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Thread: Lateral acceleration of an Atom 3 245 HP (UK)?

  1. #1
    Up Quark
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    Lateral acceleration of an Atom 3 245 HP (UK)?

    Hi all,

    I´m still a new Atom owner. It´s an Atom 3 245 HP (2 Litre Honda Civic Type R engine) and I´m wondering if the Atom has just a bad lateral acceleration or if my tires (Nankang NS-2R (180 compound) in 195/50R15 and 225/45R16) are too cold or if I just have the wrong tires or if the cornering speed just feels slow but actually is quick?

    I choose these tires because I mainly drive the Atom on the local streets here in Bavaria/Germany (there is no race track nearby) and wanted to have a product which does not take too long to heat up (like Toyo 888 and others). I do not have proper tools to measure the lateral acceleration but if I compare the feeling which I have in my Porsche 981 Spyder I always think the Atom isn´t quicker as a VW Golf.

    Hope I could describe my "problem" clearly and I´m very interested in your thoughts!

    Daniel

  2. #2
    Positron cvjoint's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Go4Gold View Post
    Hi all,

    I´m still a new Atom owner. It´s an Atom 3 245 HP (2 Litre Honda Civic Type R engine) and I´m wondering if the Atom has just a bad lateral acceleration or if my tires (Nankang NS-2R (180 compound) in 195/50R15 and 225/45R16) are too cold or if I just have the wrong tires or if the cornering speed just feels slow but actually is quick?

    I choose these tires because I mainly drive the Atom on the local streets here in Bavaria/Germany (there is no race track nearby) and wanted to have a product which does not take too long to heat up (like Toyo 888 and others). I do not have proper tools to measure the lateral acceleration but if I compare the feeling which I have in my Porsche 981 Spyder I always think the Atom isn´t quicker as a VW Golf.

    Hope I could describe my "problem" clearly and I´m very interested in your thoughts!

    Daniel
    You mentioned temp so I won't go there, you have to measure the carcass and then find out what the manufacturer lists as the peak grip temp range. The Atom is lighter than other street cars, particularly the front end so I wouldn't be surprised if lateral G isn't as high because friction is partly determined by the weight on the tire all things equal. The same reason heavy Teslas have grip off the line is the reason you don't have grip while turning. The Atom's forte in your guise is the acceleration at low speeds.

    Try to keep some of the weight on the front axle while cornering. If you have a lot of lock and the accelerator is pinned the whole weight shifts back and the fronts barely touch the ground. The Atom rewards driving technique like no other.

    Here is the skidpad number of the Atom 3 https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...pecialty-file/

    Use the same publication to find comparable street cars from that era and try to make sure they are on the same tires. I think 1.12 G for that time period was pretty good. I believe only steamroller supercars did those kind of numbers, but yeah, don't expect prototype levels of lateral G. See that it is higher than 2016 GT3 RS https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...-track-review/

    Skidpad is not a dynamic setting, you are not transitioning from acceleration to deceleration and so on. So again, technique is key.
    Last edited by cvjoint; October 14, 2022 at 05:38 PM.

  3. #3
    Electron sector: 4's Avatar
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    The rubber of those tires is probably calibrated for a car which weighs 2-3 times what the Atom does, so the rubber is way too hard for the Atom. The lightweight Atom isn't able to push the hard rubber into the rough texture of the pavement, which is what's required to get good grip. As a result, the Atom really doesn't corner harder than many common sports cars on street tires and you really won't be able to build enough heat on the street to make much difference in grip.

    You might try using racing rain tires which have tread blocks and are really soft, or a tire softener.

  4. #4
    Up Quark
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    Thanks for your answers! Not really what I wanted to hear because I love lateral G´s

    While looking for new tires I already took into account that the Atom is very light so the Nankang was a recommendation from Miata-drivers (not as light as the Atom but lighter than most cars).

    Tire softener? Never used it, will check (probably not allowed in Germany?)...

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