Ariel Atom 4R: Faster Than 500bhp Atom V8? | Stig Laps

[@TopGear]

Can the 4R slay one of its own and go faster than the old Atom V8?

[@melegattie4116]

It can... but it's because of the car or because of the tires ? tire technology advances year after year

[@Xz016e]

Faz a dublagem em português do Brasil

[@isaiahisaiah2288]

As impressive as that time was, the Atom 4r can be upgraded to over 400hp (up to 550hp) but then u might as well throw the whole kitten kabutal @it w/the carbon wheels, ceramic brakes, & run it again! Unleash the Atom4r

[@stealth1379]

Is it the same tarmac as when the v8 version took the lap time? Just asking

[@gabrielbarcellos1036]

Espero que já tenham uma T.50 pronta pro teste 😎

[@ROMELZ]

Tires, 13 years of tire technology makes a huge difference. Would like to see the Atom V8 perform on 2024 tires

[@lambr0063]

I’m sure the v8 would be much quicker on modern tires

[@Aandemaat]

Exactly. The "old" Carrera GT on new tires went around the Ring significantly faster then the original time. The only difference was the tires and maybe a few alignment changes. The track even got slower through alterations in some corners.

[@Your_Paramour]

@@Aandemaat It got faster with one of the resurfacing a few years ago as well.

[@blow0me]

AO52's are about the best road legal tyre in their class. Presumably it is a road legal car, hence the tyres.

[@Peanutdenver]

Add the modern suspension as well with the updated Ohlins coilovers....also I miss Clarkson's play by play of the OG Stig's lap

[@rapture2028]

Thanks for these videos but can you reduce the number of cuts? They're quire jarring.

[@stefanroseEP3]

Every Top Gear video has an obnoxious number of cuts, they're difficult to watch

[@C345OFR]

@@stefanroseEP3 They can drop the fake 'shift' noises and annoying D&B while they're at it...

[@beflat_trumpeter]

More cuts than a kpop video

[@patronus1776]

I miss the flatout pass footage from the tire marker, which was a staple for years.

[@whatwelearned]

Dear editor: please feel free to not use speed ramping every 3 seconds. Cheers.

[@guywheeler4225]

+1

[@jimmyqballs]

Editing in all of these big channels is horrendous, like the target audience is 8 years old. CarWow has 20 cuts in a single 10 second race lol

[@Laundry_Hamper]

+1. Watch the video of the drone following Max in the RB20, identify the editing choice which makes it so good, and simply make that choice more often with TG footage

[@benclarkson4205]

What’s speed ramping?

[@jimmyqballs]

@@benclarkson4205 it's when the speed of the video changes

[@jamesm7100]

The gear changes, both up and down, are absolutely brutal and just beautiful to listen to

[@daviddogbert9898]

I watched about 1 minute of this before turning it off. For gods sake enough already with the crazy edits.

[@farishanafiah8461]

Would still have the Atom V8 though. There's nothing like it ever again (unless Ariel themselves made a second-gen successor to it).

[@RadialSeeker113]

Atom V10 when hahaha

[@victordinev5229]

K48 swaped Ariel 😆

[@removedmotivechannel]

i want to see a Judd V8 swapped Atom

[@aboodmkm]

You have a stig, not The Stig. Just saying 🙂

[@napalmhotdog4365]

It’s currently still Phil Keen. He was the stig at the same time as Ben Collins, and caries on after him

[@XxApo70xX]

Gotta put some respect and kindness to the driver, should we?🤦‍♂️

[@waskus]

@@napalmhotdog4365come on, we all know that Michael was the real Stig😉

[@MrEdouardYT]

It's not just saying it's direspectful to tell that next time take time to answer properly your joke is not funny at all.

[@Owen-fp1ul]

@@waskusobviously

[@RJAH355]

£140.000. Can’t remember when everyone’s wages tripled. Everything else as but I missed my wages tripling.

[@whatwelearned]

Everyone is in debt, don't worry

[@bingoberra18]

You didnt borrow money to buy NFT´s ? You should have bought a digital picture of a monkey. You would be swimming in money now.

