Hex

Would love a M12, but have you considered a Lotus Exige? Smaller, but should keep up with either the Noble or Porsche, probably cheaper to run also.

I've an Elise as a second car, great fun.

Neil

sienar33

Drove a Noble at Mallory last year, along with 996 C2 coupe.
Noble was very enjoyable, and tangibly (s?) quicker, but the Porsche had a something.
Took a 996 C4 cab to lands end and back this year; absolutely loved it.
Fantastic gear change, lovely clutch action, just a gorgeous car to drive (just keep the tank above 1/2 full on rough/b roads!)
Noble is more racey; but if I could have afforded to do it properly, would have bought 996 instead of Scoob! :-O

sienar33

Oh, have driven Exige/Elise/vx220 also.
Liked the look of the Exige S, but not in the same league!
Maybe its me, but always too warm in the cabin!?

Echo

I'm doing all of my big miles in the Skoda vRS and am saving hard to swap the Scoob for the 997 after driving one around Scotland recently, just amazing.

logiclee

Ford always designed the duratec V's to be a modular engine so it was always intended to be seen in a number of varients and at different power outputs. The UK at first only got the 2.5 170PS and then 200PS and 220PS 3.0l V6. Of course Ford can build a V8, V10, and of course Aston uses a V12. There are also VVC options that Ford already have available and I believe a supercharged version is available in Australia. Not 100% sure but I think the X type Jag 2.1V6 was based on a Duratec V6 design as well.
The duratec V series is actually a good engine and Noble used the sound basic design and turbo charged it. Nothing wrong with that.

With todays platform and engine sharing that goes on I can't see why the Noble should be marked down for using half an Aston Martin V12 and turbo charging it.

Cheers
Lee

Boost II

iTrader: (1)

The Noble is from Leicestershire
(Gary Lineker, Walkers Crips, first automatic multi-storey carpark in Europe, first roundabout in UK, first space shuttle simulator outside usa etc etc)

The Porsche is from Germany
(Hitler, Third Reich, Leather Trousers, greasy sausages, hairy birds, brightly patterned shell suits etc etc)

Enough said, I'm suprised you bothered to ask the fooking question

gazberwick

I went in an m12 the other week and was well impressed, the owner was a guy i know in barnsley that does a lot of work on mr2's. some people on here might know of him.........it weighs nothing, sticks to the ground like chewing gum and goes like a bullet train, trust me they cant be beat when it comes to performance per pound, but make sure you get a road angel in it cause the scenery gets real blurry and spotting plod is hard when your head cant move of the back of the seat!!

blot

Had a Noble for 18mnths and 24k miles. Used it everyday, never let me down once and loved it. Factory customer service is second to none, loads of knowledgeable owners who are happy to talk about development. Handling truly astounding, go test drive one.

Oh and to equal out the views, the 911 engine and chassis were developed from a beetle, which came from a messerschmit........or was it a fokker?? why not buy the noble and get the porsche once you need a bit more comfort?

billythekid

As its your second car forget about usability and all that, if its a weekend toy its much better than the Porsche.

My experiance of Nobles is:

I have seen the work that goes into the engine prep, as I used to visit John Noble (no relation to Lee) quite often. The V6 engine would be delivered in a crate from ford. It would be stripped down to the block and then many parts replaced and put back together. The "soft" parts were all changed. The engines can easily take more power and IMHO they are very strong.

Secondly, a good friend of mine has an M400. Its one of the fastest cars I have ever been in, and I have a caterhamnuttermobile for comparison. Over 80mph its devistating. The build is very good, its engineerd properly. Lots of time and efford has gone into the small detail. Sure its no aston martin inside but thats not what its all about, its about the engine and chassis. Its a true british super car.

Tis true there is not much room for luggage, but Noble can sell you some small luggage bags which go under your legs, sounds odd but you can fit several days worth of clothes in them.

Buy the Noble, you wont be dissapointed.

davyboy

Strange we have not heard from him

spider

iTrader: (1)

Was talking to a guy at a track day last week who'd gone from a Noble to a Porsche GT3.

He was saying the GT3 cost him less overall in a year as he had several gearbox related issues when running the Noble.

Mind you, I got the impression he did a fair few track days a year, so the cars were getting a lot of hard use.