most.
The F2000's with good drivers are running high 1:23's with most of them in the 1:24-25's. And that's on the full open track with race tires.

Even someone pulling 3 seconds a lap on ya makes ya feel like you're going backwards. If those guys pulled 20 seconds faster, that would make them faster than the bikes:eek:

Possible, yes. Likely, no. Not without ground effects and whatnot.

[rage2]

On the open course, I ran a 1:26 in the SLK32 with the same tires, and a 1:22 in an SLR with street tires. I looked back my telemetry in the SLK32 and the Atom is slightly faster on straightline and about the same speed in the corners. I know the Atom can be faster in the turns if I had more time with the car (remember I've done like 1000 laps in the SLK at race city haha) so if I had to guess, on an open track with a driver that knows the car well, the Atom would probably be in the 1:24 range, faster than the SLK32 but slower than the SLR.

Oh ya, I wasn't going all out in the SLR either haha. Kinda hard to when you're driving someone's else's $500,000 ride lol.


Originally posted by BigBadBear
This is how: 1:39 - 3seconds for the chicane = 1:36
less 1 more for the bus stop = 1:35's give or take, yes?
Heck even 3 more for the extra pylons = 1.32's

Vs. me at &lt; 1:30
That front straight chicane takes a hell of a lot more than 3 extra seconds. Remember when you slow down, you're losing a LOT of time vs flat out... the speed differential stays even after you re-accelerate. 80kmh out of the chicane vs 240kmh at the end of the straight flat out is a HUGE amount of ground to make up, way more than 3 seconds. Ditto for the bus stop.


Originally posted by gram
The pro drivers made us look like crap. I would really like to see what their lap times would have been. I bet that they were WAY WAY under our times by about 20 seconds to be honest. They have no sense of danger at all.
I'll contact them to see what kinda times they were running on that course. They're fast because they know how the Atom responds... they've done tons of laps in those things haha. It's definately a weird car to drive with a big learning curve, definately not a hop in and go 9/10ths on the first lap, or you'll look like a jackass like me and spin out on lap 1 :rofl:. They gave me so much shit for that haha.

[E36M3]

Ever find out what their lap times were? I'm guessing 1:36.xx

[Redlyne_mr2]

What you know how to drive standard lol... thought all the Benz's and bimmers had watered you down. Looks like a great time man, wondering if there is any diff in the performance between the ctr engine and the domestic engine they use in the NA model.

[Soren1989]

how much does one of these go for?

[v2kai]

:drool: that looks like so much fun, nice driving, i wish i could rip one of those around race city

[rage2]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
What you know how to drive standard lol... thought all the Benz's and bimmers had watered you down. Looks like a great time man, wondering if there is any diff in the performance between the ctr engine and the domestic engine they use in the NA model.
rage2 doesn't fuck around! :rofl:

The CTR engine option is way too pricey. The engine they have now, a supercharged Ecotec I think? It's got enough power to have zero traction in 1st, and breaks traction pretty well in 2nd. Power isn't really a problem in this car hehe.