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My Future Car

post #1 of 28
9/22/05 at 7:14am
Thread Starter 
I was watching that British car show Top Gear. It's on after Myth Busters. It's a testosterone driven show about super cars (ferrari/ lamborghini/ maserati/ ...) , top of the line daily drivers (mercedes/ BMW/ ...) and sports cars we can afford but are still worth driving. Plus anything else that's interesting (smart).

So anyway they did this one car. It's open cockpit, open frame, open wheels. If this car don't need, it they didn't put it on. It's got a 2L Civic VTech engine. You can get it turbo charged. Because they saved so much weight, this car is as fast as a Ferrari F60 Enzo. It beat a 600cc honda motorcycle on the track.

I give you the Ariel Atom. They don't have prices on the web site but I gather it comes in under 50k. Will the bank finance it? What will my insurance company do to me? Maybe I shouldn't have gotten life and car insurance from the same company

On nice days I could drive it to work
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post #2 of 28
9/22/05 at 9:07am
supercharged honda engine. . .

I saw this a while back. I don't think you'll have much luck getting it DOT approved, but with this particular car, there's really no reason to drive it on roads. It took the "least practical car in the world" crown from the Lotus 340R, a fellow British death-sled.

On Ariel's web site, (find it yourself) they have posted the video clip from Top Gear. I think it's even quicktime.
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post #3 of 28
9/22/05 at 11:23am
Thread Starter 
You can buy the optional "street package" which I assume makes it street legal. Then you just have to pass emissions. Any muffler shop should be able to whip up a pipe with a catalytic converter on it for you.

Someone should take it on the Gumball 3000.
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post #4 of 28
9/22/05 at 11:28am
In the press section on the site, a price of £35.000 is mentioned (over $60.000) ...
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post #5 of 28
9/22/05 at 11:34am
Thread Starter 
Yea. There's options you can get. A base model and options. They may have different pricing for the US market? I'm off to do more daydreaming.
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post #6 of 28
9/22/05 at 12:41pm
Is it Manual or Auto. I drive an Auto and i hate it. When my dad lets me borrow his Jeep (His car for snow in the winter) i have so much more fun driving becuase it is manual.
-Justin Winokur

15" Core i7 MacBook Pro, (circa July 2010)
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-Justin Winokur

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post #7 of 28
9/22/05 at 2:56pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Jwink3101
Is it Manual or Auto. I drive an Auto and i hate it. When my dad lets me borrow his Jeep (His car for snow in the winter) i have so much more fun driving becuase it is manual.

It seems to me like everyone 'prefers' manual. however, my typical american driving habits (eating on the drive to school, fumbling with the iPod, etc.) make me long for an automatic. i guess manuals make you actually pay attention to the road though.
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post #8 of 28
9/22/05 at 3:18pm
I got a cheaper better sleeper for ya.

Take one Smart and plunk a superbike class engine in it. Do a web search, there's one out there with a slightly breathed upon GSXR1000 engine (about 180HP) It shouldn't work so well, but it does, apparently, giving a stock Evo more of a scare than it has any business doing.

It's too bad the smart roadster looks like it does. Same conversion, but with that lower/sportier chassis...

Just wait untill someone puts an open class 1200cc + engine in there. Anything from Japan inc in the 1200-1400cc category... hehehhe
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post #9 of 28
9/22/05 at 3:28pm
Quote:
Originally posted by progmac
It seems to me like everyone 'prefers' manual. however, my typical american driving habits (eating on the drive to school, fumbling with the iPod, etc.) make me long for an automatic. i guess manuals make you actually pay attention to the road though.

I too do the exact same thing. If i had a manual car, i would use the ipod at lights or when i don;t need to shift and i would eat at school
-Justin Winokur

15" Core i7 MacBook Pro, (circa July 2010)
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-Justin Winokur

15" Core i7 MacBook Pro, (circa July 2010)
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post #10 of 28
9/22/05 at 4:50pm
Quote:
Originally posted by progmac
It seems to me like everyone 'prefers' manual. however, my typical american driving habits (eating on the drive to school, fumbling with the iPod, etc.) make me long for an automatic. i guess manuals make you actually pay attention to the road though.

