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I want to talk about middle aged man, you are thirty five, maybe forty you got a little bit of spare cash

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in the bank and you want to buy yourself a big powerful sports bike, coz you weren't allowed to have one when you were 17 and your mom and dad said no.

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No there are gonna be a few problems with that.

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This is what you have in mind.

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The open road, tearing through the country side the wind in your helmet.

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You and the machine perfect harmony. It is an appealing concept.

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The reality however is somewhat different.

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Because, lets be honest, you are middle aged.

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So you'll have a bit of a gut, and that will look ridiculous

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in leather motor suit. Whats more you are almost certainly going to

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crash. So someone, who you perhaps don't like very much,

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will end up with your eyes.

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Don't worry though, because I think I have a solution.

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This is the Atom. From a small summer set company called Arial.

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And when I say small -- it only has 7 employees.

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What they've created though is stunning.

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I think this is one of the most beautiful cars in the world.

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Partly because it is so elegant, and partly because it is such a

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wonderful piece of engineering.

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Using the chassis as a kind of exoskeleton is just inspired.

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Prices start at under 20 thousand pounds, and for that you get

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indicators, lights a tax disk and ... that about it.

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Not only you don't have a windscreen, there isn't even any bodywork.

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There are really very few components, and the lovely thing is

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that as you drive along you can see them all doing their jobs.

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Look! There's the steering, and there's the suspension - it brilliant!

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Now at this point you are probably thinking the Atom is a bit

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of a laugh, a bit of a gadget, a bit of a toy.

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But you'd be wrong.

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Very wrong.

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You see, the engine is lifted from a Honda Civic type R.

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And only for that little extra something, its supercharged.

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So it develops 300 bhp.

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And because the Atom weighs only 500 kg, this means

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you are getting 600 bhp per ton.

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And thats more than you get from a Ferrari Enzo.

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So, stick that in your sport's exhaust, Mr Kavadzaki.

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This car goes like nothing you could possibly imagine.

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If you can change gear fast enough it can do nod to 60 in 2.9 s.

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The Atom is fast, on an entirely new level.

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I have never ever driven anything that accelerates so fast.

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Its so quick, it can destroy your entire face.

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Its unbelievable speed!

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I am an alien.

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In the corners its stopped bending my face and used

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massive g-forces to tear it off.

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The amazing thing is that you never ever miss an ? pad.

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Because you can see where's the wheel ends road.

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And because there is no weight to pull you out of the line.

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You hit every one, every single time.

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If anything, this car is even more impressive in the bends

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than it is in a straight line.

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Anyone who wants to know how a car should behave should buy one of these.

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This is driving nirvana.

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You can forget anything you've ever driven

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anything, there is no car, nothing on four wheels that is as fast as this.

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Nothing!

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But what about 2 wheels? Is it possible that the atom could be faster

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round our track than a motor bike?

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Well to find out we've lined it up against the Honda CVR 600RR.

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Off the line the bike is a tiny little bit faster.

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But on the braking for the first corner, the Atom slipped past

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and then it really was a case of good bye Mr. Bond.

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Through the bend the bike never stood a chance. And even down the long straight line

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mies an hour, it could keep up. By the time we crossed the line the gap had widened

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to a massive 4 seconds.

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Over the years I've flown F15 fighters and done power slides in airboats and

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starved the desert from helicopter gunship.

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But the shire excitement this thing is off the scale.

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Even so it will be those, who would say that no car,

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no matter how fast it is can ever be as exciting as a big bike.

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O, please. I don't have to wear a helmet in here!

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which means my every ? is full of bees.

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And there is so much wild life in my hair. You can ?

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And what is more. This is the engine intake in there. Its sucking

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and I can feel it - its a pressure in my ear.

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It feels that my brain is being sucked out.

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Not as exciting as a bike?

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Yeah, right!

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You know,

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I was so ready to disagree.

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I think in a normal life I would say rubbish, but I think

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you are probably righ!

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- No it is better than a bike in so many ways: sitting here and

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its not falling over, its faster than a bike - you just saw that, its practical

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than a bike, because it has a boot.

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- Well, I got that, you have to be kidding.

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You are going well but it hasn't got a boot.

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It has!

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Check it out!

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That is a boot!

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But seriously, you did get a big ? over there.

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You said, "Oh this is the fasted thing on 4 wheels." But its not.

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There are track day cars that are quicker than that.

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Yes, I don't think this is a track day car.

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I don't, because I had this on the road and you can use it on the road,

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because the test that we have for our powerboard,

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because only road cars can go on this, is weather they can

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go over a speed bump. Weather you can use them.

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And this can. Well Its definitely a road car.

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So it can go on our board, which means.

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We gotta give it to the Stig!

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And away he goes!

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Like a rocket!

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God that is so quick!

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Now he comes up to the first bend:

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no roll, totally flat, through there.

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The supercharger whining there as he ? out.

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Oh no, no music for him to listen to, because the Atom doesn't have a stereo.

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Down to chicago

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Look at that! No understeer, no oversteer, no car has ever been that neutral

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through there.

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Now the real test - the hammer head.

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He is running very wide.

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Through the followthrough. Will he live.

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No doesn't sound like. That's how much confidence this chassis give you.

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Right down to the pedal to a bend, ok.

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Oh, locking the left front wheel, underbraking,

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Comming up to gambon.

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Power on there, a little bit of a wiggle, and he is across the line.

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Where do you think it came?

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- It was fast!

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- I don't know.

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I would think certainly 1:25 here

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- I would say up here.

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I would say also

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Come on tell us, tell us!

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Its going up, its going up!

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Its going there!

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half a million pound car, twenty nine thousand pound car.

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The only think I would just say is obviously if you are

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thinking of buying one, I suspect you probably are,

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they do an optional big brake pack.

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Go for that or you won't be here for the spring.