[@Professor-Scientist]

The v8 was £150k only 25 made.

[@driv3ver]

Yep, that price tag is ridiculous. Where are the days when Ariel's mission was to make great affordable cars. Chassis is on the same principle as Atom 1, yet prices over 8 times higher than in year 2000.

[@daveansell1970]

I think the kind of people who earn enough to buy £140k go carts for a laugh may well have had their pay triple....

[@Justinzhang-c9g]

What a brutal reaction to the Drive Tribe Vid

[@siddarthgandubilli2786]

Context?

[@sp1tf1r33]

@@siddarthgandubilli2786they got Ben Collins to drive this on the test track 5 months ago

[@Car10121-s]

@@sp1tf1r33 5 months ago in KZbin time, probably filmed around the same time.

[@4strokeBerber]

Thought no one’s gonna mention it

[@promethbastard]

@@siddarthgandubilli2786 These guys can also thank Ben for breaking the carbon rims, and showing the Atom team what was needed to make it beat the V8. Although, there may be some... liberal differences in the driving lines taken that explains the gap.

[@dthdthdthdth]

Super cool and impressive, visceral car ... that sounds like a vacuum with those anemic shift "puffs." I can't believe they've released it with that audio profile.

[@SmallBlogV8]

As an engineering bore will tell you, loud noise is the sound of wasted energy. It doesn't sound cool, no, but it sounds efficient.

[@urbanstrencan]

Ariel Atom is just a crazy machine, Stig's wrestling skills are shown properly driving it:) Great lap :)

[@DonLee1980]

You can see they really pulled out the stop for this lap, and probably had fresher tires, because ex-stig Ben Collins recently drove this car to try to beat 1:15, and ended up 1:15.8. Yet here, Top Gear and the new stig did 1:13.7.

[@M3PH11]

it's amazing what happens when you put a decent driver behind the wheel

[@Sbarrett1]

@@M3PH11For sure. It was obvious from the moment ben was replaced that the new stig was significantly faster, despite clarksons claim that their times in many cars were similar. Like for example, the mp4-12c was quick, but definitely shouldn’t be faster than a veyron ss or 3 seconds above a 458

[@leoa4c]

For that amount of money I would've expected a flat floor and diffuser and a less draggy rear wing. In addition, by using a wider span, less cranked rear wing, the car would look a lot better than it does with the ridiculously tall, short span wing, in my opinion. As for the floor and diffuser, I would design a floor for most of the length and the entire width of the metal chassis with a single diffuser for it, but I would also place a floor on either side of the chassis, starting at the sidepods and ending with a diffuser not too close to the rear tyre. But that would be a big increment in performance. Ariel wants to increase the performance very gradually so that each car can be better than the last one.

[@wrighty338]

Im sure Ariel will be along to read your comment and offer you a role at the company very shortly.

[@leoa4c]

@@wrighty338 After reading your constructive comment, I'm sure that they will take you instead.

[@QuixoticApex]

Hang on, let me get my Forza tuning app open… now we’ll get a winning tune on that Atom.

[@auth7046]

mate if they really cared about aero they wouldnt have the tube frame exposed on the sides, my first goal would be making it less draggy if i wanted to go faster

[@leoa4c]

@@auth7046 The tube frame is an aesthetic element of the car. I think that if you covered it, the car would look a lot worse, both from inside and outside. A flat floor and diffuser would improve aesthetics, in my opinion.

[@LilFoxAK]

need that quife gearbox- shifts absolutely flawlessly

[@joewolf38]

3:18 i don't like this format , sorry guys. I don't wanna see the commentator, the voice is enough, i would like to see the car and hear the engine.

[@palfostervold4271]

"he's got it all sorted out, like a japanese lunatic!!"

[@PrathamRao1729]

This is one hell of a car!!!!

[@thebagnechannel3183]

I didn’t know Top Gear was still making shows. I’m glad it’s still around.