Having only driven manual while learning to drive for the first time, I can't really say I have experience with them, but I like the feeling in Automatics of getting on the highway, and just putting my foot down and getting up to about 75-80...can't do that in a manual (at least not without changing gears)...
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post #11 of 28
9/22/05 at 5:14pm
  • e1618978
  • will burn in the Fiery Pit of Hell.
I have a manual right now - very seldom do I have a problem (receive a cell phone call, have to put down the phone to shift gears, etc).

But I want an automatic again, because when I have a manual I turn into a big asshole on the road - the manual makes driving a lot more fun and engaging, and engagement really triggers agression (most noticibly when listening to techno music).

I need a slow luxury car with an automatic, so that I can drift along like a lazy barge on the mississippi. I am thinking of a Volvo XC90 V8.

My current car, 300hp AWD, manual transmission monster car:



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post #12 of 28
9/22/05 at 5:51pm
Quote:
Originally posted by e1618978
I have a manual right now - very seldom do I have a problem (receive a cell phone call, have to put down the phone to shift gears, etc).

But I want an automatic again, because when I have a manual I turn into a big asshole on the road - the manual makes driving a lot more fun and engaging, and engagement really triggers agression (most noticibly when listening to techno music).

I need a slow luxury car with an automatic, so that I can drift along like a lazy barge on the mississippi. I am thinking of a Volvo XC90 V8.

My current car, 300hp AWD, manual transmission monster car:




Take anger management and keep enjoying your drive :-)


and to the guy above you. Once you get it in third, usually, you can keep it there till 60 then shift up and bring it to eighty. This is only if you are doing a fast acceleration. If you are doing a normal one, then you do need to shift but it takes like .5 seconds.

The only thing i don;t like about manual is when on the highway, the engine braking gets annoying but i like that in suburb driving.

I guess its to eash his own way
-Justin Winokur

15" Core i7 MacBook Pro, (circa July 2010)
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-Justin Winokur

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post #13 of 28
9/22/05 at 6:07pm
Quote:
Originally posted by fng

I give you the Ariel Atom. They don't have prices on the web site but I gather it comes in under 50k. Will the bank finance it? What will my insurance company do to me? Maybe I shouldn't have gotten life and car insurance from the same company

That thing is really sexy.
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post #14 of 28
9/22/05 at 6:09pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Placebo
That thing is really sexy.

It really is. Of course, i being on the larger side, wouldn;t fit in it
-Justin Winokur

15" Core i7 MacBook Pro, (circa July 2010)
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-Justin Winokur

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post #15 of 28
9/22/05 at 7:53pm
Thread Starter 
I'd have to cut my ball off to drive that Volvo. Volvo/Vulva Who can tell the difference?
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post #16 of 28
9/22/05 at 7:56pm
Quote:
Originally posted by fng
I'd have to cut my ball off to drive that Volvo. Volvo/Vulva Who can tell the difference?

Well, two things.

1) OY
2) ........................[Note the silence of number two=utter speechlessness towards the volvo/vulva remark]
-Justin Winokur

15" Core i7 MacBook Pro, (circa July 2010)
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-Justin Winokur

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post #17 of 28
9/22/05 at 8:40pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by Jwink3101
It really is. Of course, i being on the larger side, wouldn;t fit in it

The host of the show is a tall, stocky guy and he fit just fine.
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post #18 of 28
9/23/05 at 6:36am
Quote:
Originally posted by fng
You can buy the optional "street package" which I assume makes it street legal. . . .

Street legal in the UK is not street legal in the USA. You'd have to pass it through DOT.

To respond to someone who said something along the lines of, "Automatics mate better with American driving habits," all I have to say to that is this car [the Ariel Atom] is not an everyday car. It's the most impractical car, ever. It really should have an F1-style clutch-less transmission for total affect.

As for the smart car with the Liter-bike engine, I got a kick ot of that. There's a guy who has a modified Suzuki Hayabusa who handed it to a 860hp supercharged Dodge Viper in a 1-mile run in Mexico. There's a video of it somewhere online. The guy tries to sell DVDs of this shit. Anyway, if you put the modified busa engine in the smart car, it would be a good laugh to say the least.
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post #19 of 28
9/23/05 at 10:07am
  • e1618978
  • will burn in the Fiery Pit of Hell.
Quote:
Originally posted by fng
I'd have to cut my ball off to drive that Volvo. Volvo/Vulva Who can tell the difference?

