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Saturday 30 April 2011

Poll Results: How Many Owners Has Your Noble Had?

Total Members Polled: 37
1 owner: 27%
2 owners: 22%
3 owners: 38%
4 owners: 5%
5 owners: 8%

Poll Provided By Pistonheads.Com

Friday 29 April 2011

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Noble M400 (USA)

Noble is a British brand, but it made the choice to go on sale in America, but what was the reception?
The story starts when Noble ran under 1G Racing (now Rossion) 1G wanted to sell the car (Noble M400) in its homeland of the US. There were a number of good reasons for this decision, chief among which

is that it selling it there meant more buyers of the cars and also that it would provide a nice alternative to Callaway Corvettes and Shelby Mustangs. The body and major components are made in South Africa, just like any other Nobles, but instead of being sent to Nobles factory in Leister, it was sent straight to 1G's HQ in Ohio. Unfortunately at this point there was a problem. The Noble didn't meet the US car regulations that meant it could be sold in America. Noble found a way round the problem, they sold the car without the Engine and Transmission, and then sourced you the right engine and Transmission that you had to attach yourself. This qualified it as a kit car, which meant it went round the regulations. Did it work though? Yes it did, the Americans loved it for its Handling and straight line speed and that they were good to modify. It was sold there in 2007 from its one dealer in Ohio at $94,229 dollars. In 2008 1G changed its name to Rossion and brought out a more upmarket version called the Q1.

Monday 18 April 2011

PH: Carpool; Noble M12

A Noble M12 is one route to track-day bliss. However it might not be that straight-forward, as Martin Bond (aka mgbond) explains:
"Well, where do I start? Once I learned to drive I always wanted nice cars but was not what you'd call a petrol head. After I went through a few sporty-ish cars I was in a position to buy something a bit better and my friends convinced me to get a Lotus Elise. I bought one, joined forums, went on meets and was hooked. "Three years later I was ready for an upgrade and was toying between a Lotus Exige S2 or a T350c TVR, when a work colleague suggested that I get a Noble. I wasn't quite sure so I went to a dealer (as there happened to be one nearby), sat in it and thought 'yeah not bad'. I went on the forum to research what to look out for and then completely ignored all the advice, thinking instead that I'd sort the issues out over time. I wish I hadn't done that... "Three months in I blew the diff' and not long after it needed a new ECU. These issues among others cost a pretty packet but I had to deal with them because by then I was in love. It just proves that you need to buy with your head. I got an early car and these have issues that need to be sorted (most have been done by now). The later cars were much better. "My car is now sorted but after pushing the limits a bit far last year I had to rebuild the engine. It's now back on the road (currently being run in) with everything new and upgraded to make the next five years as rewarding as the last five. "Mine is the 2.5 V6 version which should be delivering 310bhp, although it was only running at 280bhp. Often they never made the power without a remap. When mine gets mapped in the next couple of weeks it should produce over 400bhp and with just over a ton to pull it should keep the grin etched on my face. The rush as the turbos spool-up is very addictive. "A few years ago the work colleague who had suggested that I buy one came with me on a track day at Brands and his girly screams as we flew round paddock hill bend will stay with me forever. He's currently looking to purchase one! "There are a few of us down South and we meet up quite a bit. May sees 27 of us at Silverstone with the Factory bringing two M600's. Can't wait for that. "If anyone is looking for a Noble, drop me a line as I can help with advice having been a frequent user of the PH Noble forum for a long time. Owning a Noble has got so much better over the last couple of years. "Some top blokes (who are frankly mad) have come along and they just won't stop developing new things for the cars and I'm starting to lose count of how many are now over 500BHP - some will be delivering over 600 soon. I drove one of these bad boys last year and I have never felt anything quite like it. Bring on the next five years."

Saturday 16 April 2011

First LHD M600 delivered

This great new car is going down to its new owner in Monaco, nice colour

Monday 11 April 2011

Latest Noble pic

New owner Peter Boutwood and the M600, but no one could beat Lee though...

The Fenix GT is close

It is almost here, the new Fenix GT will be launched this summer, so what are we going to expect? The Fenix is the unofficial sucsessor of the Noble M14 and M15, both great cars that never made production. It will be offered with a choice of two GM LS3 and LS9 V8 engines, the LS3 is the base model and will give out 480 BHP and the more powerful will have 638 BHP. With either of the engines the car will top out at over 200 mph. Normally this sort of performance would cost over 100,000 pounds, but it is being offered at 70,000 pounds. About 100 of these tailor made supercars will be built every year, designed with speed and comfort in mind. The workforce is tiny, with just 2 men building the cars. There is certainly a lot to look forward to. Lucas Wilson

Friday 1 April 2011

Latest Noble pic

A Noble M10 and it's owner, R Haycock, fantastic

CAR FOR SALE

Okay, so you'll probably have recognised that this is not a proper noble, but it is quite a good replica, 3 of these have been made. They are based on series 1 MR2's and have been tuned by a company called Crisp to develop 400 BHP Scratch on passenger door and slight crack on back bumper

Just had service

Black leather seats in good condition

CD Player with Ipod connection

AIR Con

PAS

Alarm

Passenger Airbag

7 owners

82,000 miles

£6.500 pounds

Hurry though it's had 3 offers