Rockingham - The Story
Discussion
Posted on General as I'm sure lots of people will be interested...
“Hey baby wake up, come and get me”
“Hey baby wake up, come and get me”
“Eh? Eh? Ah? Bloody Chicken – where are you – shut up”
Hitting the chicken alarm clock from my slumber I saw the clock on the video. 5:40am. What? What’s going on? Oh, yes, I remember, Rockingham…….
Having on Wednesday not got to bed until 3:00am and up at 7:00am despite getting in the full 8 hours in on Thursday night it was an unwelcome arising from my slumber on Friday morning.
But, soon the brain had kicked into gear and it was all clear. Rockingham Speedway National Circuit. 20+ Nobles. Lots of people to meet.
A quick shower and the obligatory can of Red Bull I collected together my things (driving license, map, video camcorder, helmet..... anything else...... oh yes, two fleeces as it was October) and wandered outside to start my journey northwards.
Another can of the winged enhancement beverage (I'm sure Lee would prefer the warm brown stuff, me, too many years of abusing the body until 4:00am in some dodgy club jabbering on with workmates about who's car is the preverbal dangly bits, with a requirement to be in work and "functional" by 8:00am, have given me a particular taste for the Red stuff), plum in the address into the Sat Nav and off we go.
The first command from "heir who should be obeyed" was "please proceed to the planned route" - what does that mean you silly bint? I thought you were planning the route! Of course what she actually means is "get your car onto some black stuff that I know about and I'll work it out from there", but does she say that, no, she just keeps on jabbering away telling me that I'm lost, and that she, the superior being, needs to be obeyed.
If it wasn't just before 6:00am I would have turned the silly moo off, but at that time a reminder that you are meant to "turn left at the next junction" is a welcome interaction until the brain starts to get fully engaged. I've often wondered why humans don't have manuals that say "no more than 3 commands per minute until the temperature is up to operating levels" just like cars do. But then ours is not to reason why things are as they are.
The journey up was pretty uneventful apart from I had forgotten my Road Angel (obviously I exceed my 3 commands per minute limit - wonder if I can claim on the warranty?) so I just stuck to the speed limit – taking in the slowly lightening vistas along the way. Seeing sunrise I think really sets you up for the day, and with the current Autumn colours in the trees, it really is a sight to behold.
As I came into Corby after leaving the M11 the sun was starting to come up and the colours of the leaves on the trees were lovely. Apparently it's something to do with lots of sugar being formed because of the weather that we have - wonder if they would make good tea (leaves) then???? (I’d proffer Lee likes “Northern Tea” – or is it PG???)
Still, now the sun was coming up I could see that it was going to be a glorious day. Excellent news, I didn't really want to be playing on a wet, unfamiliar track.
The directions to the track were excellent - well signed. "Heir Madame Sat Nav" didn't want to follow the signs (they so rarely do) so I pressed on and kept to the checkered flag signs to the hallowed ground of Rockingham Thunder (or so it was named on their website).
Upon turning into Mitchell Road I thought I was in the wrong place. A bloody great big power substation was on our left with six 45KV 3-phase supplies going into it. The whole place looked like a big industrial estate - a strange place to build a speedway was the first reaction, and hardly "welcoming".
Still once I got up to the hut the little man gave me a prepared set of instructions to the “Skyline” area for the briefing. A quick whiz around the entry roads and I was parked up.
Getting out of the car and making my way up staircase six I bumped into Lee chatting animatedly to Danny about his car. Danny confessed to me the day before about his roundabout moment – suffice to say by the end of the day Danny was doing a sterling job convincing everyone that it involved at least 100mph, a roundabout, a beautiful girl, a granny that is lucky to be alive and 4 broken wheels – but we know the truth hey Danny
Entering into the briefing area, a quick signing of your life away (interestingly with a new disclaimer about inter-driver / passenger 3rd party liability, an interesting topic of discussion on some track day forums), and it was a quick head over to the bacon butties and the dark black wet stuff (sorry Lee – Tea is for the afternoon, about half past 4, just before Gin and Tonic hour).
