@@zoldprespan2389 completely possible, the fact that amuse us is Doug don't even trying to figure it out even clearly seeing some indication on the display
I think doug do stuff like that on purpose. Doug will say he dont know what some button do but then tell you a quirk on page 231 in a 400 page car manual.
Doug: 17:56 "I don't want to accelerate hard ever again in this car." Also Doug: 18:20 *Vtec just kicked in yo* Oh, the struggles of resisting going full throttle as a car guy.
Doug: "It looks like something you would drive at one of those indoor go karting places where one guy goes every weekend and takes it way to seriously" Also Doug: *laughs nervously*
The employees are the ones who take it far to seriously. I had a employee at a EMPTY family fun place with my friend stop my car, then say stop and put a speed limiting and the little speakers on the back were saying “we have a reckless racer” because it had one of those kinda timeout buttons. I stared him down the whole lap cause this guy thought he was the big dog yet he is working as a go kart Employee at a failing family fun place. (Sorry got bad grammar I’m typing fast I’m about to get to school)
Yea, we all know guys like that. The guys with the lil $10 trophy's of their record best time or a shirt with their picture on it of the day the 37 year old loser that still lives with his mom beat a bunch of 10 year olds in a faux "track event". Like Doug said "WAY too serious".
@Modustollens1 it's the pansy version, windscreen and enclosed side? They're just excess weight! Get the naked V8 version and wear a crash helmet, it'll weigh less and Doug would empty his bowels! Or go watch Chris Harris take one for a spin - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_jvHqB4ZxbU.html
Doug: "It's so uncomfortable" Atom drivers other than in the USA: Forget the windshield and don't bother with the plastic side panels over the chassis rails either.
"One of those indoor gokart tracks where 1 guy goes every weekend and takes it too serious" oddly specific. I feel like Doug has gotten beat on the track by one of them and took it personal 😂😂
Helmets don't really attenuate much of anything and your hearing WILL be damaged simply by wind noise alone if you don't wear ear plugs, even with a helmet. Source: motorcyclist
Most Atoms I’ve seen around the UK don’t have a windscreen. You just wear a helmet. Let’s face it, the only reason to make this car street legal is so you don’t have to trailer it to the track.
Doug is so smart that he said dumb stuff in his videos all the time to get people commenting things like "i cant believe he thought that was blah blah"
Those buttons are nor "A" nor "V". They are up and down arrows. Changes between menus. The "SEL" stands for "select" if I have to guess. Which is well... enters the menu?
Joe H I can’t be certain - it’s really hard to find discussions about this because it’s such a niche case, specific to cars like this, driven on the street, in the USA. I know for certain the windshield is necessary, but I don’t know where I got the helmet = illegal part.
@@Zebpro but if you're going to the local go-kart place every week you should probably get into a team or something and buy a kart, it will be better and probably cheaper (Idk how much a decent new kart costs, but probably less than spending $200 on rentals every week)
It's definitely more comfortable than chronic backache and bruised arms from trying to hold yourself upright while being thrown around in the cockpit as the Atom tries to bend the laws of physics going through a corner.
As a "Role Model" he should have worn a helmet and at least some Glasses to protect his eyes. You just don't want to get a Fly or something similar in your eyes while driving even though this thing has a windshield.
@@jeffk464 Why is he "suppose to be wearing a helmet"...?? Do you wear a helmet in YOUR convertible? Love how you're just talking out of your ass and people are agreeing tho...
If any of you ever drove one of these things you’d understand. It’s more like skating on ice then driving on asphalt. I’ve driven a few amazing cars on the track and I have loads of experience on motorcycles but this thing is a slippery mess that doesn’t drive like anything short of a Formula One race car, (I’m told as I’ve never driven a Formula One).
It’s kinda like a Jet Ski and to turn quickly you have to accelerate for greater grip. Down force kinda thing. People crash them by panicking and hitting the brake when they should instead hammer the gas pedal.
John-Paul Silke nah, he’s just soft. I had one of this with the civic type r supercharged engine (European spec, pretty similar of the one that clarkson reviewed) without all of that swing and spoilers and it drive great. The next owner wrapped it on a tree though.