[@jonjonr6]

Someone is selling one of the Honda powered Atoms in my area for about $50k. It's not the newer 4R. It's one of only 10 sent to the US of that version. I wish I could buy it. And yes, I do live near a track.

[@proctortoad]

I’m serious if this will turn out the same way as the other testing. Remember when the v8 first made the scene? What an era!

[@afreyseng]

So glad you guys are doing this again!! Go Stig!

[@KaiRoberts-q2r]

Thanks for sharing this 😁 would love to shake down an Ariel Atim 4r on proper track looks fun as hell to drive . Great video 👍

[@bicyclist2]

I love it. Very cool. I still hope to see an Ariel some day. Thank you.

[@jasonmillington4344]

Would be nice to know the tyres from the V8 to 4R and see if it is down to those changes. Impressive time

[@aakar1s]

4R was on Advan A052 (High performance summer), 500 was on what looks like an early ToyoR888 (Semi slick).

[@Cloxxki]

The V8 on 2024's best tyres would probably lap quicker. Although the track isn't getting any faster.

[@Grover91]

The 4R also has MUCH better aero than the V8.

[@charlie6299]

@@aakar1sthink the v8 was maybe in the yoko a048. Regardless, the a052 is a faster tire by a good bit.

[@richtaylor2129]

Looks nice. Seen 2 Ariel Atoms before. One was at Cosford Airshow a few years ago & the other one was on display at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon. Changing subject, it is a shame to see VC10 ZA150 looking a bit shabby now.

[@IanMcCain-h8m]

It's a 400 HP go-kart. Uh, yeah, it's gonna be scary fast

[@HenryNorfolk-wc3xn]

As clarkson proved with the original Atom it will rip your face off

[@AndrewTSq]

This must be so awesome to drive, all the sensory feedback from the g-forces steering wheel, sound, vibrations, wind

[@sebastianjo752]

3 seconds faster than Ben Collins, they must have changed something on the car. That's a lot faster on this track.

[@Deadsphere]

Newer tires than the V8's 10+ year old tires. If they ran the V8 on newer tires it'd smash the 4R+

[@noncog1]

Prolly had the full factory team out for damper and alignment changes, data, and more laps and tires

[@noncog1]

​@@Deadspheresame car

[@omg_atom]

This Stig did a 1.16.0 in the standard Atom 4 so Ben Collins must be at least a second slower than Phil Keen. Phil knows the Atom well which must help too 👍

[@Peanutdenver]

@@Deadsphere Plus the added down force and modern Ohlins dampers

[@crabapple1974]

This is basically down to 14 years tire improvement? Turbo has better torque than the V8 aswell. I would trade a few seconds on the lap for the sound of that V8!

[@driv3ver]

Frankly chassis looks same to Atom 1 - which was sold for over 8 times less (17 000 GBP in year 2000). Motor from Honda, gearbox from Honda, suspension by Bilstein or option for Ohlins, brakes by AP Racing and so on. Most of their works seems to be waiting and reaching for improved technologies from others. (motor, gearbox, suspension, tires etc.) Then slap it on their previous model, attach insane price tag ( 140 000 GBP !) and call it a day.

[@boogboog8097]

Yup actually kinda insulting to the audience he doesent acknowledge that, we are just mindless consumers taking what they feed us is the bbc attitude.

[@gsurfer04]

"Better torque" doesn't mean anything by itself. A diesel bus has "better torque" than most cars but half the redline.

[@driv3ver]

@@gsurfer04 Yet motors from Type-R have higher redline than most cars.

[@crabapple1974]

@@gsurfer04 Torque and horsepower are related you know? Multiply torque with rpm and a constant and you get horsepower. You want as much power as possible over the rev range you are using. What rpm you can use depends on the gearbox. That is why you talk about "area under the curve" for dynosheets. On your bus analogy: What matters is the torque you get at the wheels. But that is really horsepower, think of it like this. 300 Nmj at 3000 rpm is the same horsepower as 150Nm at 6000rpm. They give the same torque at the wheel but one need to be geared so it spins twice as fast thus multiplying the torque from the engine. So max acceleration is always where the horsepower is the highest.

