Is it time to replace your race suit? Let’s get you track-ready. The Alpinestars Atom set: what the extra money actually buys you
The question I get asked about the Atom is always the same one, and it is a fair question. It costs a couple of hundred pounds more than an OMP First or a Sparco Sprint Advanced, and it carries exactly the same FIA 8856-2018 homologation. Same standard, more money. So what is the extra actually buying?
The short answer is fit, not safety. Every suit on this page and every suit in the two guides linked further down will get you through the same scrutineering bay. What changes as you go up is how the suit sits on you over a long stint, and the Atom is the point in the range where that starts to be worth paying for.
This page runs through the set the way I would at the counter. What the extra buys in plain terms, then the three items, then all four colourways with the boots and gloves I would put with each. I am Cameron, by the way.
The set at a glance
- Homologation
- FIA 8856-2018Suit, boots and gloves, all three
- Fabric weight
- 420 g/m²Published, which the other two are not
- Colourways
- FourEvery one has an exact boot match
- Sizes
- Suit 44 to 64Boots UK 4 to 12, gloves S to XXL
What the extra buys
Four things, and none of them are on the homologation label.
Fully floating anatomical arms
The sleeve hangs from the shoulder rather than being stitched flat into the body panel, and it is cut with a bend already in it. Reach forward for a gear lever in a cheaper suit and you drag the whole shoulder and a fistful of fabric across your back with it. This does not do that.
Pre-curved arms and legs
Same idea lower down. The suit is made in the shape you sit in rather than the shape you stand in, so nothing bunches behind the knee.
Flat seams across the shoulders
Specifically so a HANS device sits flat on the suit rather than on a raised seam. If you run a frontal head restraint, and in most competition you will, that is a detail you feel by about lap fifteen.
A published fabric weight
The Atom is 420 g/m² combined. Worth calling out because it is the only one of the three entry sets we stock that publishes the figure at all, which lets you compare rather than guess.
| OMP First-S | Sparco Sprint Advanced | Alpinestars Atom | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homologation | FIA 8856-2018 | FIA 8856-2018 | FIA 8856-2018 |
| Construction | 2 layers | 2 layers | 2 layers |
| Suit sizes | 44 to 64 | 44 to 66 | 44 to 64 |
| Colourways | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| Published fabric weight | Not published | Not published | 420 g/m² |
Every figure here is read off the product data on this site rather than a brochure.
The suit
Two layers, 100% aramidic twill outer with a 100% aramidic lining. Both layers are the real thing rather than an aramid outer over something cheaper, which is where some suits at the lower end save their money.
The collar is the detail people notice first when they try one on. It is extended and ergonomic with a soft stretch insert, so it sits round your neck rather than against it. Stretch panels are placed where the suit needs to move rather than everywhere, which is what keeps it close-fitting without feeling like a wetsuit.
Thigh pockets and an adjustable waist belt. The belt matters more than it sounds, because it lets you take up slack at the waist rather than sizing the whole suit down and losing room in the shoulders.
Key Features:
- Two layers, FIA 8856-2018 homologated
- 100% aramidic twill outer and aramidic lining
- Fully floating anatomical arm design
- Pre-curved arms and legs
- Flat shoulder seams to sit under a HANS device
- Extended collar with soft stretch insert
- Thigh pockets and adjustable waist belt
- 420 g/m² combined fabric weight
- Sizes 44 to 64, four colourways
-
From £410.00 Excl. VAT Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
The boots
-
From £164.00 Excl. VAT Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Suede and leather upper with a para-aramidic tubular lining. The SP+ is Alpinestars taking features off their expensive boots and putting them on something a club racer can justify.
The closure is the part worth understanding. You get a traditional lace system with hidden loops, and then a hook and loop strap over the top of it. The laces set the fit, the strap holds it, and the hidden loops mean there is nothing to catch on the pedal box or the sill on the way in.
Collar and tongue padding is nitrate rubber, which keeps the weight down, and the tongue padding is perforated. Small thing, but it is the bit sat directly on top of your foot for an hour.
Key Features:
- FIA 8856-2018 approved
- Suede and leather upper
- Para-aramidic tubular lining
- Laces with hidden loops plus a hook and loop strap
- Nitrate rubber collar and tongue padding
- Perforated tongue padding
- UK 4 to UK 12, four colourways
The gloves
Aramidic fibre with an extended cuff, and the cuff is the reason to look at these over something cheaper. It runs further up the forearm than most gloves at this money, which is the gap a suit sleeve does not always cover when your arms are up on the wheel.
