The new Ariel Atom V8 will cost £120,000Ariel has announced that the new V8 Atom will cost £120,000 when it goes on sale in 2010. Just 25 are being built.Back in May we reported that the Ariel Atom V8
was in the pipeline, a range-topping 500bhp version of Atom’s road-track monster. Which is twice as much power as the standard Atom – which churns out around 245bhp – and a massive 200bhp more than even the Supercharged Atom.
Even in standard spec the Atom manage 0-60mph in a blistering sub 3 second sprint, thanks to its almost non-existent bodywork and ultra low weight. So what does sticking a V8 in to the Atom do? A 3.0 litre V8 made from a pair of Suzuki Hayabusa motors joined to a common crank, at that. Not as much as you’d expect. The 0-60mph time drops to 2.5 seconds. Which makes it as fast as anything on the road – or on the track.
So how much will it cost you to gain that extra 0.5 second? £120,000. Which makes the Ariel Atom V8 around four times the price of the regular Atom. So that’s an extra £90k to gain half a second. It doesn’t really add up.
Despite the monstrous price tag Ariel say that they have already pre-sold 19 of the 25 Atom V8s they are planning on building. Which has got to be good news for them.
Personally, I’d grab the standard supercharged version for some mad weekend blatting, pick up a new XJ (the range-topping supercharged version) for a daily drive and still have enough change for a half-decent holiday.
