Ariel Nomad review

The off-road Atom. Although there’s more to the Nomad than taking an Atom, raising the suspension and bolting on a set of knobblies. Although that is exactly where Ariel started. They tested it, they liked it, so they decided to do it.

In terms of design philosophy and execution, the lineage is clear, although the Nomad takes the lessons learned from the Atom and heads in an entirely different direction. The chassis is unique to the Nomad, not merely an Atom with an extra top section, but redesigned from the ground up. The ‘bodywork’, is made from virtually indestructible traffic cone plastic.

The engine is an all-aluminium 2.4-litre K24 Honda powerplant, a nat-asp four cylinder that’s also available supercharged, rather than the newer turbocharged 2.0-litre fitted to the latest Atom. It drives the rear wheels only through a six speed manual gearbox. You can choose from a wide range of tyres and suspension, with remote-reservoired Ohlins dampers the topmost of a four-tier range. Oh, and you can add a light bar and a winch and aerials and flags and a whole lot more.

The idea is that the Nomad is a platform which, with the right spec, can turn its hand to everything from off-road racing to green laning to beach buggying to, well, circuit use. Why not? 300mm of ground clearance would look hilarious at a track day. In basic trim it weighs about 650kg, but once you’ve added a few tasty options most come in at about 725kg. Still, that’s not much for a car pushed along by 235bhp. Or 290bhp in the supercharged one. Even the slow one does 0-60mph in 3.4 seconds and 0-100mph in 8.7 seconds.

The front wheels carry 1.5 degrees of camber to help turn-in while the rears are bolt upright for maximum traction. The Nomad also has a twin spring set-up. Each coilover damper has a chunky long spring and a shorter, softer secondary spring. Think of them as the off-road and road springs respectively. The soft one helps the Nomad deal with potholes, speed bumps, the usual detritus of black top driving, while the long one is there for the, er, bigger impacts. Total wheel travel is roughly the same as a full-house WRC rally car.

What we have here is a car that’s part special forces all terrain fast attack vehicle, part latter day beach buggy, with a light dusting of quad bike and the spirit of Baja oozing from every pore. It’s Tamiya made real. Prices start from £36,538.

Sure the Ariel Nomad is a toy, a plaything, but it’s so simply and logically thought through, so well executed, you wonder why no-one has done it before. Thinking of buying a track day machine, but worried you’ll feel too vulnerable on the road? Try one of these. You’ll be hooked. Then take it on a track day, just to show them. And then go and batter about off-road with a Defender and see which gets further. It’d be a close run thing.

What we love about it is that it’s so different, yet feels so usable and, well, relevant. And, in a weird way, suited to daily driving – let’s face it, nothing handles a speed bump better. More than that, the Nomad does something more powerful and attractive than merely handling well or going fast. It gives every trip a sense of adventure.