Great car OP!

Make sure you have an agreed value on the insurance and don’t crash it!

(they fold up nicely because those lovely looking curved side tubes are not in pure compression……..)

Thought I’d give a wee update on living with an Atom.

It took a while until I got to drive it. Bad weather slowed down the garage building process throughout May so I didn’t bring it to its new home til the end of that month.

Initial thoughts were it was easy enough to bimble about in but trying to drive it quicker? I really thought: “What the **** have I done?” I could drive my diesel Focus quicker.

The acceleration was phenomenal. The assault on the senses terrific but cornering induced a sphincter tightening sense of uneasiness that left me concerned that I’d be going backwards through a hedge sometime soon. Getting the thing sideways on cold tyres a few times didn’t help along with a few over zealous applications of the throttle that did the same.

Anyway, I persevered and things came together a little more. Then, a long chat with local Atom guru Nev Wood was illuminating. “Treat it like a big bike,” he said, “Plan your corners ahead, get your gearchanging and braking done in good time and drive it through the corner. Don’t apply the throttle until you’ve straightened up on exit. Especially in the lower gears.”

He talked me through car setup as well and confirmed I was doing everything right. A bit more practice following Nev’s advice and I was starting to get on the money.

The Atom has a lot of engine braking – like a bike – and is very torquey too so it’s easy to drive without changing gear too much. You can make pretty rapid progress without too much fuss and you find yourself having fun without having to hit very high speeds. There’s always that mad loud pedal to give you a giggle on the straights or overtaking.

It makes you a more courteous driver too. You don’t need to press on and keep your speed up because you’ve got so much acceleration to despatch slower vehicles or just get back up to speed after slowing down for hazards.

Every drive is an event. I feel a tingle of excitement before every outing. People point and wave so you wave back. All the time. When you stop, people come up and take photos and ask questions. Every time.

Currently on holiday in Strathconon. Her Indoors brought the kids up in the Galaxy and I brought the Atom. What a hoot! Over the Lecht, Granton-on-Spey to Aviemore then Inverness and Muir of Ord. Just drove up to Gairloch on the A832 past Loch Maree (pic above) then back.

It’s very tactile. You can feel (and see) what the car’s doing all the time and the feedback is sensational. Her Indoors likes it because it’s “like being outside”.

So, sorry for going on but now absolutely loving it. I’m smiling behind my mirrored visor on even the most mundane bits of any drive.

The engine braking in my ep3 was so much that I learnt to heel toe, it made for much smoother down changes.

Having driven a caterham and an atom I’d have a caterham. Mainly for the comfy seat. The atom is bonkers in every way. It’s a hard thing not to love for the sheer absurdness of it. Fair play!

I get the same cheesy grin driving my vw bay window van. It’s daft, expensive, and pointless, it’s mainly rust but I love it.

Yeah, been playing about with heel and toeing. I can see it being useful but I’m not very good yet….

Finding the hard plastic seats surprisingly comfy so far. Maybe coz I’m concentrating too hard to notice they’re uncomfortable? 😆

Love it! Great update – enjoy!

Not jealous at all, still would love another go in one. Enjoy it!

Every drive is an event. I feel a tingle of excitement before every outing. People point and wave so you wave back. All the time. When you stop, people come up and take photos and ask questions. Every time.

Exactly what a second, fun car should be. Something different to the usual that puts a smile on your face and cheers others up.

Nice to see someone expressing the fun of driving a nice car, which doesn’t always appear allowed here

I bet it’s worth at least £5-10k more than you bought it for at the moment too !

My initial issue with heel toe is that the name is confusing as you definitely don’t use your heel! It’s more like big toe, little toe. I don’t know what the Atoms pedals are like but it can make a difference to how easy it is, I find brake pedal a bit higher than accelerator is ideal. Practicing can make a drive more enjoy but lack of enjoyment probably isn’t an issue for you.

Should you ever find yourself in East Lancs, can I have a go?

Thanks for the update. Great write up.

I don’t know what the Atoms pedals are like

Adjustable. Like pretty much everything else on the car.

Blue…that suggests a saw you crossing the milltimber bridge in it last Monday evening ?

Even up here I don’t think there are many of those kicking about surely.

