Order placed - newby in the UK

[hiewyj]

Just thought I'd say hello.

I placed my order and paid my deposit with Tom this week and now have a painful wait until May next year.

Have gone for the 245bhp with ambidextrous chassis as I intend to do a few European trips, Carbon seats and instrument surround because they look fantastic, Alcons all round because that seems the concensus on the forum plus limited slip diff, stainless fixings, 16" wheels/track tyres package, new light package, remote brake bias adjuster, removable steering wheel, aero screen, coloured frame/wheels, cat by-pass pipe, stainless exhaust and passenger/clutch footrest.

The new LCD dash even comes as standard 

Would welcome any thoughts / views on things I should add before my final build is cast in stone.

I was taken for a test drive in the SC 300 and was blown away by the pace but also love the idea of a NA engine so decided I should have both by starting with the 245 and adding the SC after a year or so (the extra £5k also helped make my decision but it will be a real test of will to hold off a tick in that extra column in the spec spreadsheet for the next 5 months!)

Can't wait

[FlyingTrotter]

Good call - i did the same - spec seems great - what is the suspension that you get as standard these days ?

If you are tracking you might need a second set of wheels - you can get some Dunlop wets on a set of TD's which are great when you end up travelling miles and its a wet day - sliding around is fun but grips good - factory swear by Avons for which you need dymags - if you want to spend £4k for a spare set of wheels fine but the Dunlop and TD combo is fantastic and way cheaper

[hiewyj]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the advice re Wets - I agree re £4k for a set of spares.

I'm not 100% sure what suspension is standard on the Atom 3.5, I think its Bilstein with Eibach springs but tweaked somehow vs Atom3?

How do you compare the 245 vs 300 upgrade when you had it done?

[FlyingTrotter]

Well I kept a car I would have sold - for me the 245 was too buzzy on track and I was all set to sell it - went to Atom X and met some folk who persuaded me to keep it and I then got the charger and onwards

Each to their own - folk on here love the NA characteristics and it may be perfect for you

[John Scherrer]

Hi John,

If you are thinking of fitting the front wing in future, you may want to add the front tow hook to your options list as this mounts to the front brackets that are used to mount the front wing.

Getting these fitted after factory build will be a lot more expensive.

Similarly, if you think you'll go for the rear wing, ask the factory to fit the rear-wing variant of te rear number plate bracket. It's just a bolt-on job then when you go for the rear wing.

Other considerations ..
If you know you don't want the side panels, if you get in early enough, you can request that the mounting lugs be deleted from the chassis.

Colour-wise, if you think you might be swapping panels to change the colour scheme, some owners specify that the front fixed part of the airbox be black as this will then look right which ever colour panels you go for.

I'm sure you'll be trawling the forum history during the long wait and wil pick up other information !

[speedmachine]

The spec seems good to me...what John said about the towing kit and black air intake also sounds good. If i were to order now, I would definetly buy the NA and try to learn how to drive it properly fast and then upgrade as it gives a nice boost fir sure. I have my sc for a couple of months and in the beginning it is handfull, in my opinion it would be great to get to know the car na first.
On the other hand, i will never forget my first couple of driving hours, because it seemed a bit too much power...

[wattie]

Totally agree with the NA and SC comments here.

Walk before you run.

Gain The "skills without the spills"

Cheers Wattie
On behalf of the Department for Road Safety.

[l33haw]

[quote="wattie"]
Totally agree with the NA and SC comments here.

Walk before you run.

Gain The "skills without the spills"

Cheers Wattie
On behalf of the Department for Road Safety.
[/quote]

Na, don't really buy all that "step by step" stuff. The throttle pedals analogue, press as hard as you dare! 

[l33haw]

Input error, please ignore/delete.

[hiewyj]

Thanks for the feedback - I had a sense from looking at the forum that there would be no clear cut majority on Supercharger vs NA.

I think we are fortunate that the factory offer to retrofit the SC at the same cost as if ordered from new, so I think I'm going to go NA at outset, not least because it knocks £5k off the initial price! Clearly there is no disadvantage to adding it at a later date.

I'd be keen to hear views from members about any other options you did not have on your car that you subsequently wished you had - anything you now wish you either specified from new or had as a 'must have' part of your second hand purchase?

[speedmachine]

I miss a death switch, now i have to take one battery pole off when i leave it for some time. Also handy when parking somewhere as extra security.

Maybe a cigarette lighter, i dont want one, but lots of people added them.

[l33haw]

[quote="speedmachine"]
I miss a death switch, now i have to take one battery pole off when i leave it for some time. Also handy when parking somewhere as extra security.

Maybe a cigarette lighter, i dont want one, but lots of people added them.
[/quote]

I agree on the battery isolator. Other things well worth having is removable steering wheel whith shift lights, I find both invaluable (the first you have and great for security, the second because spotting the rev counter at Atom speeds is not easy), 12v supply under the dash is really useful for hooking up satnav/iPhone with nav. But I think all of those are a fairly simple retro fit.

[Richard Marler]

Hi and welcome to the club. Do you mean you are getting the ambidextrous chassis just because you want to do some European trips? If so, is that not overkill? Many of us have done long European trips with no more than the legal requirements for each country. But I have probably got the wrong end of the stick of your original post.

[John Scherrer]

Has anyone ever documented the process for swapping right hand drive to left if you had the ambi chassis option?

I imagine it's not a quick procedure ..

Do you need any redundant parts on-hand to achieve it (different mounting hardware etc) ?

[benyeats]

[quote="John Scherrer"]
Has anyone ever documented the process for swapping right hand drive to left if you had the ambi chassis option?

I imagine it's not a quick procedure ..

Do you need any redundant parts on-hand to achieve it (different mounting hardware etc) ?
[/quote]

Not that I know of.  I have always thought about making a set of quick release adaptors so you could do the transformation whilst on the tunnel!

I imagine re routing the dash wiring etc is the hardest bit

Ben