The Atom3 is tame compared to one of the previous variations, the Atom V8 The engine is a pair of Suzuki Hayabusa motors mated together to make a 3ltr monster producing 500 bhp and as it weighs just over half a ton it means a power to weight ration of 923 bhp / ton. Performance wise from standstill 60mph = 2.4s 100mph = 5.5s 150mph = 16.4s Standing quarter = 11.2 s @ 134.2 mph Top Speed = 171 mph
9:35 "on the right there's one marked CLIT and on the left there's on labeled G-SPOT. I've pressed those, I've played with them and I have NO idea what they do. Something surely but nothing I can figure out."
@Mr.Sweg he really doesn't seem like a fun person to hang around, punching people over steak, bitter divorces, and now he said that Hammond and May drive him insane. I love top gear I grew up with the show. But he doesn't seem like a good human being
Actually if they engraved the gear shift pattern in the gear shift knob it would reduce weight by a gram or so 😂. Could always buy a spare knob and engrave the pattern yourself, very cool little car!! Fantastic video!! 👍👍
“Closest thing to an Indy car that you’ll ever see with a license plate.” I mean, that is, until you see a Formula Ford Ecoboost. Then it will be the second closest thing to an Indy car that you’ll ever see with a license plate.
@@netrioter yeah, I get it. It was meant to be a joke about how the Nomad is even worse for feeling exhausted and how if you are in the middle of nowhere you cant get a beer.
When Doug reviewed the SLS AMG Black, that exact car showed up in an Effspot video less than a month after Doug's video was released. Doug will sell a car faster than Mecum.
Doug, I've never laughed so hard during a car review before, so thank you! "..it doesn't have a roof...or doors" "I've pressed them, I've played with them...and I have know idea what they do. Something, surely!" "It's not completely impractical...just very very impractical." Favorites ^^^ All around great writing! -D.
This wasn't the case before Doug made this video. Just like the complicated anti theft ignition. Atom owners hate him! Read his column on autotrader.comb to find out why!
Most newer cars don’t have “keys” either. And what a lot of people do is take the antenna for the immobilizer and connect it to the ground terminal of the 12v outlet. Then the place the fob into the outlet when they want to drive the car.
@A real bisexual petrol-head I'm just saying there's no point in bringing up the "spare key" since there's nothing for it to do in this car. It's all semantics, but it's still pretty dumb that Doug said "there's no key other than the battery switch" yet showed an obvious dongle that does the same thing as the "key" in virtually every car sold now. The owner of the Atom would just put that dongle on his key chain and viola!
@@johnqiu1659 True, I think it's probably the best looking economy car on the market right now. But, put the two cars next to each other and see which one people stop to take pictures of.
The mazda 3 looks pretty good. This thing isn't really what I would call good looking, just more insane and unusual. But if we are going by pure attractive I'd say his score is fair.
Been on a track day in one of these, which is the only place it really belongs, it's epic fun. The road legality should only really be for driving it to the track, and then home again. The one I drove didn't have the silly windscreen, and the helmet goes some way to dampening the noise
He didn't pick up on the "hood" storage being a helmet box for that purpose. But if you're a serious track enthusiast you'd still need somewhere for your tyre options. Of course, it might save you pulling a trailer, even if you need a support vehicle.
@@rideroll9609 .. Is that the K20 or the new lame ass 1.5 Honda Fit motor in the 10th gens? I didnt see a turbo, but then again, I wasnt really looking.
@ AFAIK the US built Atom has a 2.4 litre motor. The originals from the UK had a supercharged 1.9 Personally I'd love to buy a well used mk3 and run a Mazda 20b in there
“As you can see, these headlights are pretty flimsy (violent shake) .. and if I kick them they break right off. Definitely quirky and very impractical”
@@MrDuncl Does the term "spiel" mean something like "routine" in this context? As a German i'm kind of confused by its frequent usage in English lately. Edit: found it in the Urban dictionary: "a prepared speech made to persuade someone to buy or do something". Wow, what a specific term, lol. In German "Spiel" just means "game", plain and simple.