Yep. That was me.

Had just come along the Netherley road and was heading into Aberdeen to pick up some wallpaper at B&Q.

(Any excuse for a drive 😆)

Ah, was sat on that bench on Thursday morning with the inlaws. My journey to it in the Skoda yeti ‘might’ have been mildly different to yours however…..

Also, if you came from Grantown you undoubtedly came past my house on the Grantown-Nairn road.

An atom would definitely be on my toy list if my toy list was allowed to be a little longer. Or a caterham. Up here (Highlands) acceleration to blip around cars and a car that makes going moderately swiftly an event and is good around the bends AND is relatively narrow is infinitely more fun than an out and out monster.

Interesting write up. My initial thoughts on the handling issues you mention was “what tyres”. Do you have something that needs some real heat to get them working?

Still looks bonkers but 270mile round trip to a track day yesterday – I was loving my aircon! Still not sure about open cars like the Atom, I’m not sure I’d ever get to use one apart from track days.

Amazing machines I did an experience day in one and found it unreal.

I overtook lambo’s Porsches and astons like they were going backwards while I was going up hill.

Mostly ran in 4th to keep the tail behind me, instructor lap was a big eye opener and we got “light” over a crest.

i bet you are having a blast, fair play for convincing the mrs.

Cracking update. Looks like great fun

Heel toe is one of those things that makes a drive fun, even if you’re moving relatively slowly, it’s just one of the joy of driving a nice manual box (if the pedals are set up helpfully)

Interesting write up. My initial thoughts on the handling issues you mention was “what tyres”. Do you have something that needs some real heat to get them working?

Obviously as this is STW you need to put CrossClimates on your Atom 🙂

I’m glad you are enjoying it. I’ve driven an Atom a couple of times at track days and they are great fun, halfway between a kart and a big bike.

Up here (Highlands) acceleration to blip around cars and a car that makes going moderately swiftly an event and is good around the bends AND is relatively narrow is infinitely more fun than an out and out monster.

What do you mean by monster though?

It sounds like the sweet spot is something like a Caterham 360, where there is plenty of power, but not silly power.

When OP says that he has been advised that the best way to drive it is to accelerate once your on the straight, that takes away a lot of the fun for me and you may as well be in any Audi RS model. Of course I imagine the Atom is not at all dull through the corners, but it sounds like it just has too much power for a normal driver to be able to push through corners on the road. I guess the track is the only place where you can push a car with that much power.

I imagine the Nomad would be easier to control on road as its more softly sprung, and therefore you can feel the car going sooner.

What do you mean by monster though?

We get quite a few Top Gear wanna be ‘grand tours’ through here and then up to the NC500. Big Ferraris etc. It all looks too wide to me for easy navigating single carriageways and too spendy if you need to take to the rough passing places. And the ability to blast along at silly speeds is a bit wasted. The only thing to make an atom or a caterham a nause would be the lower ride height possibly reducing your ability to see ahead but that would be the same for all sports car I guess.

I think that’s the first time I’ve seen one with a person in it. They’re very wee aren’t they!

Living next to Switzerland with alps, scenery, mountain passes and immaculate tarmac I’d love one. I remember seeing the 3.0 V8 version parked in the Ferrari dealership at Fort Kinnaird, Edinburgh… what a thing of beauty with gold frame, wheels and red detail on the black bodywork. Plus the wing and spoilers….

It’s either an Atom or Schwimmwagen for my fantasy garage. Well done OP, enjoy it.

Funnily enough I did a driving experience thing at the weekend driving an Audi R8 and an Atom.

Was somewhat surprised that they put me in the Atom first. So they had me heading out on to the track with no knowledge of the track layout (don’t think there was even a map pinned up anywhere and none of it was visible from the pits, let alone being given a demo lap or shown a video), hardly able to hear the instructor as we were both obviously helmeted + wind noise. Pretty intimidating! Even with me not knowing where I was heading and being told to keep it in fifth at all times, I still breezed past a Lambo on the first lap.

Would love to own one, but as of last week the new Lotus Emira is top of my mid-life-crisis-car-that-is-perhaps-achievable-one-day list.

