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Follow-up to 2015’s mixed-discipline special is said to be better in every way – and much more powerful

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When it comes to fast cars and implausibly long suspension travel, the cat exited the sack some time ago: done well, we know it can be an extraordinarily rewarding combo.

So much so that Porsche and Lamborghini have recently got in on the act. Anybody who has driven the dirt-road-ified 911 Dakar or Huracán Sterrato knows that if it’s B-road larks you’re after, a bit of extra pitch and roll and a disarmingly plush ride can really up the ante.

But what about the entity responsible for opening up this sack? You could make the case that it was the Ariel Motor Company of Somerset.

In 2015, long before the major manufacturers got involved, this tiny outfit took its super-lightweight Atom track-day blade and turned it into something Baja-y.

The Ariel Nomad wasn’t the first jacked-up, knobbly tyred, tubular-framed toy ever to exist but, because of its maker's reputation, people took it seriously.

It was no surprise to find that the car was indeed beautifully put together and uniquely brilliant to drive.

Now, nine years on, there’s a Mk2. It's faster, does bigger jumps and already has a two-year-plus waiting list. After all, every Ariel is still built one person to one chassis. It’s painstaking work, but it's the sort of thing Ariel does so well.

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DESIGN & STYLING

ariel nomad 2 review 2024 02 side panning

So what exactly is new for the so-called Nomad 2? Well, everything, really, apart from the concept itself. And the fuel-filler cap and the removable, Alcantara-clad steering wheel, which are carried over from Nomad 1.

Key highlights are the tubes used for the bronze-welded chassis, which are noticeably larger in diameter and make the structure 60% stiffer than before, and the engine, which is supplied by Ford.

The raised intake is neat and feeds both intercooler and engine. It works in tandem with the fins above the windscreen and also features a vacuator valve, which releases dirt and debris collected in a sump.

The old car’s 2.0-litre turbo unit came from Honda and made 235bhp and 221lb ft; Ford’s beefcake 2.3-litre turbo unit (which we know from the Focus ST and Mustang) packs 260bhp and 284lb ft even with the new adjustable boost dial in the most conservative of its three settings. 

You can ramp things up to 305bhp and 382lb ft but, woah there, go easy at first. Even at its meekest, this powerplant gives the 715kg Nomad 2 a power-to-weight ratio comparable to that of a Porsche 911 Turbo S, while the footprint is about equal to a Kia Picanto's. Remember also that in its most road-ready guise, the Nomad still wears all-terrain tyres. It’s a toy, yes, but it’s unlikely to suffer fools gladly.

Downstream of the engine is a Ford six-speed manual gearbox, albeit revised in its action (much shorter, more muscular), before drive reaches a Quaife ATB differential – hardware that usually exhibits a fine blend of predictability and mischief.

The double wishbones are controlled by fixed-rate K-Tech dampers and Eibach springs, although there's also the option of having softer Bilstein dampers, or three-way adjustable Öhlins TTX dampers, which have an extremely high eye-candy quotient and are fitted to the prototype tested here. Anybody considering track or high-speed off-road use should, says Ariel, opt for the Öhlins option without hesitation.

More broadly, there’s extra travel and ride height for this Nomad compared with its forebear, and the new car is apparently quite a lot more resilient to repeated heavy landings (Ariel tests parts to destruction at Sweet Lamb), but the persona is deliberately unchanged.

“We’ve added a very small percentage of anti-squat and anti-dive, and it makes the car slightly more precise,” says Ariel MD Henry Siebert-Saunders. “It makes it an easier car to have fun in, but we haven’t lost the Nomad feeling of it ducking, diving, leaning around the corners: you still get all that stuff.”

As ever with Ariel, it’s all too easy to spend half the day fetishising the details and discussing ideas with an infectiously passionate team, but we’re here to experience the Nomad 2 first hand, so let’s get on with it.

INTERIOR

ariel nomad 2 review 2024 15 interior

Although usefully higher-set, the car’s full cage means sliding in isn’t as straightforward as it is with the Atom.

You can either drop in through the roof or go feet-first through the side, monkey-hanging from the upper tube, rally-style. We recommend the latter approach, otherwise the hulking new intake funnel gets in the way.

The cabin itself is much the same as before but more grown-up and generously proportioned. The driving position is still superb, being very similar to that of the Atom.

As before, the seat moves on bolts, rather than sliding, and there’s no adjustability in the Tilton pedal box, but for owners it will be a case of set and forget. 

There’s a more substantive dashboard than you get in the Nomad 1 and a colour LCD. The switchgear is nicely wrought, too.

Best of all, you still feel part of the machine. Look across and you can see the gold remote reservoir of the offside damper. There’s a suspension mounting point (encapsulated rubber for inboard, sealed ball for out) only inches behind your coccyx.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

ariel nomad 2 review 2024 03 rear cornering

It’s a push-button start and the Ford unit fires up more with a boom than a rasp, then you almost need only think the Nomad 2 into motion, so smooth and forgiving is the clutch action, quite at odds with the car’s intimidatingly hardcore aura.

