Evo Magazine this month - Atom 4 & 3.5R

[Fastlane]

I just received the latest issue of Evo (January 2019) through the post and there is a very nice piece on the Atom 4 in their "Driven" section. It includes Tom's comments:

"Level one and you'd let your nan drive it. It's around 200bhp. Really tame. It's like a "wet" setting. Level two is about as fast as the old supercharged car - around 260bhp. And setting three is hold-on tight."

It gets 5 stars.

The 3.5R piece compares the Sadev-equipped factory car to the Caterham 620R and the Elemental Rp1, including a timed lap around the Coastal Circuit at Anglesey in less than ideal conditions. The Caterham does 1:14.2, the Rp1 1:13.2 and the 3.5R 1:12.3 (only 2 tenths slower than a 997 GT2 RS). It wins the test easily and gets 5 stars.

Seems Ariel are on a roll.

[cvjoint]

So it beats the 918 and the P1 on the standard tires. That's a hypercar killer.
https://www.evo.co.uk/features/16996/ev ... d-on-track

[phil4]

Different weather, atmospheric conditions and even possibly driver... It'll defo be up there, but can we compare directly?

[cvjoint]

Maybe Fastlane can pitch in as to conditions and driver for 3.5R test.

However, the 918 got Jethro Bovingdon on a sunny dry day, so that's as good as it gets. The guy is a two time LeMans winner, entered twice, won twice:
https://www.driverdb.com/drivers/jethro-bovingdon/

The context can only make the 3.5R look even better.

[phil4]

Two time Nurburgring winner in the SP8T class... I don’t know much about WEC, or even if this was part of it... but it isn’t LMP1 at Le Mans.

Also entered 3 won 2.

But equally it’s better than me just not convinced he’s as good as you can get


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[cvjoint]

Two time Nurburgring winner in the SP8T class... I don’t know much about WEC, or even if this was part of it... but it isn’t LMP1 at Le Mans.

Also entered 3 won 2.

But equally it’s better than me just not convinced he’s as good as you can get


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Fair point, looks like there were only 7 cars in that class, multiple drivers per car (of course, to cover 24hr), and his car was faster by a lot:
https://24hrennenassets.azureedge.net/w ... -Class.pdf

Only one is as good as it gets in any competition by definition. Some F1 drivers can't even drive stick though. It takes real skill to drive an AMG GT on Nurburgring competitively in an endurance. I think we can agree he is a cut above the usual journalist times. I doubt there's more than half a second left in the car.

Forgot to say, I'd say LMP1 is arguably not a good yardstick either. Toyota was the only factory backed team so they won because they had more money. Something competitive is Formula 4 where the car is standard and the grid is packed with kids wanting to prove themselves for higher leagues.