When OP says that he has been advised that the best way to drive it is to accelerate once your on the straight, that takes away a lot of the fun for me and you may as well be in any Audi RS model⁰

I should have qualified that better. What I meant was not to mash the throttle exiting bends until I’ve straightened up. I’m putting the power on in varying degrees. I’m able to tighten the turn slightly with a little more power or counter steer a fraction if I’ve over done it slightly.

You can feel the back end biting the tarmac as you apply the throttle. Its like a superbike where you gradually feed in the power after the apex but you can’t crack it open until you’re pretty much upright – unless you’re Valentino Rossi, obviously.

Think I’ll stick to the 2CV, all of the excitement and none of the danger .

Think I’ll stick to the 2CV, all of the excitement and none of the danger .

Ha ha! I learned to drive in a 2CV! Brilliant car. Awesome suspension and that crazy in dash gear stick.

Not dangerous? Not so sure.

Used to go out with my mates across the stubble fields at night shooting rabbits. Canvas roof rolled back, three of us standing blasting with shotguns while the other one drove.

Plus my dad had an accident in it. It folded like a paper airplane. It was a miracle he wasn’t killed.

So, one year on from buying the Atom I thought I’d update things.

I’ve done 2700 miles. Every one of them enjoyable. It’s gone from absolute terror, to controllable fear to slight trepidation to mild concern to mostly enjoyment in the course of those miles.

I’ve driven it throughout the year but only actually encountered rain on a couple of occasions and have never actually donned my rainsuit that’s stuffed behind the seats. I took it off the road in January as it was just too minging to go out.

It sits in a Carcoon Veloce bubble thing – the one with a tent like frame so you can drive in and out. I ran a dehumidifier in there over the winter and a battery conditioner but it probably didn’t need either. My £400 building supplies auction plywood & 3″X2″ garage is still standing despite the storms.

I do have plug in 12v heated clothing but have used it sparingly. Shorter drives in the cold can be dealt with using Buffalo clothing and decent gloves. As long as your neck is protected the helmet does the job. The side panels that came on the car are a godsend too. I took them off on the summer but put them pretty much straight back on the first long trip I made after that.

My phone sits in a holder so I can use it for navigation and I have Bluetooth headsets in the helmets which also connect to the phone so Comms, phonecalls and music all work well. The phone doesn’t require any power but I did wire in 12v power for heated clothing for driver & passenger.

Tyres? It came with two sets of wheels with Yokohama AO52s which are semi slicks. Tons of grip (once they’re warmed up) but very soft so the rears wore quickly. The factory recommended AD08Rs for the road so got a set for £350 fitted from Kwikfit of all people. My local branch is full of knowledgeable car & bike enthusiasts so they were great. I prefer the AD08Rs on the road. The 52s never seemed to run out of grip so I didn’t know where the limit might be whereas you can feel the 08Rs reaching their limit and moving a little.

I’m way more comfortable driving it now I know what I’m doing. Having it step out on you early on gives you a healthy respect for throttle application. Now I can steer it on the throttle a bit by provoking the back end to slide a little but controllably so. I’m also on the power a lot earlier coming out of corners.

I’ve taken a lot of people out for rides. They all absolutely loved it! Even people who weren’t particularly into cars. You can give people a thrill without needing to do anything silly. The manic acceleration is enough.

So, ownership?

I renewed my insurance for £530. Bit cheaper than last year. Road tax is £20 something per month. Fuel is 30-35mpg of Super unleaded (gulp!) but because the tank is so small it never feels like you’re spending that much.

For the service I considered going down to the factory – who are very reasonable cost wise – but decided the time, cost and hassle of the 1200 mile round trip just didn’t add up. I went to Nev Wood of Pickwick Performance near Cullen. As well as being a top bloke (and mountain biker), Nev knows everything there is to know about Atoms having built his own 540bhp Beast (!). A service, thorough going over and MOT came in at £519.

Nev reckons driving an Atom is like being a WWII Spitfire pilot. It’s exciting when you go out but you’re relieved when you get back home!

Most of these figures are considerably cheaper than we’ve spent on our Galaxy 2.2TDCi over the same period – although we’ve obviously done a few more miles in that.