Bumping into people I started to have the “JF nightmare” – whilst you ask me the IP address of our original DNS server from 7 years ago I can recount it off the top of my head as if it was yesterday, actually remembering names of people that obviously knew me is a bloody nightmare, so a lot of parry and deflect the question was used until that vital bit of information was received that enabled me to link the person to some event.
Unfortunately whilst I seemed to get away with it for most of the day, the final realisation that “Richard” was “Richard Jones” of the factory who I had had many a conversation with didn’t happen until the pub drink right at the end, and stupidly I went “ah – your Richard Jones” to which I got the reply “yes, and you threw me into the kitty litter”. This means that I obviously need to either work out how to remember peoples names, or just work out a more bullet proof parry strategy!
The briefing was usual stuff; however the lack of blue (overtaking) flag was an interesting decision. At this point Phil Bennett was introduced, at which point a few sarcastic comments stated to be bandied around about his driving ability. Always a good sign – especially if you are looking for pointers and indicators about how to up your own driving ability.
Looking around the circuit it is a positively huge place. I’d never been before, but you can imagine that on a “full” race day it must be an amazing spectacle, but I do wonder about how exciting oval racing can be – I mean it’s just high speed and keep it off the concrete barrier – how exciting can that be? Perhaps I’d better come along to one to check it out.
So, off it was to the paddock area.
The first thing was a few familiarization laps playing “follow the leader”. So – off I went for a quick hoon around. After a lap or so I could work out there would be three interesting areas. Firstly the chicane, on each side it has adverse camber, but there did seem to be a flat area through the middle – but setting the car up for the next right would be interesting. Secondly the braking area coming down the hill to the 90 degree right – you could easily outbrake yourself there (more of that later), and thirdly the final lefthander before the hairpin onto the start/finish straight – seemed to be an ideal “drifting” area, but would require the right combination of entry speed, gearing and throttle.
After a few more laps at about 2/3rds speed, we came in and started milling around.
Onto the day’s festivities. Remembering to disarm the tracker, I twisted the ignition key and that familiar burble started behind me. Mmmmmmm.
All briefed up I took the car out for a few laps to get used to the car. I’d forgotten how much the car impresses even on the first lap, but ever mindful of the fact that this was a factory car I built up slowly. I got caught out by the 2nd to 3rd change on the first stretch, it’s funny how little time away lets your brain go into “normal mode”, however, the whole circuit was a 3rd & 4th gear circuit (compare that with my later M400 experience), and I quickly got the brain working in “Noble mode”.
It just really goes to show that this car isn’t “wrong”, it’s just different. Some people may complain about the setup, and some like me love it, but it’s that old story of not everyone is the same, and it seems, you can’t please 100% of the people (and some are never satisfied as we now know…..)
As expected the chicane was very tricky. However, the approach of fast in, onto the brakes as you hit the central apex, and then a quick snip down of the gearbox into 3rd was the correct way to get the car setup.
Out of the right hander you were quickly into 80-90mph. A quick lift to get the weight onto the front before the two sweeping right handers was needed to get the car settled, but then it was pretty much either full to ¾ throttle through those two. The only limit really was the tyre grip / suspension setup at this point, and so you could drift the car if you wanted to completely on the throttle cable – lovvvveellly.
Coming out of that section it was a dive downhill into the 90 degree right. This was, for me, one of the hardest bits to get right. The car really starts to get to work, and this is where a small part of brain fade will quickly catch you out. It “eggs” you on to keep 4th planted, but then if you start to brake after the 100 board you really are into trouble. Confidence building I started to master it but never really felt happy there – more practice would be needed really. More about this section later…..
Once round that 90 degree bend, there was then a lovely blast up the hill into another 90 right then a long long set of lefts. This for me was one of the nicest parts of the circuit, and really showed why the Noble is ahead of most other things.
