It had been a busy few weeks with lots on my mind including work stuff, Ring trip stuff, sorting temporary comp cover out on a car with no roof, doors, or windscreen….. it was all welcome distraction. Now ‘Zero to 100’ seconds were all that was in my head.
18.7 = Clio RS 197
14.6 = BMW 850CSi
10.5 = Audi R8 V8
9.2 = Porsche 997 GT3
8.0 = Ferrari F40
6.6 = Ferrari Enzo
5.7 = Bugatti Veyron
In around 12 hours time I was going to be driving a car that did the benchmark supercar number in 6.8 seconds. It’s not a lot of time – I was counting it in my head, then rationalizing that it didn’t seem that fast. Maybe I was counting too slow, or maybe I was half asleep. Anyway, I fell back asleep an hour later, counting sheep jumping over what looked like lattice scaffolding.
By 11am I was ready to hit the road from Cork. I met Motorhead & AFE in Motorheads place for a rasher sandwich and some AFE vs Garmin debate on what was the handiest way to get to Ultrasounds place when we weren’t quite sure where his place actually was. Fortunately, once we hit the road Ultrasound texted me on the post code (along with ‘60% of throttle available in first inch’ and other motivational stats) so we punched that in. Unfortunately, we decided to use AFEs satnav, which couldn’t keep up with a Xantia 1.9 diesel on roundabouts and selectively didn’t show what it considered non-essential roads. AFE had been praising it so he must drive realllllly slow. We eventually all landed into the house with our first educated guess by Motorhead on which obscure lane to drive down.
What a sight was there to greet us; shining in the late afternoon sunlight, Rocket and Atom. My stomach leapt with excitement. We pored over the two cars while Mammy Ultrasound generously provided some tea and biscuits.
It was kicking on toward 6pm, we’d plenty of driving to be getting on with, and I was keen to do so! Unfortunately Ultrasound & the Rocket were unavailable to go, so we got on with pre-flight checks - they take a whole lot longer with an Atom, and AFE helped with some of this while Motorhead managed to find the comms gubbins: lift harnesses out of the way, step over chassis on to seat and drop down. Adjust harnesses to suit (not the job of a moment as space is at a premium). Put battery kill switch in, put immobilizer jobby where it needs to go, flick pumps toggle, hit start button to begin getting fluids warmed up. Get comms headphones inside helmet. Put helmet on. Put comms mouth piece in helmet somewhere. Then plug into comms system behind you. Put harnesses on. Jump as you accidentally hit throttle and intake just beside your left ear barks. Smile. Feel ‘de fear’ momentarily again. Hit throttle on purpose this time. Smile more. Before long myself & Motorhead were both strapped in, intercom’d-up and rolling out the driveway, AFE & his yellow Exige looming menacingly behind.
First impressions are that the Atom is very tractable; the clutch is nice, and first to fifth gears are found easily enough. Sixth takes concentration as you’re afraid of finding reverse, and likewise a blip from sixth to fourth’s hard as the gate is vague down that corner – I wasn’t confident and soon went 6-5-4 as a consequence. The steering is nice: not too quick, mostly settled, accurate, and lovely to hold. The ride is quite firm but not bad either, although you quickly notice the front end is properly light and can move around a bit. The first 10-15 miles are spent on winding Bs, in fifth and sixth, keeping revs below 4k, using the light weight and torque to flow effortlessly with the road and traffic. I’m surprised at how friendly it is, although brief moments of additional throttle in high gears at low-ish revs quickly elicit a shove that points to mongo flet further up the rev range. I’m not ready for that just yet.
Soon we ease out on to a dual carriage way. Traffic is light, the road is smooth, and I experiment with throttle movement & the delivery characteristics. After a bit I feel confident enough to drop to 30-40ish, put it in third, and ease the pedal steadily and to the stop for the first time. Mother of God. I genuinely did not expect the complete fury unleashed by this yoke. Lights flash on the wheel in an instant, and a change to fourth is made equally instantly, followed swiftly with a short shift to fifth and sixth as I get my head around what I’d just unleashed. I think my vision blurred. I know some organs moved, and tickled other organs along the way because all my innards tingled.
