The first time I saw the Ariel Atom was watching Clarkson on Top Gear driving it around the track, efficiently warping his face to oblivion. And I agreed with him that the Atom is indeed a piece of engineering. A car built for the track that would give any speed junkie the ride of his life.

So far, the Atom has had two incarnations in two generations and Ariel announced that the third generation Atom, dubbed as the Ariel Atom 3 will be released. While the Atom stays true to the minimalist design (that really made me a fan), it’s quite amazing at the changes that they were still able to make with the Atom 3. Mind you, the changes are plenty and most benefit the driver at high speeds.

The Atom 3 now sports new panels (what paneling there is, anyway) and new diagonal side rails. Even the return to the exhaust was changed. A deflector option is now available to lessen pressure on the driver’s head. The seats have been lowered for comfort and better handling.

Aside from those, the Atom 3’s chassis is, amazingly, wider by .06 m for more elbow room and the passenger compartment is .1 m. Despite this, the dimensions have been maintained. It will still be powered by a 2.0L Honda Type R, only this time it will also be the latest version.

Source: Car Design News via Autoblog