External seams on the palm side, so there is nothing pressing into your hand between you and the rim. Pre-curved palms and fingers for the same reason the suit has pre-curved arms: made in the shape your hand is already in.
The silicone palm print was revised on the V4 and it is noticeably grippier than the version it replaced, particularly on a suede rim in the damp.
Key Features:
- FIA 8856-2018 approved
- Aramidic fibre construction
- Extended cuff for more forearm coverage
- External seams on the palm side
- Pre-curved palms and fingers
- Revised silicone palm print
- Sizes S to XXL, six colourways
-
From £114.00 Excl. VAT Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Which colours go together
The Atom range is the most restrained of the three sets we stock, and that is deliberate. Four suit colourways, every one of them essentially one colour with a single accent. No fluorescent suits, no three-tone graphics.
What that gives you is the easiest matching job of the three. Every Atom suit colourway has an SP+ boot that picks it up exactly, so the boots are close to a decision that makes itself. The gloves are where the choice actually lives, with six colourways, more than the suit and the boot combined.
Three colourways with no suit to match. Every Atom suit has a boot that picks it up exactly, so these are the ones you buy on purpose as a contrast rather than a match.
Swatch colours are sampled from our own product photography. The colour names are the ones on the product pages, so what you read here is what you pick at checkout.
All four colourways, worn
All four colourways, each with the boots and gloves I would put with it. The colourway named under each shot is the exact variation on our site, so you can order what you are looking at.
Black
The understated one. All black suit, black and white SP+ boots, and the tar grey glove doing just enough to stop the whole thing reading as a plain boiler suit.
Black & White
The colourway that suits the Atom best. The white runs through the suit and the boots, and the tar grey glove keeps the set from tipping into full monochrome.
White
Listed as White, and worth knowing it is white with anthracite shoulders and fluro yellow trim rather than a plain white suit. It is the only Atom set where an accent colour genuinely runs through all three pieces.
Fit and sizing
| Piece | Sizes | How it runs | What to measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atom race suit | 44 to 64 | Cut closer than the OMP First, which is the point of the stretch panels. Between two sizes and you like room, take the larger one. | Chest and waist with a tape, off Alpinestars' own chart rather than your jacket size. Remember it goes over fireproof underwear. |
| SP+ race boots | UK 4 to UK 12 | Narrow, as race boots should be. A wider bottom end than most, which is useful if you are buying for a younger driver, and the dual closure gives more adjustment than a lace-only boot so an awkward instep is less of a problem. | Every size carries its EU number too, EU 37 to EU 47, so buy off that if it is the one you know. |
| Tech 1 Race V4 gloves | S to XXL | The extended cuff is meant to overlap the suit sleeve, so the two need to work together. | Round your palm. Try them with the suit sleeve on rather than on their own. |
Buying it as a set
We build the Atom, the SP+ boots and the Tech 1 Race V4 gloves into a bundle in three size bands, which comes in under buying the three separately. The bundles are black only. If you want one of the other three colourways, buy the pieces individually from the sections above.
What else sits at this money
Below the Atom sit the two sets I would point most first-season racers at. The OMP First set is the cheapest way into approved kit and has the widest colour choice on the boots and gloves. The Sparco Sprint Advanced set sits between the two and has seven suit colourways, more than anything else at the money. Both carry the same FIA 8856-2018 as the Atom.
The honest way to choose is by how much you are going to wear it. A handful of track days a year and the Atom is hard to justify over either of them. A full season, or long stints in the summer, and the fit is what you will be glad you paid for.
What I would actually buy
The Black and White suit with the Black and White SP+ boots and the Black and Tar Grey gloves. It is the colourway that makes the Atom look like what it is, which is a proper suit rather than an entry one, and the tar grey glove keeps it from being a plain black outfit.
If you want colour, the White suit with the Black and Yellow boots and the Black and Fluro Yellow gloves is the only Atom set where an accent runs cleanly through all three pieces.
Final thoughts
The Atom is the point where the money stops going on the certificate and starts going on the hour you spend wearing it. Nothing on this page will get you into a race meeting that the cheaper sets will not, and I would rather say that plainly than sell it as a safety upgrade.
If you are racing a full season, try one on next to a Sprint Advanced and you will know within a minute whether the difference is worth it to you. Everything here is in the showroom. Ask for me and I will get both off the rail.