I cracked the glass in the left hand wing mirror. They are lovely machined Rizoma mirrors from Italy. The factory could only provide the whole mirror and only in pairs @£300 per pair. I contacted the manufacturer who put me in touch with the importer and I got the replacement glass for £8.

The next project is to re-wrap the panels. The spray on blue film is peeling a little (it’s red underneath) so I’ve got my 6yr to choose a new colour. It’ll soon be a Lemon Green Mirror finish!

Thoughts? It’s a better road car than I expected. The adjustable suspension makes it very pliable. The Aberdeenshire roads had some serious upgrading & fixing last year so potholes are a rarity. It’s more comfortable than I thought too. 3- 4hrs is not hard on you. Every drive is still a treat. Still an assault on your senses. It still gives you a tingle of anticipation each time you climb in. It makes you work each time you drive it but rewards you in equal measure.

If Putin decides to push the big red button, at least I won’t be sitting here wondering, “What if…..”

Video

nice update , glad you’re enjoying it.

Do you just tend to go out for a drive for the fun of a drive, or do you use it as a means to get to a destination?

I have a caterham 7 (had it for over 20 years now) , and I never use it any more, because theres no point going for a drive for the fun of it, because its not fun – too much traffic, too many pot holes, too much chance of losing license etc.

sensational stuff. What a vehicle.

There was a supercharged one a while back at the Goodwood track day i was attending, was raaaaapid!

If i had the money, i would definitely like to experience ownership.

A British Racing Green colour scheme would tickle my fancy.

Do you just tend to go out for a drive for the fun of a drive, or do you use it as a means to get to a destination?

I use it like a big sports bike. Most drives are planned in terms of route and having consulted the weather forecast.

I’ve taken it on holiday too (with Her Indoors taking the kids in the Galaxy) and then used it for fun when we were there.

I will sometimes take it places as a means of transport but that’s usually involved a scenic detour often with a first time passenger.

Being on the edge of the Cairngorms gives me access to great roads with little traffic. If I lived in the Midlands or somewhere I’d never drive it on the road but then there are plenty of tracks to go to instead.

AO52 are great but very soft and I went through a set in 4 track days. I’m running AD08RS on one set of wheels which are good road/wet track tyres but pretty useless on warm tracks. I suspect they will be good for your Atom the way you are using it. I now run R888r on track which last well in lightweight cars, work as well (if not better) than AO52 and are considerably cheaper. Not really for wet/cold roads though.

Fixed video link

I have a caterham 7 (had it for over 20 years now) , and I never use it any more, because theres no point going for a drive for the fun of it, because its not fun

After 20 years perhaps you just need a change of vehicle.

Thanks bareneccessities, I wasn’t sure how to put a video up.

After 20 years perhaps you just need a change of vehicle.

yeah maybe, I fancied a S2 lotus exige (i used to have an S1 Lotus Elise back in the late 90’s) , but I know really I wouldnt use it, I just dont think I’m bothered about fast cars any more. I used to do 10-12 track days per year in the Lotus and the caterham, but they started to get expensive.

My daily driver is a BMW m4 which is fast and comfy, and a nice place to sit, but you cant use it to anywhere near its potential.

these might be worth a look. well priced and pretty darn grippy.

https://www.tegiwaeuro.com/shop/wheels-tyres/tyres/zestino-gredge-07r-medium-compound-tw240-semi-slick-tyre.html

I have a caterham 7 (had it for over 20 years now) , and I never use it any more, because theres no point going for a drive for the fun of it, because its not fun – too much traffic, too many pot holes, too much chance of losing license etc.

Give it to me if you like, or change where you live. I’ve started looking at Caterham’s as plenty of places to use around where I live.

these might be worth a look. well priced and pretty darn grippy.

Maybe its just me, but I dont like grip. Means you end up driving stupid stupid speeds to have any fun. Much prefer low levels of grip. But then thats maybe the problem with an Atom so much power it just makes it a point and shoot car on the road

Doing in research on Caterham’s everyone says you dont want the more powerful cars

Nice update though OP – Theres not many cars on the road today that you can drive in the way you describe ie using throttle/steering etc, and its a brilliant feeling when you get a car that you can do that in.