[@NoSenatorson]

It’s hard to really tell how fast the Stig is driving from a screen. The only way to get a sense is to get a real road track ride along with a pro driver. I was glad I was tightly strapped in a 5-point harness for this experience.

[@bluegizmo1983]

The Atom V8 just looks soooo much better though!

[@AblaikhanBennett-o2s]

That V8 engine itself is unique. Basically 2x Suzuki Hayabusa Engine Blocks bolted together.

[@kentalanlee]

My goodness, that looks fun. Spicy.

[@Juaninstreal]

I see Ariel I click. Such amazing cars!

[@Margot_est_douce.]

This is so awesome, never get tired of watching your posts.

[@Addyboy0190]

Glad to see the old track still there and being used the way it's meant to be

[@mikebeer1567]

Serious question, what did Ultima ever do to the BBC ? The Arial atom is on the show so much it should be in the credits, while the Ultima RS is also british made, equal price, road legal and most importantly one of the fastest cars in the world - yet it's never, ever been featured on the show. So I repeat, what did Ultima ever do to the BBC ?

[@k20ee96]

Great to see full unedited laps

[@Olabruh]

I agree with you guys, the editing is too much, but they already give us what we're looking for. A raw POV of stig and the car no music no cuts pure sound. I would still like the drifting part to be less edited and have more continuous shots of it going sideways.

[@stevesloan6775]

I must say, Ive never seen a pilots view of the old TopGear track. Very cool after all of these years. : ]

[@danyb97]

I love this reincarnation of the show in the form short lovely KZbin videos

[@NRF787]

Keep doing these Stig Laps!

[@auto_huncho]

Imagine the Atom 500 V8 with modern dampers and tyres. 😮

[@romainseigle-vatte6430]

When will the next episode be released ? And when will the Valkyrie’s time be revealed ?

[@bunky8077]

Tyre tech advances are probably mostly responsible for time vs the V8. Back to back on same tyres would be interesting

[@lukejenkins9341]

Thats bloody quick that is fair play i haven't seen a car like all cartoon like for ages 😂

[@omairsaif5702]

What an Awesome Lap by The Stig. Always Admires the Ariel Atom. Awesome Job by the people at ARIEL factory. BBC Whats the Awesome Soundtrack @ 7:03

[@quickdigest]

If I'm watching the stig lap, I don't want to see the host BRO MOOOOOVEEE !

[@seanns1945]

Gab, Gab, Gab.... Lets watch the Stig do his thing without interruption.

[@STAG162]

4:49 onwards, that's what you came here for.

[@RYTF5]

Just use KZbin vanced. It'll automatically skip there for you.

[@reggiewhite4111]

Alright...perhaps a bit edit/cut crazy, but still a solid udea and video. Please keep doing them...maybe a c8 z06 in the future?

[@scottjones415]

2.1 faster than Ben Collins in the exact same car? Surely it’s had a tune or something

[@ALMX5DP]

No idea if this was a different day or how the conditions were but also should be noted that Ben was on the carbon wheels, and there were some issues as I recall that they discovered after his running. Whether or not that had any effect is uncertain but could be if this took place after that attempt that Ariel decided the forged wheels were more appropriate.

[@harrywalton6421]

Not the same car, better tyres, and potentially better track conditions

[@harrywalton6421]

​@@seasonedchick3nno, it wasn't, Ben Collins drove the old V8 atom from 2011 whereas this was the latest iteration

[@ALMX5DP]

@@harrywalton6421 the OP is referring to Ben’s drive from earlier this year on the DriveTribe channel.

[@harrywalton6421]

@@ALMX5DP fair enough, was just going on this one

[@devensautox4698]

The BBC playing defense against Ben Collins. Great. As an atom owner I can appreciate the car but really it needed further development. Glad they did this with the 4 somewhat

[@yousausage]

Did you ever hear much about the Hipercar? Just curious.

[@paulwade5853]

Would be nice to have some telemetry for the on board run.

