Anijo

I saw it driving around today, it turned off down a side street before I could get my camera out Those things are NUTS, we need to find out who owns it and invite them out for the next drive/get together in this area. I had no idea these things were street legal in this country but they are! Pic below for those who don't know what I'm talking about. It's basically a go-cart with the engine out of a Civic Type-R, super charged iirc. It makes the power of a S2k with less weight than a Miata, they're marketed as a motorcycle alternative.

shaunv74

There are two that come out to the NW Alfa days at Pacific Raceway. One is a British guy. Nice enough.

BTW: Don Hertzfeldt FTW!!!

Anijo

Indeed :P

And that's awesome... I really never expected those to be street legal over here. I figured they'd do one side impact test against an Escalade, notice that the Escalade didn't even notice the Atom as it ran it over, and fail it.

kristopher_d

You have to buy the road-kit and then have it inspected by the State Patrol so you can register it as a kit car.

In the US they were using a 2L Ecotech. But now that Bramo Motorsports isn't building the US Atoms, I'm not sure what they're using here. The new US Mfr still doesn't have their website up.

There are two engine options, N/A and S/C. With the S/C the car weights around 1/2 ton and has 300 hp (That's 600hp/ton).

Speyrod

I've seen a couple driving together in the Ravensdale area, so I would suspect the Issaquah area for home. I want one SO damned bad, but the price is absurd!

kristopher_d

What's absurd about $45K with road-pack, for the supercharged, 300hp version?

Remember, these cars are hand built and are as close as you're going to get to driving a go-kart on the highway.

Speyrod

I was thinking of the ones I've seen advertised for over 70K. Used.

For 45K I can buy a heck of a nice airplane and use all the performance all the time, but I will admit I can't go to Safeway for a six pack in it. Still...

Falken

I prefer the Caparo T1. THAT's basically a 575hp V8 with wheels and a seat.

kristopher_d

Except the Kaparo still isn't for sale, has bad habit of bursting into flames, can't keep it's floor pan attached, and can't clear speedbumps. If you want a V8, go for the Atom 500. (10K RPM, 500HP V8)

Speyrod

I seem to remember someone was making a V8 out of 2 Hayabusa engines and putting it in an Ariel Atom? Or has the bong water gone bad,, again

kristopher_d

I haven't heard of that, but I don't follow cars as closely as some. I usually spend my free time driving, preparing to drive, studying driving, or driving. Occassionaly I watch driving or read about driving. Then I drive some more and practice driving.

fahrfegneugen

Cool go cart.

^Careful watching driving, you never know if Nascar will trick you into only being able to turn left... you might end up off the road.

kristopher_d

I was a little bit concerned about that when I flipped on the IRL race last weekend. It was a road course, but the Rolex Sports Car race on Speed was more interesting.

NASCAR = Technology that's been obsolete for 30 years.
IRL = Technology that's been obsolete for 10 years.
F1 = State of the art racing technology.

With NASCAR being the most popular form of motorsport in the US, is it any wonder we're having economic trouble.

Anijo

I really can't wait for WRC to come back. Just 5 more days!

Speyrod

I used to like F1...until all the cars looked alike.

kristopher_d

Apparently you haven't seen a race in a while. While the cars all fit the "formula" none of them really look alike. BMW has some of the most extreme use of flow modifiers, while the McClaren front wing absolutely beyond compare. The Ferraris are, of course, very classic looking still, and untill the last couple of races still competitive. The Renaults have this hideous dorsil fin thing, while the Red Bull and Scuderia Toro Roso cars are really taking on a beautiful shape.