Once out of the hill and around the right-hander, you then do a quick dab of the brakes to set you up for the first of what is really three lefts that slowly open up. Here the car really starts to work, loading up the offside suspension the car starts to really punish the tyres, the net effect that you can feel the “zudder” as everything starts to get to its physical limits. However, unlike a few other marques that I could mention, the Noble doesn’t let you get over the limit without serious warning. The sublime communication of the chassis and the ability to correct so easily with the steering allows you too smoothly, and without drama, sort everything out. The G’s being generated were huge, with the fuel gauge going from ¾ full to around ¼ full around this stage of the circuit. No wonder the “¼ full at all times” recommendation from the factory about fuel on track – ignore it at your peril!
The last corner was my favorite, and one that myself and Phil Bennet seemed to enjoy. Get it right (very very late turn in point – look for the “X” on the ground and go about 5 foot beyond it in my opinion) and you fly into the corner and can drift the whole thing “scream mode” in pure control onto the straight before the hairpin (sorry factory – I promise I only did it a little bit but people were smiling whilst being passenger – so it sort of “egged” me on – hope I didn’t take too much rubber of the tyres….)
Get it wrong though and you’ll not get anywhere near the limit of the tyres.
The last hairpin was “spinners” corner. I managed to keep out of that club (but am a full paid up member of the Cat Sanitary Products League) but you can see why – the temptation is to turn in too hard and try and get away from the “paddock in” tarmac – I’d worked out that if you aim for the paddock, and then sort it out later it flows much better (and that was what the pros were doing – so it must be right!)
Few more laps and I was ready for some passengers. I did four runs back to back and everyone seemed to enjoy it. One word of warning though, when Lee gets up your rear in his test mule, do NOT look at him. I saw him coming hard up on me into the downhill section and then 90 degree right hander, missed the 100 board because of it, and just couldn’t stop in time. The weight transfer onto the front is terrible if you overcook it at this section of the track, making the rear very very light.
Couple that with not enough brains on the issue, and forgetting cadence braking to keep it close to it’s lockup point, and I did the obvious “oppsss, arrgh, turn, oppps, oversteer, correct, bugger, spin” – right in front of Stuart Jones (Director of Noble) in with Lee Noble. So guys – I’m a member of the “buzzed by Lee” club, and later I found out he had decided I was going to spin and hence aimed for where I “wouldn’t be” (but would have been had I made the corner) – just shows that his racing days magic is still with the man.
With a few more runs it was getting close to lunch, so I gave the car back to the Noble guys and let them have some fun and take out prospective customers, and after about 20+ laps I was getting a bit knackered – how the pros go all day god only knows!
Lunch came and went good food, and even greater conversation.
In the afternoon I was very honored to have Lee pass me the keys to his “M400”. This is one special special car that will have, I am sure, even more converts to the marque.
Now, a word in everyone’s ear. This is a development car, so don’t get too excited about it, as nothing is finalised, and there is no idea what the price will be, but Noble brought it along so they could test it throughout the day (and it never missed a beat), and also so their existing customers could have a play and see where Noble as a business are going. Well – hats off to them, it’s not often you get to see a development car, never mind be given the keys and told to “go play”
A bit of background I suppose. From an owners perspective, over the last year there has been standing arguments about the ability of the Noble compared to cars like the 996TTX50, 360CS and others. You’ve probably read the Autocar performance car shootout, and seen where the Noble came in some of the other tests. Lately it’s been slowly having chunks taken out of it’s standing compared with the 1 to 2 years ago where it was consistently voted “top of the pile”. Second against the 996TTX50 in the Autocar A-2-B test is an amazing achievement, but can Noble get the crown again?
So – what have the factory been doing lately. They did the 3 and 3R last year, the GTC just needs a roof (a tricky job if it’s going to be up to the normal Lee engineering standards for practicality and pure engineering genius), but has that been stretching Lee’s brain cells enough?