[@FrmThaMont]

That Last Turn Was Money 🔥🔥 Could’ve Easily Ended Horribly

[@Jehco14]

I reckon there's at least 0.3-0.5 s on the table on that lap, because of a poor exit out of the first long sequence of corners

[@carlwoolrich8552]

It's good to see using Ben Collins again as the Stig.

[@oscarvilche4431]

Idea, Hoonicorn on Top Gear track guest starring Lia Block. It would be a dream come true to see the Hoonicorn on this fabled track

[@TheDCJason]

They don't really do modded cars though. Mostly stuff from manufacturers and a racecar every now and then.

[@commacheckz]

That’s not the stig. That’s the stigs skinny ass cousin 🤷‍♂️🙌

[@Motor_Alchemist]

I would love to see another lap of the Caterham 620R but in the dry this time

[@novang6093]

to feel the speed you should add static camera on the side of high speed pass...

[@ELXABER]

I love the new Stig laps, and unless Ben lost some weight, I think you got a new Stig, but you need to do at least one more of those sound tunnel runs in the LFA, please.

[@chrisgilkes1687]

It’s Phil Keen not Ben.

[@ELXABER]

@@chrisgilkes1687 Ahh, thanks, somehow missed that and just found the article; "Clarkson Reveals Phil Keen As Top Gear’s Final Stig After Years Of Secrecy"

[@QuixoticApex]

5:56 sheesh… let’s talk about balls of steel… no clue how fast he’s going atm, but the obstacle on the right feels stupid close!

[@alexxifaras738]

what about a 4r with the V8?

[@karadagmert]

Stig is the King 🎉

[@Artiick]

Despiete all these years Ariel still hasn't learned that the cars are still heavily rear limited as they overall produce no downforce sufficient to have it stick.

[@mitchellsteindler]

Great drive

[@incolink]

I'm interested to know at what exact power level does the 2.0lt become not effective on the track .. So that 1000hp atom couldn't complete a good lap as fast as that one due to the power delivery being not so nice ... I'm thinking a 550-650hp K24 would probably be the ultimate power plant in the atom it would have similar manners or hostility as that 400hp K20 i would think

[@nicholasxuu]

Why the rear wing is so narrow? for better top speed? or to balance the relatively "small" front wing?

[@n1k0n_]

Track ID on that last run? 🤘

[@jlevace]

I really did want one, But i did not realise it was such a handful. Almost like it was not set up properly

[@1mp3r1alC0MMAND0]

can someone fill me in, have i missed somethin i though the track was turned into a rallycross stage at some point and then last i heard in the news the airfield was bein torn down so it was now gone wasnt it?

[@318East]

As much as I enjoyed the "specials" theses may be my favorite segments from TG

[@jordanmackay3568]

Ben's review of this is so much better

[@yousausage]

Where's the Hipercar, Ariel? 😂😊

[@duncan51]

Whats stopping you guys from using the traditional camera angles for the stig lap? You are Top Gear, aren't you?

[@lakhbirsinghpowar4542]

How close do the cars get to Jack in the intro?

[@Obliviono]

There is a Ariel Atom with 1000hp in the UK, bring that to the show and drive it on the track?

[@awaw3236]

I've driven a number of cars, fast, slow, new, old...I have never been more terrified as i was driving an Atom. An amazing vehicle, but not for me.

[@xnotasweatx]

Woah woah whoah when did a Jaguar CX75 get a lap?? WTF! What a rare machine

[@mattsands8246]

Would love to see what that 1000bhp modded atom would do around that track, other than crash of course.😅

[@booyamotorsports]

I have an atom 4 and I'm so pissed that the ECU is locked and they won't unlock it, I would like to tune it to have more power, that Honda engine is real formidable it wouldn't be hard for me to add another 100 horsepower but they shot me down with the locked ECU

[@brightchavalala]

The 2 seconds gap between this Stig and Ben Collins(the Stig) is suspicious, especially considering that Ben Collins cracked one of carbon rims when doing one of the laps

[@omg_atom]

