An Ariel Atom, one of the fastest production cars in the world, has been drafted in to support the Avon and Somerset Constabulary and Tri Force Specialist Operations Collaboration’s ‘SAFER RIDER’ campaign launched this week.

The ‘SAFER RIDER’ campaign, backed by Somerset Road Safety, is aimed at increasing awareness by and for motorcyclists, whose numbers grow considerably during the summer months, and to reduce the number of accidents involving motorcycles.

Motorcyclists represent nearly 20% of the deaths on UK roads.The largest proportion of these is men between 35 and 55 riding bikes over 125cc who account for two thirds of all motorcycle crashes.

Within the Avon and Somerset Constabulary area so far this year seven motorcyclists have lost their lives on our roads, an increase of nearly 30% on this time in 2013.

Andy Parsons, a Roads Policing Sergeant with the Tri Force Specialist Operations Collaboration, who is heading the SAFER RIDER campaign, said: “Motorcyclists make up just 1% of total road traffic but account for nearly 20% of all road user deaths. They are roughly 35 times more likely to be killed in a road traffic collision than someone in a car and we really want to see these numbers reduced.

“Modern motorcycles are capable of extraordinary performance, with supercar levels of acceleration, braking and cornering. Unfortunately with this level of performance comes an increased risk of death or serious injury as a result of inexperience, lack of training and rider error.”

The Ariel Atom, which is manufactured in Somerset has been called the closest thing to a motorbike with four wheels. Holder of various performance records, the Atom has also beaten superbikes in races around a track and can outperform nearly every road vehicle. The car used by Avon and Somerset Constabulary is based on the latest Atom 3.5R fitted with a supercharged 350bhp Honda engine, sequential gearbox and has a 0-60mph time of 2.5 seconds. Fitted with unique Avon and Somerset livery, the latest aerodynamic Hella pursuit lights and emergency equipment, the Atom PL1 is intended to be a highly-impactive engagement vehicle that will send a cautionary message to motorcyclists.

Simon Saunders, Director of Ariel said; “Our business is about going fast, very fast, but there is a time and a place. The Atom is designed to be driven to a race track, where you can drive to your limits in safety and in a professional environment designed for the purpose. The road really isn’t the place to explore your or your vehicle’s limits.

‘We’re just about to launch an all new Ariel motorcycle and we want our bikes and customers to be as safe as they possibly can be as well, so this message is important to us. There’s always one certain loser in a motorcycle collision and that’s the motorcyclist.”

Sergeant Andy Parsons said: “I am really excited that Ariel has joined with us to bring Project SAFER RIDER to fruition, and I hope that the use of the Ariel PL1 with have a positive impact to promote Road Safety in line with our PCC’s Priorities, and help us to reduce road death and serious injury within the motorcycling community.

“To be safe, rider and machine need to work in harmony. “When this happens it feels immediately right. When it doesn’t, things go wrong. Too many injuries and deaths are the result of rider error. Now is your chance to do something about it. Somerset Bike Day has developed from the belief that:- a trained rider is a safer rider.

The ‘SAFER RIDER’ campaign is being launched at Haynes Motor Museum, Sparkford, Somerset on Sunday 8th June from 10am until 4pm.
The Atom PL1 will be on display together with a wide range of different Police vehicles and Police displays. Additionally there will be opportunities to learn new skills and talk to experts regarding the correct use of brakes, slow-riding practice, machine maintenance, further training opportunities and regular First Aid presentations for First On Scene, and much more!
Admission is free to the event.

365 hp. 310 lb-ft of torque. 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds. And the one that makes them all possible: 1350 lbs. That gives a total power to weight ratio of (one last figure) 3.7 lbs per hp.

The Atom utilizes a turbocharged and intercooled Honda 2.4 liter with an output of 152.1 hp per liter. There are three different transmission options for the 6 speed: standard, close ratio, and a Sadev sequential paddle shift.

Roadholding comes by way of a pushrod suspension system with JRi adjustable dampers with a two piece coil spring layout. Braking for this ultra-lightweight car is done by Alcon 4 piston caliper 290 mm discs.

Ariel has revealed a surprise new version of its face-melting Atom, and it is called the Ariel Atom 4R. Building on a car that already represented the biggest leap in the Atom’s long history, it represents yet another sizable jump.

In the form of more power. Ariel’s been busy tinkering away with the Honda Civic Type R engine underneath, revising its intake geometry and cooling system along with adding another radiator in the left side pod.

This has allowed the extraction of 80 more horses – a 25 per cent boost over the not-at-all-regular Atom 4 – to produce a headline 400bhp and 369lb ft of torque. We’re told the improvements in outright power and torque allow for “dramatic in gear acceleration times and performance on track”. Of that, there can be little doubt.

The turbocharged four-pot is now mated to a new Quaife six-speed sequential gearbox that’s said to be so quick, it’ll downshift five gears in less than a second. Suspension is as per the 4, only here the dampers are Ohlins TTX36 units matched to Ohlins springs.

And because it’s an ‘R’ model, there’s an aero package formed of new front and rear wings, with a rear venturi developed in collaboration with TotalSim. Ariel reckons the new wings add lots of downforce with only a minimal drag penalty, but work evenly across the car to balance it.

Carbon ceramic discs and AP Racing calipers help to stop it, as well as reduce mass because they’re half the weight of the 4’s standard rotors. There are even carbon wheels, too, and in total these two elements alone save 26kg.

The brakes are hooked up to a new 12-way adjustable ABS system, and of course there are many options available – indeed each Atom 4R is hand built and “no two cars are the same”.

They will all, however, be capable of 0-60mph in less than 2.7 seconds (versus the 4’s 2.8s), 0-100mph in 6.5s and top out at 170mph. They’ll also all start at £64,950.

“We continue to strive to evolve the Atom as the ultimate driver’s car, whether on road or track,” said Ariel boss Henry Siebert-Saunders. “The 4R follows in the footsteps of the amazing Atom 3.5R and yet again moves the story on. This really is an astonishing car of which we’re justifiably proud.”