Car With The Best Bang For Your Buck

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Joey D
That looks like it would be the most unpleasant experience in the world
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There's only two things you get in an Atom that are a comfort issue - engine noise and bugs in your eyes and teeth. Since he's wearing a helmet and that one appears to have the cone screens on it, neither really apply - though you could wear earplugs and shoggles, or fit the trapezoid screens for the same effect (wearing a full-face helmet on UK roads is a bit of a legal grey area).


That aside, you have a comfortable place to sit and everyone either stops and stares or waves at you. I don't think driving an Atom on the public roads would ever get boring and I've only been passenger in one.
 
Famine
There's only two things you get in an Atom that are a comfort issue - engine noise and bugs in your eyes and teeth. Since he's wearing a helmet and that one appears to have the cone screens on it, neither really apply - though you could wear earplugs and shoggles, or fit the trapezoid screens for the same effect (wearing a full-face helmet on UK roads is a bit of a legal grey area).


That aside, you have a comfortable place to sit and everyone either stops and stares or waves at you. I don't think driving an Atom on the public roads would ever get boring and I've only been passenger in one.
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Why is wearing a full helmet in the UK a legal grey area? Do you mean if you're driving a car or at all (e.g. on a motorbike)?

I'd hate to think of the cost of an Atom here in Australia.
 
That's why it's a grey area - bikeists (and other non-car-small-vehicleists) have to wear one, but there's some confusion over whether a full-face helmet is legal to wear inside a car due to visibility (peripheral vision, visor tints), hearing issues (can't hear emergency vehicles' sirens, for example) and good old cash (front-facing speed camera can't identify a driver wearing a lid).

There isn't a specific offence of "wearing a full-face helmet inside a car" as far as I'm aware, but rally competitors (such as WRC) have to either wear open-face helmets or remove them on public roads between stages according to MSA regulations.
 
Famine
That's why it's a grey area - bikeists (and other non-car-small-vehicleists) have to wear one, but there's some confusion over whether a full-face helmet is legal to wear inside a car due to visibility (peripheral vision, visor tints), hearing issues (can't hear emergency vehicles' sirens, for example) and good old cash (front-facing speed camera can't identify a driver wearing a lid)
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Always found those concepts amusing. I'd infinitely prefer to lose a little peripheral vision and turn my head to regain it than having my eyes steadily battered to a pulp by 70mph insects.

Also seconded on Atom road trips not being unpleasant. I'd love to do it. There's no challenge to road trips in modern cars. Top Gear's road trips wouldn't be as good as they were if the cars they attempted them in weren't deeply flawed in at least one way.
 
Famine
There's only two things you get in an Atom that are a comfort issue - engine noise and bugs in your eyes and teeth. Since he's wearing a helmet and that one appears to have the cone screens on it, neither really apply - though you could wear earplugs and shoggles, or fit the trapezoid screens for the same effect (wearing a full-face helmet on UK roads is a bit of a legal grey area).


That aside, you have a comfortable place to sit and everyone either stops and stares or waves at you. I don't think driving an Atom on the public roads would ever get boring and I've only been passenger in one.
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I can think of another very big comfort issue that would plague you too, elements. You are completely exposed to wind, rain, sand, gravel and whatever else Mother Nature and passing vehicles throw at you. It just doesn't seem like any of that would be comfortable. And from all the pictures of Atom's that I've seen they come with Yokohama Advan A048 tires, which are all but useless in anything other then dry pavement.

You also have the issue of security when on long trips. Presumably you'll want to stop for something to eat, to see some site or to go to the restroom. That will leave your luggage exposed as there really isn't any storage space in an Atom outside the little bin in the front.

Also in Michigan it is illegal to wear a helmet in any form of car, so that wouldn't be an option. I assume many other states are the same way.

I'm not saying the Atom is a bad car, in fact it appears to be rather fun (although I would personal rather have a motorcycle). It's just not something I would consider practical for everyday use, or really anything outside a pleasure drive or anything involving a track or cones in a parking lot.
 
I think you could wear a bandana and goggles though? That and have a buddy radio you if your traveling together when a storms approaching. That leaves the luggage, and theres no solving that.
 
