Not Fond Of Helmets? Ariel Atom Gets Its Windshield

Removable piece for the roads

by Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
July 25, 2008 4:00 PM
Filed Under: European, Specialty Marques

For people who just love driving, being able to have an Ariel Atom under the control of their hands and feet is enough. Despite this, Atom owners must admit that using a helmet all the time can be a little frustrating. For these customers, Ariel has developed a removable windshield.

Although a simple concept, the windscreen must be a pretty nice piece of engineering, since it brings five elements into a one-piece structure: the windshield, wiper, washer, switchgear and wiring. There are five mouting fixtures and an electrical connector, something that seems easy enough for anyone to install and remove whether they are on the track or public roads.

Ariel does not tell us the weight of the assembly, but it must not be relevant to the cars performance, especially for the Atom 500 V8.

Source: Ariel

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Comments

It's safer and more areodynamic. Why didn't they think of this at the start?

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by Tuner_Mad | July 25, 2008 5:42 PM

it weighs more and significantly increases the center of gravity of the car.

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by Joe_Limon | July 25, 2008 6:08 PM

"it weighs more and significantly increases the center of gravity of the car."

Yeah, by some tiny, irrelevant fraction. If you're on a track and you care about the center of gravity, then take the damn thing off. If you're on the road, cruising, you're probably not driving so hard that weight and center of gravity matter.

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by Snark21883 | July 25, 2008 6:48 PM

lol, windshields are heavy. Try picking up a large sheet of glass, now imagine putting that large sheet of glass on the very top of your car, you bet it is going to have a huge effect on the handling and overall weight of your car. Not just some tiny irrelevant fraction.

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by Joe_Limon | July 25, 2008 8:01 PM

People don't buy this car for cruising. It's a track car.

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by nadster | July 25, 2008 8:12 PM

never mind added costs, yes I agree that it should have been an original option. Much like the optional body panels. That being said this car is an engineering practice of extreme weight loss through using an open body with no panels, to put a windshield simply goes against what this car originally stood for in every way shape and form. Also, cool off the cocky pills. You aren't the only engineer in the world, or on this site.

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by Joe_Limon | July 25, 2008 8:15 PM

since when was this car just a track car??? this car is for driving experience, period, track or no track and driving without a helmet extends the fun factor anytime.

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by aesthetics | July 25, 2008 9:08 PM

Nice, your face gets a brake from the windshield but you're still getting that nice breeze in the pants area! Talk about free air conditioning :p

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by ShinyG | July 25, 2008 8:13 PM

With or without the screen the Atom is one of the coolest cars ever.

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by V6s_stink | July 25, 2008 9:48 PM

so true!

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by kimbo | July 26, 2008 11:02 PM

i still reckon it looked better without the windshield, but if it has no other draw backs then i s'pose its a good choice.