Westfield XTR2/Radical XR3/Ariel Atom 2

topgeardude

(Banned)
152
Have you heard of these cars.The first two use sportsbike engines and look like downsized LMP racers for the street,and i'm sure you know the Atom,the car the rearranged Jeremy Clarkson's face on Top Gear.
 
I've heard of all three, and have seen the episode of TG where Jeremy has destroyed his face.

What's the point of this thread though?
 
My bad i messed up on the Radical,and this thread is to talk about them,post pics,and post videos.

So there:P

Which is what you could have done in starting this thread off.

http://www.radicalextremesportscars.com/

http://www.westfield-sportscars.co.uk/

The Atom (great car that it is) is not really in the same league as XTR2 or the XR3, and even the XR3 is a bit old now in the Radical range.

I've passengered in both the Westfield and the Radical, both mind blowing, but the Radical would get the nod for me.

The radical website also hold details of the Nurburgring road car record they set with the SR8 and details of the company in the UK and US.

http://www.radicalextremesportscars.com/news_folder/nord0905/index.php



Those who follow prototype racing in the USA may also have seen Radical competing in the IMSA Lites series, most recently with the series specific ProSport PR06.

pr06_1.jpg


Regards

Scaff


BTW - @topgeardude
That's should give you an idea of how to kick off a thread, so I hope you will take it on board and we will now see an end to these one-line thread starts and the pointless spamming of threads overall.
 
The Atom (great car that it is) is not really in the same league as XTR2 or the XR3

You take that back, sir!

*slaps with glove*

I'd imagine the twincharged Atom 2, with aero pack, would be quite the beast...

Not that the stock Atom 2 isn't. It's just... awesome...
 
Have you heard of these cars.The first two use sportsbike engines and look like downsized LMP racers for the street,and i'm sure you know the Atom,the car the rearranged Jeremy Clarkson's face on Top Gear.
I think you messed up the thread title. It's supposed to be Radical SR3, or maybe SR8, but XR3 gives no results on google images.
 
You take that back, sir!

*slaps with glove*

I'd imagine the twincharged Atom 2, with aero pack, would be quite the beast...

Not that the stock Atom 2 isn't. It's just... awesome...

I shall not take it back good sir!

The Atom is indeed a fine steed of superb on-road pedegree, and its raw acceleration is stunning.

However on a track and compared to the Radicals it unfortunately a out of its depth, the aero package on the Radicals is full functional and generates a significant level of downforce and all the advantages that go with it.

On a b-road an Atom would murder a Radical, but on a track the opposite would most certainly be the case. They are very different breeds indeed.

:sly:

Scaff
 
I shall not take it back good sir!

The Atom is indeed a fine steed of superb on-road pedegree, and its raw acceleration is stunning.

However on a track and compared to the Radicals it unfortunately a out of its depth, the aero package on the Radicals is full functional and generates a significant level of downforce and all the advantages that go with it.

As does the Atom 2's optional aero package, developed to allow the Atom to go production car racing...

web_two_cars.jpg


Plus the Radical SR3 (500kg, 252hp) is heavier and not as powerful as the Atom 2 (465kg, 300hp), never mind the twincharged 450hp variant... The Westfield XTR2 is lighter (440kg) but far less powerful (180ish hp).

Radical SR3 - 504hp/tonne
Westfield XTR2 - 409hp/tonne
Ariel Atom 2 300 - 645hp/tonne
Ariel Atom 2 Twincharged - 968hp/tonne

The Atom has a wider track (1600mm, Westie 1448/1422, no data I can find on the SR3) too, "suggesting" more stable cornering. Plus the car-engined, FI Atom would have much more torque, much sooner than the bike-engined Radical/Westie.


On a b-road an Atom would murder a Radical, but on a track the opposite would most certainly be the case. They are very different breeds indeed.

:sly:

Scaff

Dunno. I'd love to see them head to head though... :D
 
Ah but the SR3 is old now, very old.

You would need to look at the current generation of Radical's to be fair, such as the SR8.

600kilos
363bhp

= 605bhp per tonne

Width 1,800mm so on par with the Atom it terms of track width, also nice as the Atoms aero kit is, you know full well that its not a full aero package. I don't have lat-g figures for the Atom, but the SR8 did pull 3g on a number of corners on its record breaking run around the 'ring, and that was on 'road' legal tyres.

The ground clearance on the SR8 is silly however, hence my money being on the Atom on a B-road, but on the Radical on a track. Still b e fun seeing which was the quickest.

I have some Atom vs Radical lap times from an Evo test at Angelsey last year I will have to see if I can dig them out, but I do know the Radical hammered every thing.