Then you should drive a Dodge, and maybe chew tobacco. Anything less would make you feel feminine, and reveal your inner gay guy.

But wait a minute - what are you doing using a Mac? Surely it is as big a threat to your sexuality as the Volvo is? You should be using a PDP-11 or a BOXX system.
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post #20 of 28
9/23/05 at 6:11pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by Splinemodel
Street legal in the UK is not street legal in the USA. You'd have to pass it through DOT.

...

Bah. There's tons of street legal modified hot rods out there. This thing is no different. It's got a modern Honda engine in so emission is no trouble either. Plus one of the stated goals is that car remain street legal. So if they are going to sell in the US market they will make a "road" package for the US.

They updated the press site since I started the thread.

http://www.arielatom.com/04/press.htm



If I had the money mine would be on a boat already.
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post #21 of 28
9/24/05 at 2:46am
Quote:
Originally posted by Splinemodel
As for the smart car with the Liter-bike engine, I got a kick ot of that. There's a guy who has a modified Suzuki Hayabusa who handed it to a 860hp supercharged Dodge Viper in a 1-mile run in Mexico. There's a video of it somewhere online. The guy tries to sell DVDs of this shit. Anyway, if you put the modified busa engine in the smart car, it would be a good laugh to say the least.

It's all about power to weight. BTW, it seems that Kawasaki is no longer content to abide by Japan Inc's voluntary 300km/h (186mph) limit. Enter the ZX-14. Rumor has it 180-200hp are on tap... should have over 100lbs/ft as well. At least when hauling a bike around these open class motors (hayabusa, blackbird, zx-12) seem to live forever, so now me starts to think: "project car!"

Shit, you can buy the whole bike for less than some motors, and you just know that the used market will offer up a donor for less than that...

Imagine a car that wheelies

I can just about make the sensible case for the smart car given my live/work scenario. hmmm... drive it for a few years, then unleash the demon... hehehehehee
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post #22 of 28
9/24/05 at 7:27am
I have seen one of these on the freeway. I pulled up next to it to listen to it and it sounded so quiet. I couldn't even tell it was running. On the video they make it sound like a supercharged motorcycle but I didn't think it sounded that way at all. The guy who was driving it was just taking it all in. His car was turning heads left and right. It was a sight to see!!
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-Dual 2.0 Ghz Power Mac G5, 2 GB RAM, Radeon 9800XT, 2 250 GB HD
-New 23" Cinema Display
-17" Powerbook @ 1.67Ghz w/ 80GB hard drive
-160GB Lacie FW800
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post #23 of 28
9/24/05 at 9:44am
Thread Starter 
They have an unsupercharged model.
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post #24 of 28
9/24/05 at 3:49pm
1005 lbs. Crazy. Just crazy. A Golf comes in at 2934, an Insight at 1850 and a VW Beetle at 2989.
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post #25 of 28
9/24/05 at 4:26pm
Thread Starter 
One thing I saw was that the top speed is only 150 mph. Seems low for a 6 speed manual. Maybe you can get a different gear ratio to up the top speed.
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post #26 of 28
9/24/05 at 8:41pm
Quote:
Originally posted by fng
One thing I saw was that the top speed is only 150 mph. Seems low for a 6 speed manual. Maybe you can get a different gear ratio to up the top speed.

It doesn't look terribly aerodynamic, and it's extremely light. Beyond that, there aren't a lot of opportunities in amateur racing that give the driver a chance to get very close to 150mph.
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post #27 of 28
9/24/05 at 9:32pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Splinemodel
It doesn't look terribly aerodynamic, and it's extremely light. Beyond that, there aren't a lot of opportunities in amateur racing that give the driver a chance to get very close to 150mph.

150? i could take my car 150. It would just take a really long time to get there and when it did, it would be close to red-ligning. Its the acceleration. I want to get to 150 fast!
-Justin Winokur

15" Core i7 MacBook Pro, (circa July 2010)
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-Justin Winokur

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post #28 of 28
9/30/05 at 1:23pm
that was quite possibly the ost exhilarating video i have watched. that link at the bottom of the page suggests you can get it here.
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