Ariel Atom 3 Supercharged

There are no cupholders in the Ariel Atom. Why? To save weight? Because all the coffee would be sucked into the slip-stream as the roofless Atom accelerated to 60mph in less than three seconds? Because you couldn’t drink without spilling in this crazy machine? All true, but there’s another reason. The effect of caffeine while driving this car would kill you.

Hard to believe, I know, but the Atom corners faster than most cars go in a straight line, and with the scream of a supercharged engine inches behind your head you quickly reach a normal person’s limit of excitement. Add to that the effects of G-force and an 80mph wind in your face (there’s no windscreen) and you can see why an extra dose of stimulant would be fatal.

Consider the facts: without fuel, the supercharged Atom weighs less than 500kg. That’s about a third of the weight of a 2 litre diesel Ford Mondeo, yet it has twice the power. Put another way, the Atom manages almost 600bhp per tonne – more than a Lam-borghini Gallardo Super-leggera; more than a Ferrari Enzo; more even than a Bugatti Veyron. Take a look on timesonline.co. uk/driving and you’ll see the evidence.

It’s more like a manually controlled missile disguised as a car, which is an appropriate analogy because it’s in a kind of arms race with a rival: the Caterham R500. The Caterham is based on the Lotus Seven, conceived in 1957 by the late Colin Chapman, a pioneer of lightweight design who proved that the best acceleration is achieved through eliminating every gram of unnecessary weight. The Caterham company has brought it fully up to date with an advanced, normally aspirated engine made by Ford. The Atom, by contrast, is a kind of postmodernist car dreamt up by Simon Saunders, a former lecturer in design. It looks like an insect exoskeleton and is fitted with a high-revving, supercharged Japanese engine. Two different approaches, two very different cars, but on paper evenly matched; so much so, it’s as if they had been built to take part in a sub-500kg challenge. So, of course, we took them up to Bedford Autodrome to test them head to head.

Now there will be people who will ask: what’s the point? The fuel crisis has changed everything. The car industry is on the ropes; speed and performance are anachronisms; economy and frugality are the new watchwords. Yes, but you can turn the argument around. Because of their low weight and simplicity, the pared-down Atom and Caterham provide cheaper motoring thrills than any supercar. You can keep them in the garage while you cycle to work or sit in traffic in your desperately dull Toyota Prius. Then, when the weekend comes round, you can blast them round a track till your hair falls out.

In fact, there’s a good argument to say that without being able to look forward to this kind of weekend thrill, there may be no point going to work at all. You might as well trudge the streets with your Bag for Life, worrying about the world’s problems.

If the Atom and Caterham were translated into sports, they would be naked bungee jumping: both involve the kind of stripped-down, rapid acceleration that makes your eyes pop out. But which is quicker? To find out, Jason Dawe and I raced them around the west circuit at Bedford. Evo magazine operates an unofficial supercar league, using this circuit to set benchmark lap times. Its staff recently managed 1min 21.5sec in the supercharged Atom and 1min 20.2sec in the Caterham.

The Atom and Caterham are both built for track days, both perfectly adapted to fast circuits such as Bedford. However, I have always thought the Atom is the faster car – not just on paper (it’s quicker to 60mph by 0.18sec) but in wheel-to-wheel racing. Dawe disagreed and so we found ourselves, on a windy day, facing the chequered flag.

It’s surprising how hard it can be when you suddenly get behind the wheel of a car with no electronic safety systems, without even servo-assisted brakes. I was doing fine in the Atom for about three seconds; then I spun it on the first corner, and again on the second. To coax it through the twisting Bedford circuit requires a throttle-brake-throttle tap-dance on the pedals. Once you’ve mastered the rhythm, it handles like no other car I’ve driven. I was reassured to see Dawe losing control and performing similar pirouettes in his R500. The overall result: an identical fastest lap time for both Atom and Caterham of 1min 23sec.

For the sake of establishing a winner, we staged a Le Mans-style start in which we both sprinted to the cars. It didn’t resolve the argument about which car is quicker, but I’m delighted to report that Dawe stalled the Caterham, yielding victory to the mighty Atom.

Rufford’s Verdict

Explore Features

• Porsche

• BMW

• Mercedes

• Ferrari

• Bentley

• Audi

• Maserati

• Aston Martin

• Jaguar

• VW