So, has Lee been sitting around, no sir, he has not. What I was given the keys to was Lee’s own little toy. Sure it’s battle weary, with duck tape (best paint match apparently) holding together bits of the rear clam where a certain person (who will remain nameless, but we all know :laugh overcooked it at that country road blast in Germany and obviously run out of “pixie dust” that he usually can throw over the oversteer monster to tame it.
Still – as Lee said, it’s still got one nice side profile that you can photo, and why bother fixing that until something else gets dinged. Also, you can tell this has had 10,000+ track miles put on it, the sills, bottom of the door and wheel arches are covered in stone chips, well I say chips, more like angle iron marks (if you get the drift).
So, back to the story, instead of sitting around, Lee is now in “tweak” mode. Let me explain.
Apparently all you do to improve things now is tweak. The engineering hurdles that have to be jumped to get a sorted car have not only been jumped, but the 2000 Guinea prize has been collected and banked. So, if you aren’t competing in the National Hunt, what do you do? Tweak apparently, and tweak, and tweak, and tweak………
So, what’s so special?
Well – these “tweaks” are the basis of the “track day kit”. Soon to be available via your local friendly dealer (and given the fix this car gives you, it will surely be the local drug dealer rather than Mole Valley or similar), and if all goes well, in time for Christmas the spec reads something like:
Engine
Running 420 dynoed BHP.
440 is where it started, but it’s been wound back down to 420 is it current setup to check out reliability. The upgrade is “trick cam” and more changes (turbos will need to be changed to another type).
One thing though – running an engine in this land is for the serious fix junky, and just like the little white powder variety, that all encompassing warranties will not be available given the large power hike.
For the less addicted members of our clan, a 380ish upgrade was being mooted, available for existing 3l owners as a “re-map and tweak”. This one will be less painful to the wallet and is for the more “sensible” owners amongst us – a sort of Vodka shots night that may result in the odd hangover, rather than complete and utter paralysis after too many visits to the big white telephone to the Maker United variety.
Spring / Dampers
New system all around. Others had a closer look, me – I just implicitly trust Lee’s tweak’o’matic decisions
Geometry
Changed (Again not sure of the details – but who cares if it does what it does)
Tyres
Pirelli sticky things that are so sticky they stick more than a very sticky thing
So, what was it like?
Starting it up the engine immediately sounds different from inside. There is something in there, perhaps Ryu-wo himself has been finally captured and pushed into the bottom crank, snoring away until the right pedal links into his umbilical cord entry point and gives you a direct link to the inner depths of his castle, but bringing with him that mythical nobility and wisdom that the Chinese have revered for centuries.
Finding reverse in the 6 speed box is interesting. First you wonder where the hell it is, but Lee has kindly had the pattern scratched into the shiny wiggle stick in the middle of the car, so a quick read and we think we know.
Remember K series gearboxes? Remember that trick with the clutch? Well – I’m not sure if it’s similar, but there is a knack to getting it in. But then remember this is 4 “up” gates you have, and even our “9 hours from LA friends” with their S2000, (which I presume stands for the number of engineers working all day every day on the project) cannot overcome that fundamental issue about left right waggle and up down movement being transversed via a series of routes that require telepathic connection to the senses. Couple that with the same time pacifying the world that has become used to slushy, wiggly, boxes from our Germanic and American friends who put a missed gear change down to “driver error” rather than “design error”, and Lee’s compromise seems to work fine. Yes reverse is hard to find, but then, how many time do you actually want to go into reverse?
I am convinced, so good is the other 6 positions, that any compromise to find reverse easier would impinge on the forward direction selection.
Did I mention telepathic, after slipping out of reverse and finding first (opps, further left than my 5 speed – more brain reprogramming needed – wonder how many operations per minute I am up to know???), I wander forward.
Strange, don’t remember the clutch being that nice on any car, and what’s this, a snick into second and it just “did it” (bit like the Nike advert, but without the bouncing feet). The change from 2nd to 3rd is more “normal” (but may I dare say, probably slightly slower than my 2.5 the way I use it – sorry Lee!), but from there its “playtown”.