Joey D
I can think of another very big comfort issue that would plague you too, elements. You are completely exposed to wind, rain, sand, gravel and whatever else Mother Nature and passing vehicles throw at you.
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Just the same as any other open car - or indeed motorbike.

Joey D
And from all the pictures of Atom's that I've seen they come with Yokohama Advan A048 tires, which are all but useless in anything other then dry pavement.
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I'm told they're a bit brown-trousery in the damp, but my brother's first journey in his first Atom was during the rain. In fact, quite a lot of it - we had a pretty nasty rainstorm across much of England which dumped 3 inches in an hour on Somerset, right where the Atom factory happens to be. He made it home not dead - and didn't even break the 12 mile record for first accident. His present Atom is drive-by-wire rather than cable throttle and this means the same happens but in a fifth of the time.

They are no worse than the rear tyres of most sports motorbikes - and of course there's four of them...

Joey D
You also have the issue of security when on long trips. Presumably you'll want to stop for something to eat, to see some site or to go to the restroom. That will leave your luggage exposed as there really isn't any storage space in an Atom outside the little bin in the front.
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Again, the same as any other convertible. Or motorbike.

Joey D
I'm not saying the Atom is a bad car, in fact it appears to be rather fun (although I would personal rather have a motorcycle). It's just not something I would consider practical for everyday use, or really anything outside a pleasure drive or anything involving a track or cones in a parking lot.
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And yet my brother commutes in his. In England. Where the weather and roads suck big sweaty ones...

Motorbikes, on the other hand, are like Atoms with none of the good points.

Incidentally, I wouldn't ever consider spending my own money on an Atom.
 
I had Yokohama ES100s for my road tire, and Hankook Z211 R-compound for track tires. I never got hit by rocks, debris, or other road hazzards. No one attempted to steal my luggage in the passenger foot well.... and for half my trip I had 3 other Atoms (2 that Road Tripped from Oregon, down the California coast, and thru Death Valley) joing me. I would alternate from Full Helmet to Glasses to Goggles and back to Helmet. The 'elements' were wonderful!

So, I guess... some people can road trip an Atom. Others can not. :)
 
Bottoz
for half my trip I had 3 other Atoms (2 that Road Tripped from Oregon, down the California coast, and thru Death Valley) joing me.
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Ah, a Molecule.

My brother was part of a 20-car Molecule that did a road trip around Europe, taking in Paris, the Italian Alps and Stelvio. There was also a Ford Transit containing an entire spare car in parts, just in case :lol:

The looks they got as they, wholly unplanned, drove through an Italian village during a Ferrari show were apparently priceless :lol:
 
That's awesome! Hats off to your brother. Molecules are fun!

1st US Atom Fest in 2007.

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It's just not for me. Setting aside the paranoia about leaving it anywhere, I don't think I'm a good enough driver to get all that can be got out of it, taking it to Somerset for a service might get a bit wearing and either I'd lose my licence in no time at all or there'd be a constant feeling of letting all of this potential go to waste. Plus I'm bored of four pots now.

If I had £30k to blow on a car, I'd buy a 1969 Camaro and an Alpina B10 V8 Touring and have fun just cruising with the occasional hardcore hustling.
 
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crispychicken49
Well, we have a ridiculously overpriced car thread, so why not add a best bang for your buck thread.

This is aimed for cars that do things as good or better than a lot of other cars around the same performance range, but for a lot cheaper.

2012-nissan-gtr-opt.jpg


2012 Nissan GTR

It's a five figure car that can leave behind many other 6 figure cars. Another advantage is that it has four seats, and a reletivly good sized boot. And 19 MPG isn't too bad for a supercar. Granted it's not incredibly cheap, but would you rather have the $90,000 GTR over the $300,000 LFA, in which the GTR has four seats, and better performance.
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US$90,000 is considered extremely cheap. It cost over US$330k in singapore. A murcielago SV cost US$1.28m in Singapore. If only I'm currently based in US, I would have bought the 2012 GTR.
 
Toyota Yarii cost houses in Singapore... nothing is bang-for-the-buck there... :lol:
 
I drove a Mazdaspeed 3 The other day, family picked it up for around $7k.... that will be some fun with a few tweaks!
 

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