Ariel Nomad 2 is a complete improve with as much as 305 hp and 382 lb-ft
Simon Saunders, director of Ariel, instructed Autocar that again when the corporate was solely making the road-focused Atom, an American referred to as the corporate asking for an Atom with “about three ft” of suspension journey. Ariel wasn’t prepared to try this then, however the concept percolated till Ariel turned it into the Nomad, launched in 2015. Having realized a lot whereas constructing a whole lot of Nomads up to now 10 years, and having watched the off-road phase blow up, Ariel is prepared with a second-generation Nomad 2. Solely the steering wheel, pedal field, and gas cap from the Nomad have carried over to Nomad 2. Beginning with the body, engineers used bigger 2- and a couple of.5-inch-diameter tubing to extend stiffness by 65%. That determine’s achieved even with the Nomad 2 increasing its footprint, its wheelbase 1 7/8 inch longer, its monitor 2 inches wider. This additionally supplies further room within the cockpit, a reshaped aperture making for the better ingress that authentic Nomad consumers requested.
There is a shock behind the cockpit, that being a Ford engine. Ariel mentioned the Honda K24 engines used within the first Nomad, beginning with a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter after which a 2.4-liter four-cylinder, are more and more tough to supply. So whereas the Atom 4 sticks with the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder out of at present’s Honda Civic Kind R, the Nomad 2’s been swapped to the turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder from the Ford Focus ST. The Nomad’s 2.4-liter Honda mill was tuned to 235 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque. The usual Focus ST makes 276 hp and 310 lb-ft. The bottom Nomad 2 comes with a detuned model of the Ford mill making 260 horsepower and 284 pound-feet of torque. An non-obligatory improve installs a brand new ECU with three engine maps beginning at that base stage, then rising to both 302 hp and 333 lb-ft. or 305 hp and 382 lb-ft. Shifting comes by way of the Focus ST’s six-speed guide gearbox or an non-obligatory Quaife six-speed sequential transmission.
The additional energy motivates a rig that also solely weighs about 1,550 kilos. The sprint to 60 miles per hour is estimated to take 3.4 seconds, hitting 100 mph in one other 4.1 seconds. Bigger rotors with 40% extra swept space and ABS get the factor stopped in cheap time. The engine breathes simpler, too, due to a radiator 2.5 occasions bigger than earlier than, and a number of filtering levels for the consumption air.
On the corners, new suspension geometry with absolutely sealed bushings and ball joints not solely swings the arms by 50% extra journey, the angles reduce down on the squat, pitch, and wallow of the primary Nomad. Okay-tec dampers with Eibach dual-rate springs come commonplace; the choices record begins with three-way adjustable Ohlins TTX dampers with distant reservoirs and is derived and tops out at Bilstein two-stage dampers with distant reservoirs. Wheels are both plain 16-inch alloys, 16-inch beadlocks, or 18-inch light-weight solid models, the tire choice starting from highway to hardcore all-terrain. Regardless of how consumers combine and match, an non-obligatory hydraulic rally-style handbrake will make these J-turns and Scandinavian flicks that a lot crisper.
Physique components are customary from the identical plastic used to make security cones. Together with the bigger entryway, livability takes large steps up in lots of small methods. A wing-shaped header rail above the windshield channels air to the dual-level consumption behind the cockpit, additionally acts as a solar visor, and prevents illumination from the auxiliary Lazer LED spotlights from leaking into occupants’ eyes. Light-weight seats accessible in two widths or in carbon fiber can accommodate four-point harnesses. Switchgear from the Atom 4 is less complicated to make use of, flanking a full-color TFT show that features gear place and shift lights, information logging, and a picture from the reversing digicam.
An choices record with greater than 100 objects heightens customization, including every little thing from a winch to in-cockpit brake bias controls. Ariel hasn’t revealed a value for North America, however primarily based on the earlier Nomad beginning within the mid $80,000s, count on one thing over $90,000 this time.