This is Phil Keen, he's been the stig since 2010/2011 including setting the original Atom V8 lap 👌

[@brightchavalala]

@omg_atom I'm not saying that he is not faster than Ben Collins but the 2 seconds gap is questionable, especially considering that Jeremy Clarkson once stated (in the top gear episode he introduced the new Stig) this Stig posts similar lap times to the Stig(Ben Collins)

[@edwardfeast1697]

Hang on, that's a bloody impressive lap. Ben Collins already lapped this car and nearly broke the Carbon wheels setting a 1:15.8, that's 2.1 seconds slower than this Stig. How? Ben's not a bad driver by any means and that's a huge gap

[@promethbastard]

Differences in tyres for one, probably tuning/revising things for the track, and perhaps some differences in lines taken

[@omg_atom]

It's the same car without the carbon wheels. Phil Keen (Stig since 2011 ish) lapped the original 320bhp Atom 4 in a 1.16.0 and I'd wager he's at least a second quicker in this car than Ben.

[@edwardfeast1697]

@@omg_atom okay fair point, but I still wonder though, because even if Phil Keen is 1s faster over the lap in a 4R vs in the Atom 4, then his 1:16.0 becomes a 1:15.0, or otherwise to probably be a little more accurate a 1:14.8 (Exactly 1 second faster than Ben Collins). But that still leaves room for another 1.1 - 1.3 seconds to account for. That's still quite a margin. Maybe something in the way the car was set-up was just that much better this time around?

[@omg_atom]

@@edwardfeast1697 on other tracks like Goodwood and Anglesey, the 4R has been roughly 2s quicker than the standard 4. That accounts for the 4R gap but not for Ben. Perhaps the carbon wheel that broke had something to do with it 🤷‍♂️ so many variables doing tests on different days though so it's hard to say conclusively

[@nitinarvind]

I miss the old cinematography. the positions the cameras used to be in, in the old show. since they were same locations looking out in the same way. it wasn't soo confusing to watch.

[@Cloxxki]

Wings and skinny tyres, what's the reason for this?

[@u982245]

Weight

[@mickeymouse7741]

Which Mono did it beat ? Surely the r and not the standard no torque n/a Duratec ?

[@davidspires255]

Would be great to see some British hillclimb cars tested, it would be very interesting to see how a 1 litre single seater car would perform.

[@johnnysullivan436]

Did Hammond have some work done?

[@jmakathi6143]

This s why I have my notifications on😊

[@radicaljohn1]

He looks a handy driver.

[@richardstreet2104]

The new stig is clearly very fast, as the old stig (Ben Collins) was over 2.5secs slower in the same car but with carbon wheels?! That's progress for you 🤣

[@alexs8923]

... just say no. That was way too close. Love everything else about the video!

[@K113-A]

Wait, I thought it was Ben Collins The Stig over on the Drive Tribe channel trying to beat the Atom V8....

[@st33ldi9ital]

I want an AWD Nomad. That's what I'm looking out for.

[@odanethomas1073]

What happened to the tunnel run????

[@michaeloxlong5697]

I don't understand how they're so expensive. It's built like a go kart and uses a Honda crate engine that costs $7000 as a one off purchase, surely less in bulk. The fact that it beats a McLaren 675 seems impressive on the surface only because the Atom SEEMS cheaper, but in reality you can get a used 675LT for only slightly more than one of these Atom's new and it's a full touring car.

[@omg_atom]

The options start adding up - a quaife sequential gearbox is around £10k and the Bosch M5 ABS is a similar price. You can lap one of these all day long at a track and not have the consumable costs of the McLaren

[@TAG247]

I dunno mate - I used to watch the old (BC) stig and think, “yeah - he’s driving that way faster than I could do ever around there” I don’t get that feeling watching this video… and it’s an atom

[@a._eliel]

Where is the video with the best Super Cars of 2024?

[@andredornelles8014]

Other than one small mistake entering a corner, brilliant driving

[@TexasScout]

The captions are running 20 seconds behind the audio....