Grassroots Motorsports

Subscribe get a full year for only $19.95 Sample get a free issue—no strings attached

Login to post Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » Homemade Ariel Atom?

Sept. 22, 2008 5:57 p.m. fastEddie Dork

Sorry, my BS meter is going off, at least on the frame.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/09/z59_incredible_homebuilt.html
Sept. 22, 2008 6:05 p.m. Strizzo Dork

lame that they went with the fake vtec k20a3 for it. don't know if i buy the homemade part of it either
Sept. 22, 2008 6:10 p.m. John Brown UltimaDork

Tires are on backwards.

I bet it is home built, not $2008.00 but home built.
Sept. 22, 2008 6:11 p.m. carguy123 HalfDork

You need to get out more, lots of people have built exo skeleton cars themselves.

I don't know about that one itself but it could have been. Lame motor in an RSX, but in that light of a car, even a singer sewing machine motor can propel a car in an amazing fashion.
Sept. 23, 2008 8:48 a.m. Winston New Reader

Our own JonW (builder of the $200x aluminum-nose locost) is building an Atom:

http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1503
Sept. 23, 2008 1:00 p.m. Brust New Reader

Geez guys, this atom clone is chronicled pretty extensively at the locost usa non-traditional build forum. It's a pretty sweet job for an 18 year old (going to stanford this year) or anyone else for that matter. http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3030 Gimme a break with the hating on someone who built their own car. And yeah, that's what the first four of you did. Yes, it cost a lot. No, he didn't use a motor with a "type R" designation. No, he's not the first to build an atom clone. It's not perfect, but I give him an A for effort- it's a far sight more than I've undertaken.
Sept. 23, 2008 2:03 p.m. Dr. Hess UberDork

Yeah, I think he did a good job of it. I would move the roll hoop over to where the driver sits, but that's just me.

Once you build a car from scratch (or most of one), you start looking at things like the Atom or that Maserati Birdcage clone we had at out car show 2 weeks ago and you say, OK, that's do-able. Just need some drawings and maybe a tubing notcher.
Sept. 23, 2008 3:52 p.m. fastEddie Dork

No hating here, just doubt which has been proved wrong.

No harm no foul.
Sept. 23, 2008 8:07 p.m. confuZion3 HalfDork

I like it! Pretty nifty.
Sept. 23, 2008 8:16 p.m. Hasbro HalfDork

Damn, when I think about what I was doing at 18...
Sept. 23, 2008 8:32 p.m. mistanfo Dork

$11,000 in it, not too shabby. I'm sure that with more scrounging he might have done it for less, but he likely had less experience in this sort of thing than some here. I do like that he used an old kayak for the nose piece...
Sept. 23, 2008 10:28 p.m. Hasbro HalfDork

Actually, the K20a3 is a great little motor. Not too hard to get a little under 200 hp na with a sweet flat torque curve. Runs forever. Or pop in a turbo or supercharger... I'm getting around 36 -40 mpg in my Si hatch and his project is much lighter. For outright performance, of course, the K Frankenmotors are a whole different story.

Stock K20a3 bottom/modded head:
Sept. 23, 2008 11:50 p.m. Brust New Reader

fastEddie wrote:

No hating here, just doubt which has been proved wrong.

No harm no foul.

Cool man, I didn't intend to sound so harsh either, but dang! Unless the dude was trying to sell it, I don't think I have a lot of criticism for it. I'd do things differently but I've also got an ME degree and 20 years of car tinkering under my belt (and still no homebuilt car!).
Sept. 24, 2008 9:03 a.m. GameboyRMH Dork

Nice!

You'll need to log in to post.