A sunny British summer's day is already a great time to drive the new Ariel Nomad, but coming so soon after Monterey Car Week feels especially opportune. Following what felt like dozens of carbon-clad, overstyled pieces of unobtanium that’ll likely never see blue sky ever again, to drive a car explicitly designed to be used hard, to make every single mile - on road or off it - an absolute hoot, is very welcome indeed. Ariel launched its car with a modest show at Goodwood and some testing pics from Wales; the waiting list currently stands at three years. Ariel doesn’t need to collaborate with somebody famous or build a one-off or resurrect something old - it uses the best tech at its disposal to make the most exhilarating sports cars around. The people, quite rightly, keep coming back.
You’ll probably be up to speed with everything that makes a Nomad into a Nomad 2. The TL:DR is that it’s far more than just an engine swap from the Honda K24 to the Ford 2.3 Ecoboost. Barely anything is carried over from the original to Mk2, the latest one wider, larger, more sophisticated and building from the experience gleaned in making the significant leap from Atom 3 to Atom 4. The intention was to make the Nomad feel much more its own thing this time around, rather than ‘just’ - however hilarious it was - an off-road Atom of sorts.
To see just how much progress has been made (and honestly because it sounded like a huge amount of fun), we brought an original Nomad along for the shoot. Huge thanks to PHer Will Prout for turning up with his supercharged car; once Ariel’s on-road demonstrator, it’s now showing 14,000 miles and is used exactly as intended, from Salisbury Plain to Sweet Lamb. It’s been hosed out more than once.
It’s fascinating to get the pair together, the new car most definitely a Nomad but also with fresh differences to see every time you look. Like a classic superhero reinvented for a modern audience, it’s leaner and meaner (and bigger) - albeit a cleaner design as well. With the packaging improved, the whole thing is a tad more cohesive than the endearingly barmy original, from fuse box (much smaller because of a Power Distribution Unit) to suspension wishbone. It was interesting to note both cars here on the 18-inch wheels and all-terrain Geolander tyre; where they look quite tall on the old Nomad, it’s a perfect fit this time around. There’s something quite motorsport about Nomad 2, a look of competition readiness that doesn’t quite permeate the orange car. Both seem like they’d be huge fun in the dunes or up a mountain; the newer Ariel looks like nothing else in the world would get there quicker.
Having never experienced a supercharged Ariel before, it makes sense to passenger in Will’s car first. His Nomad is just as wild as it looks; even having driven turbo’d Atoms of similar power, there’s something about the intensity of the supercharged delivery that feels so potent, so thrilling. Little short of salt, tequila and lime will bring tears to your eyes and joy to your soul so quickly. It drives like the grown-up R/C buggy it resembles, seemingly never happier than pitching into a bend or rearing up out of it.
Straight after, the Nomad 2 feels almost docile. By any other measure, it’s a pretty wild ride, but the OG really does reset expectations when it comes to crazy. There’s the torque to use a higher gear for the latest car, an easygoing gait to the ride with expensive suspension and wider tracks, and a generally less frenzied edge to the whole experience. Which does at least help with the approachability and accessibility of the package. To see the stats and the car up close is to be pretty intimidated, though as was the case with the Atom the reality is far less scary. That same expertise that somehow made 300+hp feel an entirely appropriate amount of power for a luge of a sports car is most certainly in evidence here.
The person behind the wheel could only be better connected to the workings of the machine if they’d built it. The brake pedal feel with the optional four-pot calipers is great, all the way to the ABS activation; the steering is glorious, requiring a firm hand but never kicking back; and the gearbox is a cinch (once you’ve grappled with reverse). So it’s all too easy to steer a little harder, brake a tad later, accelerate a bit earlier - the Nomad 2 is both immensely capable and surprisingly accommodating.
The performance potential of the new powertrain is enormous. There’s some lag to contend with from the Ecoboost unit, which is only really highlighted because of the torrent that follows. It's hard to imagine that being dropped from a plane would have the Nomad accelerate any harder than it does between 2,000rpm and 5,500rpm. It takes your breath away in second gear, as a lot of fast cars do, but then also in third, and fourth, and feels as strong in fifth as a hot hatch would two gears lower. That additional torque ostensibly for off-road assistance - 382lb ft - makes this thing a beast on the road, always extremely fast while never feeling overpowered. So you go again, with a bit more throttle, and a couple more shifts lights this time, to be sure. It’s easy to get a bit giddy; there’s no way such power and torque, with so little mass and all-terrain tyres, should realistically feel the right amount.