I’m struggling with the point of continuing writing as I think it’s impossible to truly describe
Just
How
Mental
The
Atom
Is!!!!!
Still, for those of you not accustomed to Hyabusas & race bikes I’ll try. Do you know when you go on a crazy fairground ride that drops you 200ft without warning, or you have had a near miss with a fatal fall off a cliff or a bus hitting you or something? Well that adrenaline/pit of stomach turmoil is exactly like what happens when you open an Atom up fully. My preconceptions of 6.8sec to 100, and the thought of unleashing some of it, were actually less than the reality. I laughed a lot after that first squirt. I’d say poor Motorhead didn’t know half of the babbling coming out of me, but he was laughing too. I won’t dwell on the mental speed; you’ll just have to try experience it for yourself, preferably not by falling off a cliff or into a bus! But it is fcuking MENTAL and life-altering.
Ok, so on we went, laughing a lot at the whole experience. We made the decision that, while time was ticking and family duties, car organization, pints & food were calling back south, it would be remiss not to take the long way on this beautiful sunny, dry Saturday evening. I was getting comfortable with the immense speed potential the car had, and both the Atoms and my own abilities to meter out percentages of it where safe to do so. So a nice flow began to emerge on the B roads, and I was able to use some brain processing power to concentrate more on the whole experience again. The ‘seats’ are superb – while moulded and unpadded plastic shells in reality, they held me well (harnesses help a lot obviously) and were also really comfortable for the whole trip. The brakes are also without fault. I didn’t try locking them up, but did do a trial stop with increasing pressure; they are strong, wonderfully progressive, and with a solid pedal to work off for heel & toeing.
The car put down the power really well (better than Motorheads experience last year. Fresher AO48s and a warm dry day helped enormously) but I have to say that, while curious, I didn’t have much interest in even approaching a point where it might not! Equally I didn’t seek out too much of the subtleties of its dynamic make-up – 600bhp/ton to rear wheels and the fact its limits are so high in a steady state cornering scenario meant it would be insane and irresponsible to, not to mention risking a painful exposure of my own lack of talent. This is a car you take very seriously – four simple seconds could have you from exiting a 40mph bend to barreling into the unseen or unexpected at over 100mph. Did I mention how mental it is? I did note again that, while not seeming to be overly stiffly sprung, the front is occasionally deviated from your chosen line at a time when you didn’t think it would from reading the road or brake/throttle/steering input. It was more noticeable under brakes where a lumpy surface, cambers or the road crown could easily see you moving a foot or more. It was almost a gentle hopping if in a bend, and only at certain speeds. It might be a geo or tyre pressure thing, and I’d imagine even minute adjustments make a huge impact on a car so light. Still, it knocked confidence a smidge. No harm.
Staying within the safe confines of prudence, there is still adequate pace and driving enjoyment to be had. About 50 miles in, Motorhead & the satnav directed me into a lovely section that ran for several miles – it was reasonably smooth, some well-sighted bends, rolling countryside, few houses or adjoining roads, sun getting low and flickering through the tree-lined canopy, air sucked in through the intake, supercharger whining, shift lights winking, synchros unmeshing & meshing, feet dancing on the pedals, all controls feeling spot on …... It is locked in my ‘magic motoring moment’ vault forever.
We had to spend some time on main roads, inevitably. And the amount of buffeting increases seemingly exponentially with speed. A constant 65mph rapidly becomes a pain in the hole, simple as. Overtaking trucks however, becomes a thing of joy. Pull out, coast clear, foot down, and you’re lifting off before you pass the truck a couple of seconds later.
All too soon a couple of hours have passed and we pulled into Motorheads driveway, parked up alongside the orange Exige S and Sport 135, hit the ignition toggle, and reflected. The car, far from being a monster, is actually really drivable – surprisingly so considering the massive power such a light car has to manage over a large speed range. My few criticisms are no doubt the product of such dynamic constraints, my lack of understanding of them, and unfamiliarity with the breed. What is in no doubt is that I got out of that Atom, stood there, and found myself slightly shaking with the buzz of it all, randomly giggling, simply unable to stop smiling. What a car, what a privilege. Thanks Ultrasound. And thanks for sharing the experience alongside me Motorhead.
Safely back in Motorheads, with my old Elise Sport 135 behind.
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