Regards

Scaff
 
Do they make LHD Atoms? I'm trying to get my dad to buy one when he sells his current RX-8 but he doesn't want RHD.

You can't really replace an Rx8 with an Atom...

Plus it's not road legal in the US.

They do, and they're made and sold by Brammo Motorsports.

Scaff
also nice as the Atoms aero kit is, you know full well that its not a full aero package. I don't have lat-g figures for the Atom, but the SR8 did pull 3g on a number of corners on its record breaking run around the 'ring, and that was on 'road' legal tyres.

3g? Ouch.

The Atom's aero package was developed so it could run in a mysterious series called "The Gold Arts100 Endurance Race Series" (about which I can find no other information than the fact the Atom 2 ran in it). That would lead me to suspect that it is the full deal.
 

The Atom's aero package was developed so it could run in a mysterious series called "The Gold Arts100 Endurance Race Series" (about which I can find no other information than the fact the Atom 2 ran in it). That would lead me to suspect that it is the full deal.

Not sure I would class the aero packages as the same. While the Atom is running in that guise with a front and rear wing and I'm sure they reduce lift significantly , maybe even generating overall downforce. Overall the Atom is going to suffer in this regard in that its running open wheels and the bodywork is still quite open, and the resulting drag is going to be an issue.


The Radical on the other hand is generating significant downforce and is an aerodynamically proved car, 3g of lat acceleration is pretty much testament to the aero grip the cars generating.

Regards

Scaff

BTW - Keep in mind I do love the Atom in a huge way, I just think they are very different to the Radical's, haveing more in common with Caterhams, etc.
 
Anyone here about the V8 Ariel Atom? I was reading about it on another forum and can no longer find the link, it was a small, light, low displacement V8 possibly two hyabusa engines I'm not too sure. I'll look for it again and hopefully I'll find it.
Here's the link, http://www.dpcars.net/atom/index.htm . Its a 2.8l V8 making 375hp and 210lb ft. of torque. Apparently this V8 is 100lbs lighter than the ecotec engine that came in his original Ariel. This thing will be a beast when done. Any ideas on what engine that is? Sounds like two 1.4L Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 engine's welded together at a V angle.
 
Anyone here about the V8 Ariel Atom? I was reading about it on another forum and can no longer find the link, it was a small, light, low displacement V8 possibly two hyabusa engines I'm not too sure. I'll look for it again and hopefully I'll find it.
Here's the link, http://www.dpcars.net/atom/index.htm . Its a 2.8l V8 making 375hp and 210lb ft. of torque. Apparently the this V8 is 100lbs lighter than the ecotec engine that came in his original Ariel. This thing will be a beast when done. Any ideas on what engine that is? Sounds like two 1.4L Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 engine's welded together at a V angle.

Thats very cool; +rep for the link.
 
The Atom is road legal, the Westfield and Radical aren't. Interesting that the US version doesn't have the Honda K-Series available...
 
Ah okay, I had a quick look on the site but found nothing mentioning road legal, something I'd have thought they would make quite obvious as it's a bit of a bragging point.
 
The Atom is road legal, the Westfield and Radical aren't. Interesting that the US version doesn't have the Honda K-Series available...

You can run the Radical on American roads, but it has to have operating lights all around, including signals and such. A few folks ran them in Car and Driver's One Lap of America a while back, and they did pretty well.

On the Atom for a moment, the American version uses the GM LSJ Supercharged 2.0L I4 from the Cobalt SS and Saturn Ion.

Ariel USA
Introduced in 2004 on the Saturn ION Red Line, the Ecotec 2.0L SC (supercharged) also powers the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Supercharged coupe. It is compact and lightweight (see specs), and its Eaton M62 supercharger adds 40 percent more power to the Ecotec 2.0L engine compared to a naturally aspirated version. The M62 supercharger utilizes a helical roots compressor and integral pressure control and produces a maximum of 12 psi of boost. The boosted intake flow exits into an all-new matched intake manifold with an integral air-to-liquid heat exchange intake charge cooler system. A compact single-track, six-rib belt supercharger drive system utilizes a linear tensioning device to further strengthen the already impressive system performance and durability. A microprocessor manages the M62 supercharger, fuel, direct spark delivery systems and the engine’s 68-mm electronic throttle control (ETC) system. ETC delivers outstanding throttle response, improved reliability and better integration with cruise control electronics for greater overall performance and driveability.

The engine can be ordered in three levels:

- "Standard" 230 BHP version
- "Better" 245 BHP version
- "Awesome" 300 BHP version

Thus far, performance has been stellar, and numbers are pretty much identical to that of those with the K-series Honda. But if you really, really, really wanted one, you could presumably build an Atom for yourself and stick one in there.
 
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