In a way, the clutch action sets the tone for the driving experience. In its controls the Nomad has retained that somehow precise but also languid manner.

Dynamically, the car is almost entirely devoid of hard edges, and while the tyres ensure that the raw, textured steering feel of the kind you get in a Caterham Seven, or indeed the Atom, never really materialises, the weight and accuracy and calmness of the motion means you gain confidence quickly. It’s a remarkably trusty helm, not easily deflected.

You won’t want to go barrelling into bends on an unfamiliar, damp stretch of road, because in such conditions the front axle can scrub without much warning. Mind you, it isn’t a heart-in-mouth experience: a car this delightfully narrow leaves you plenty of lane to play with.

This is, surprise, a shockingly rapid device. I often had the engine’s wick turned up to 305bhp, because, well, I have a duty to tell you what the Nomad 2 is like, but in truth 260bhp is more than enough if you're prepared to flatten the throttle.

On dry asphalt, the tyres generate reasonably good traction, but even so, it's nice to have the seven-stage traction control (0 is fully off, 7 is fully on and 3 feels like the sweetspot), and Ariel is now working on stability control. ABS is also now standard. It all enhances the Mk2’s usability. 

As for engine character? This unit might disappoint a touch in an Atom, and Ariel will continue to use the Honda motor in that application, but the subtly woolly pick-up, the bassy note and the swelling bubble of whooshy, abundant torque through the mid-range suit the Nomad. Torque builds conservatively, then dramatically, then tapers neatly towards the redline. It’s never dull. 

Driving the Nomad at any speed is life-affirming. It’s a joy to move through the world in an open-sided machine this pure yet so easygoing, not to mention comfortable.

Even with the larger of the two wheel sizes fitted (18in and 16in), the Nomad’s huge wheel articulation and world-class damper control will absorb any road in a way that makes it feels as though – bear with me – you’re riding a giant mechanical spider with a very elegant gait.

The real magic unfolds once you have properly acclimatised to the way this car prefers to do business – to its generous weight transfer, moderate grip and soft insouciance.

If you simply brake, turn and accelerate, the Nomad will adopt a gentle understeer balance. What it really loves is cornering in the classic V-shape often espoused by racing drivers: trail-brake in deep, then quickly get back on the throttle.

However, to get the desired effect, you need only a fraction of the commitment you would give on a circuit. Get it right and the engine-cradling hind quarters will ever so slightly begin to rotate around a point that feels somewhere in the car’s nose. This is your cue to squeeze the throttle and surf out of the corner on a wave of Ford torque and with a touch of attitude. 

Lots of cars do something similar, but the Nomad’s supersized kinematics make the process easier to elicit and enjoy. The layout provides mid-engined poise while the set-up serves up a good dose of forgiveness and stunning control. The suspension travel gives you time to think, react and, above all, enjoy what’s unfolding.

This remains one of the great B-road driver’s cars.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

ariel nomad 2 review 2024 01 front cornering

No two Ariels are alike, and the level of customisation for the Nomad is enormous.

The car driven here is very much in ‘B-road and occasional track-day’ spec, hence the larger wheels and relative lack of off-road accoutrements. Demure? Not quite, but you get the idea. 

Options fitted include the three-way turbo-boost mapping for the ECU (£1800), the Quaife diff (£1194), the adjustable traction control (£510), those beautiful Öhlins dampers (a punchy £6900 but worth it, we'd say) and a painted chassis (1200). That isn't an exhaustive list, and the total cost of the Nomad before you is £85,538.

At its most rugged – let’s call it ‘Armageddon’ spec – the car is rather different, and more expensive still. It can be fitted with a winch, spotlights, nudge bars, underbody and coolant-pipe protection, an LED whip light, beadlock wheels with off-road tyres and storage cases that sit high on the rear deck, directly above the engine.

Ariel can also fit an MSA-approved, plumbed-in fire extinguisher system, as well as track-day timing software and a cat-bypass pipe for the exhaust. A hydraulic handbrake is in the works, too, as is a sequential gearbox, à la Atom 4 and Atom 4R. 

VERDICT

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At £68k, the new Nomad costs a great deal more than the original, and a triple-figure sum is achievable with options. Then again, it’s hand-built and unlike any other car. Ariels also laugh in the face of depreciation. 

So if you love the idea of having an Atom but think it will get the adrenaline flowing all too freely, the Nomad neatly sacrifices speed for approachability. Might it provide an even sweeter endorphin rush on the road? Yes, perhaps.

And that’s only half the story here. Later this year, we will try one of these off road. It should be outright mind-blowing.

Richard Lane

Richard Lane, Autocar
Title: Deputy road test editor

Richard joined Autocar in 2017 and like all road testers is typically found either behind a keyboard or steering wheel (or, these days, a yoke).

As deputy road test editor he delivers in-depth road tests and performance benchmarking, plus feature-length comparison stories between rival cars. He can also be found presenting on Autocar's YouTube channel.

Mostly interested in how cars feel on the road – the sensations and emotions they can evoke – Richard drives around 150 newly launched makes and models every year. His job is then to put the reader firmly in the driver's seat.