C&P (Well Manual copy actually) from Kiwi Motorcycle Rider, Dec 2004:
Two Wheels or Four?
TWO wheels or four? It's a no brainer isn't it? Well! Isn't it? I know most of us spend more time in a car these days, but when it comes to fun there isn't really a question is there? Is there?
Come on, is there?
Hmmmmmm, perhaps you're right. In their element, cars- particularly fast ones- do have their place. Whether it is in front of or behind a motorcycle is the bit that's in debate. At which point let me introduce the Ariel Atom, widely regarded by the world’s ‘car guys’ as ‘a motorcycle of four wheels!’
‘Oh really?’ I hear you saying. Yes, well let’s just skim over that hot little potato and cut to the chase courtesy of the most efficient marketing man involved in the local motor trade, Andrew Mackie. Andrew’s company Open Wheeler Imports is the sole authorized importer of the Atom, a ‘car’ designed by Englishman Simon Saunders and built by the Somerset-based Ariel Motor Company.
Now even if you only have a cursory knowledge of the history of the motorcycle, the name Ariel will ring a bell. In fact, Ariel is one of the oldest names in British motoring, having been first used on a de-Dion-engined trike, way back in 1898. For most motorcyclists the name will be synonymous with the Square Four, but the company is just as well known to vintage, and veteran, car enthusiasts for the innovative cars and motorized trikes it built at the turn of the century.
Atom designer Saunders has always had a foot in both (two and four wheel) camps, having got a career start with idiosyncratic Dutch motorcycle manufacturer Van Veen, then Norton before broadening his horizons at GM, Aston Martin and Porsche.
Saunders has always ridden bikes, and one of his stated goals when he sat down to design what ended up as the Atom, was to give car drivers the opportunity to experience the sort of thrills he had on a high performance Superbike.
Because I’m one of those people who likes to keep an eye on what is going on in the car world I had a cursory knowledge of what an Atom was, I was a bit surprised when Andrew got in touch though… the car world is just as insular as the bike one and in all the years I have been writing about bikes he is the first ‘car guy’ to get on the blower and suggest a ‘grudge match.’
With no good reason to say no, and every reason to say yes (you mean I get to drive it!), it was then a simple matter of (a) finding the time and (b) finding a suitable bike to compare it to.
When Andrew asked what I had in mind to compare the Atom to I thought about it for a minute… took into account the fact that the demonstrator was fitted with a Honda car engine and suggested a Fireblade. When I rang Honda, however, company mainman Clive Cooper-Smith suggested that suggested the Blackbird.
I didn’t mind either way, though what I think the Atom should be compared with is Ray Clee’s Suzuki GSX-R1000 racebike. But more on that in a minute. Being the proactive guy he is, Andrew pulled out his calculator, and came up with some interesting power-to-weight comparisons to help me get a feel for the task ahead.
Without boring you with the calculus, he reckoned that a Blackbird had a power-to-weight ratio of 470bhp/tonne. A standard 220bhp Atom had 360bhp/tonne. But… he added, with Ariel’s 275bhp supercharger kit that atom has 466bhp/tonne, close enough to the Blackbird figure to make it interesting. But enough about the background, what about the ‘seat-of-the-pants’ comparisons?
The Bike:
If you’ve already read the test, you’ll know that I think the Blackbird is a pretty good big-bore sports/tourer. It’s fast enough to satisfy my need for speed and though a bit porky compared to all the whippet like 1000cc superbikes it is surprisingly light and supple on its feet.
It has a nice comfortable seat, a wide, wind-cheating fairing and the capacity to carry a pillion and/or a lot of luggage. It’s also turbine smooth, whisper quiet and as sophisticated (in terms of design, build integrity and fit and finish) as a Mercedes-Benz.
The Car:
Culture shock is the term I think I am looking for. Believe me, I’ve ridden some hard-edged, single-focused road and dirt bikes in my day, but nothing, NOTHING, can prepare you for the Ariel Atom experience.
Just looking at it is a job in itself. Where every other car designer concentrates on covering up the bits that actually make a car work (engine/transmission, suspension, steering etc etc) Simon Saunders has gone out of his way to put them on show. A quick walk around reveals the car’s stock in trade… signature large diameter steel-tube frame, mid mounted Honda I-VTEC engine/5 speed transmission unit, bell-crank operated inboard suspension, open cockpit, plastic ‘seats’ and, well that’s about it.
The Experience:
Because it’s second nature nowerdays I don’t even think about putting on riding gear, gloves and helmet, but every so often someone not into bikes comments on the ‘hassle,’ the implication being that a car is so much easier. Non-bike people also think that a car is inherently more comfortable.
Ha! They should try an Ariel Atom. Just getting in is a piece of work; you have to climb over the frame, in much the same way you do if you’ve got a pleasure boat. That said, slipping down, behind the steering wheel isn’t half as hard as it is in one of those little Lotus 7 replica thingies, especially if, like the test car, it is fitted with one of those trick quick detachable steering wheels.
A pukka race-type four-point harness is the next thing you have to grapple with, then once you’ve done that you have to work your way through the starting procedure. To be fair this isn’t too onerous a task, and you do get to push a big red button… just like the professionals do.
While you don’t have to wear a helmet, or eye protection for that matter, the fact that there is no screen of any sort makes it advisable. Open Wheeler Imports provide wrap-around sunglasses for punters when they test drive and if I were to own one I’d be wearing a full face no matter how incongruous that might look (in a car) on the open road.
But it’s the subjective feeling that you want me to portray, so here goes: No road going car in my (long and varied) experience offers such a visceral, hard edged movie roll of a ride. Even my formula Vee and Mazda RX7 race cars felt like expensive European luxury cars with leather seats, air conditioning and ABS in comparison.
It’s as if Saunders and whoever helped him to put the chassis package together stripped every process (from steering to brakings to using the indicators) down to their constituent parts, then reassembled them without the benefit of gaskets, brushes or bungs.
And I would go on and on, but I won’t. That’s why I asked Riley to write a sidebar. He’s a ‘car’ guy from way back and has raced on some of Europes best and most famous circuits.
The Difference:
I’ll concentrate on the difference between the bike and the car. Because I haven’t done as much bike (ironical really) as car racing, I only have a bike like Ray Clee’s GSX-R1000 production superbike to compare something like the Atom with. The blackbird turned out to be a non-starter in direct comparison terms, because it is so smooth, fast and comfortable. Only Ray’s bike felt vaguely similar with its harsh, bellowing engine, stiff ‘I’m here to do one job and one job only’ suspension and menacing ‘don’t mess with me’ persona.
Dollar wise there really isn’t any comparison, with bikes providing far superior ‘bang for buck’ than a car, but as one of the car magazines pointed out, for somewhere in the region of NZ$60-$120,000 (depending on the spec) an Atom is still less than half the cost of a top-of-the-line Lamborghini, Ferrari or Porsche.
Anyway short of a genuine late model single-seater racing car, nothing else gives you the raw race feel of an Atom… yet you can register it, and if you so wish, drive it everyday.
At the end of the day the defining moment for someone like me with a motorcycle background however, came when Riley and I had to return the Atom to its downtown Auckland base. It started to rain on the way into town………… and Riley – driving the Atom- got wet! When was the last time you heard of someone getting wet in a car? We had a good old chuckle about that. I think Simon Saunders would’ve too.
Can we have it for a bit longer next time, please?
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