Ariel Atom Gets 3.0l 500 HP Engine

No roof, no doors, no windscreen, no carpet, no heater, no stereo...This is pretty much how Vicki Butler-Henderson described the high performance Ariel Atom sports car. Sure, she did say that it is also a lot of fun, but this was before Ariel prepared the new V8 engine intended for the Atom.

Whereas up until now it was just fun, the Atom will get out right frightening after getting this implant. The new 3.0l V8 is capable of developing no less than 500 horsepower and it will be lighter than the current Honda sourced engine. To put this into figures, Ariel says the new engine weighs less than 90 kg.

The new engine boasts new cam arrangement, to allow for both the reduced weight and the lowered position of the engine, pistonheads.com reported. The power-to-weight ratio of the little engine could stand at a staggering 1000 bhp. To make it user friendly, Ariel will pair it with a Sadev 6-speed sequential gearbox, but a paddle shift version is not completely out of the loop yet.

Ariel's figures say that the Atom can reach 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds. This translates into upgraded aerodynamics and braking system. New suspensions are also being considered.

The Atom powered by the new engine will be built in a very limited series: 25 units. The car will be manufactured and assembled in Somerset, but it is likely production will not begin until mid 2010.

Although no official price has yet been released, the new Atom might be priced somewhere in between 100,000 and 135,000 pounds, as Simon Saunders, Ariel's head told the source.