Ariel are to build the Ariel Atom V8 - with 500bhp!We all know by now that the stunning Ariel Atom is a monster car in the performance stakes. Whether you’re driving the standard or the supercharged version, its mammoth performance and four-wheeled motor bike-like build, mean you end up looking like something from the Black Lagoon (remember the TG vid of Clarkson’s face – actually, a slight improvement, we thought!).
But now Ariel has gone barking mad and decided that what the mighty Ariel Atom needs is more power. More Power?! That’s the last thing it needs, but the best thing it could get!
Ariel are building their own V8 unit, which is reported to weigh in at less than 90kg, despite being a 3.0 litre, 500 bhp powerhouse. It will thrust the Atom to the horizon so quickly that nothing will be able to keep up (2.5 seconds 0-60mph) and on to 100mph in just 6 seconds. It will have twice the power to weight ratio of a Koenigsegg Edition or a Veyron – a massive 1000bhp per ton.
Only 25 Ariel Atom V8s are going to be built, and the price is a pretty stunning £100,000. Which is an awful lot of money for a four-wheeled Superbike.
But you won’t just need deep pockets to buy the Atom. You’ll need even deeper pockets to pay for the facial surgery to remove the dead flies embedded six inches in to your face after a run in it!
