In early 2015, the Ariel Motor Company unleashed its competition-grade, road-legal buggy dubbed the Nomad. After an incredibly warm reception from the motorsport world, the British marque followed up the original off-road kart with a number of additional variants including the Nomad Tactical and Nomad Sport. Now, for the 2021 model year, Ariel is delivering yet another up-specced version of the vehicle with the Nomad R.
This new version is powered by Honda’s K20Z3 2.0L inline-four engine —the mill found in the Civic Si from a few years back, as well as Ariel’s Atom 3.5 — though the 197hp naturally-aspirated power plant has been fitted with an Ariel-developed twin-lobe supercharger that bumps its output up to 339hp and 243ft-lbs of torque – all in a sub-1,500lb vehicle mind you. The R-spec Nomad is good for sub-3-second 0-60mph times, granted that’s made possible by some rather short gearing that sacrifices top-speed, which is limited to around 120mph. Other impressive running gear includes Alcon stoppers, 18” alloy rims shod in Yokohama rubber, a long-travel suspension setup with Eibach springs and Bilstein MDS monotone dampers, and a close-ratio transaxle Sadev sequential gearbox. Limited to only five units in total, the 2021 Ariel Nomad R is priced at approximately $80,950.