Perhaps because of the torque, this Ford-engined Ariel doesn’t feel quite as exciting to rev as either turbocharged or supercharged Honda motors do. You’ll do it, because the shift lights look cool and the limiter sounds like something from a rally car, but the Ecoboost never quite compels you to repeat the process as either the 2.0-litre or 2.4 did (and still most emphatically does). Probably far less of a concern in the mud than on the tarmac, though worth bearing in mind if your Nomad will stay on the road. It should be noted that this example only had its low power (264hp/284lb ft) and high power (309hp/382lb ft) settings available; perhaps the mid-way setting (306hp/333lb ft) might feel best suited to a road thrash. The sound isn’t as rousing as before, either, bar the odd exhaust pop. As when the comparison is Civic Type R versus Focus ST, there’s a greater energy and enthusiasm to the Honda motor, which becomes inescapable at half the kerbweight.
That being said, any qualms about the engine become secondary when getting stuck into properly driving the Nomad 2. Much like the Atom, this is an easier, friendlier experience, though no less absorbing for it. This car was fitted with Ohlins suspension, which will be the firmest, most road-focused setup offered by Ariel, and it feels pretty fantastic, the perfect complement to the additional torsional stiffness. With the anti-squat and dive geometry now incorporated, it won’t lean to wild angles, though there’s just enough give in the suspension (and the all-terrain tyres) for the sensations to come flooding through. The steering is exquisite in any scenario. Then, because the ride is so compliant yet perfectly judged, and the throttle response so keen, you’re confident to push sooner than expected. The whole thing feels calibrated for the driver to have the most fun possible, engaging at any speed even if capable of ridiculous ones. Cleverly, the feedback from the controls is never too much in a Nomad 2 - the driving experience is a collaboration, not a battle. Nothing about the Nomad is ever overawed by gratuitous heft or noise or firmness.
Instead, the assists are really helpful, and probably should be standard, allowing you to build up to a limit rather than dive straight in. Variable traction control works the same wonders here as in the Atom; even with the very progressive arrival of such a monster mid range, having a little safety net is reassuring. Leaving the TC in one of the more lenient settings and feeling the Nomad just smear those chunky Yokohamas across the road out of a bend feels pretty great.
The Nomad 1 is a busier experience, a whirlwind of sound and speed like Taz on four wheels. It’s more easily disturbed by bumps, and pitches and squats more dramatically. It wants revs for performance and won’t corner quite so confidently. But what it offers in return is perhaps an even greater adrenaline spike because it’s so demanding, never happier than with revs up and gears low. On which front, you only need your skull rattled once by the supercharger shriek to know which is the more satisfying powertrain. Torque feels quite a bit less persuasive when you have revs.
But, Lordy, this new one is good. It’s evolved and improved in all the ways that might be hoped for in a brand-new Ariel. It’s an objectively better Nomad that can still make you grin like a loon, with the technology onside to egg the driver on yet further still. Where the old car always wants maximum attack, and thrills like nothing else given any chance, increasing the bandwidth of the Nomad has broadened its appeal as well. Watching the suspension do its thing with the engine gurgling behind feels just as good a use of time as shift lights ablaze and rubber squealing.
With the additional torque, the easier access, the slightly less frenetic edge and a bigger fuel tank on top, it’s a Nomad that offers up more of the Ariel experience, more of the time. Some of the equipment found on the options list feels to be getting near Porsche levels of cheeky (a limited-slip diff really should be included, and £1,800 to open up the headline torque figure seems a lot), but it’s hard to be definitive on the base package. Faster and better yet friendlier and more usable, the latest Nomad is virtually everything we could've asked for - and that’s without venturing off-road…
SPECIFICATION | ARIEL NOMAD 2
Engine: 2,267cc, four-cyl turbo
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 264@5,900rpm (309 with upgrade)
Torque (lb ft): 284@2,500rpm (382 with upgrade)
0-62mph: 3.4 seconds
Top speed: 134mph
Weight: 670kg
MPG: Decent-ish
CO2: Yep, got that
Price: from £69,000 OTR, including VAT (price as standard; price as tested £85,538.80 comprising 3 selectable ECU power maps and 309hp/382lb ft maximum for £1,800, limited-slip diff for £1,194, Adjustable traction control for £510, Four-piston calipers and 290mm discs for £3,900, Ohlins TTX dampers and Eibach springs for £6,900, Quick release wheel for £394.80, 18-inch wheels with all-terrain tyres for £624, Red chassis (black standard) for £1,200, Carbon instrument panel for £270, Passenger and clutch footrest for £396, Reversing camera for £396)
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