And what the hell is that behind me? It’s Ryu-wo and at least 3 of his mates. My god the punch is hard, and as for the noise, think 355 mixed down 3 octaves and you’ll close (imagine the smurfs are a 355, and then speak normally).
Ohhhh – Daddy – I want one!
Ratios – stunning. Remember above I said that it was a 3rd & 4th with the 5 speed – well it’s a 3rd, 4th and 5th in this car with the corresponding warping of the sensory expectations that playing with 3 ratios, with 3rd and 5th being used probably 4 or 5 times around the track that you can see why this car was so devastatingly quick.
Turn in – oh my god! 2 years of development and this is just unreal. Now, my original 2.5 car is something special, and for the “road warrior” (remember there are some people who don’t want to razz around every track in the UK) that fancies the odd bit of circuit work you would never ever get near it’s limits on the road, and if you do then you probably will overcook it!
In that sense, is this development car a step too far for the road? Certainly the sticky sticky black stuff will wear at 4 times the rate of the SO3’s – so that’s 2000 miles per set, and in the wet I’d imagine they are as bad as an Elise MK1 on P0’s – a bloody nightmare that was only ever sorted out by SO2’s or Yoko Advan’s. I’ve yet to try Lee’s creation on the road (hint hint Lee!) but I’m not sure if it would be a step to far – but hey, I am sure I could get used to it. Cars that eventually get speced up to this level will positively annihilate anything on a twisty A or B road – I just can’t see how anything that jumps this far ahead on the track will have any competition on the road.
So, for, say, a 65-75k ish budget (NOTE!!!! pure guess on the cost of these tweaks – I have no idea, and probably just hoping that’ll be what the cost…… I don’t want Lee telling me off for setting his retail price!), you could get a spare set of wheels & tyres (make it two sets, one wet, one dry), tweak your 3l into this monster, find a friendly tyre change person, and have something that will demolish, and I mean demolish, anything out there.
“This is the Daddy” would turn into “………………………”
Stunned silence was all most people could get out of me after my laps for the first 5 minutes or so, with the odd mutter of “f*** me, f*** me”.
Here’s a lap based on my observations
Format of:
Track Point
2.5l comments
Lee “Tweak” comments
1st Corner
Hint of oversteer, lacking power out of corner, easily not need all of track
Catapult out of corner (LSD certainly doing its trick), serious kick in back from first application of throttle in corner
Chicane
4th gear, getting to max revs, brake in middle, unsettled for right turn, never finding right combination between gears and engine power
5th gear (once I was brave!) 10mph faster in at least, quick snip into 4th with dab of brakes, hard on after that, let car take you into corner, 10-15mph+ over 2.5l exit speed
Two right handers
Need to lift to get chassis sorted, never totally comfortable with full throttle.
Minor lift, full throttle, minor lift, full throttle
Dip & 90 degree
Easy to outbrake, easy to slide, bog down due to losing turbo spin
10 feet at least later braking, turn in amazing, rear refuses to let go, LSD working overtime on route out to keep everything together.
Up hill and right
Interestingly I found this better in the 2.5 into this corner. The turbo was singing in 3rd and as you reached the brake zone you were just at the right point to let the engine brake for you, and as you entered the right hander the engine was still on song.
In comparison I struggled to find the right gear here (3rd to short, 4th slightly too long) – but this was the only corner like that (down to the long 3rd in the 2.5)
Three lefts
Awesome – everything really fun, exceptionally fast but on "load limit". No words can describe it. Jaw achingly fun.
Never ever wanted to let the rear go, hammered into the last left hander probably 10-15mph more than the 2.5, never felt that the offside of the car was getting near it’s load limit
Hairpin
Needs LSD!
Got LSD – hence not fair to compare….. but boy did it shift out of there!
6 laps later I had the opportunity of having Phil Bennet coming out straight after me in a “normal” 3R going past the start finish. I slowed until he was about 20 feet behind me up to the Chicane and then did a lap on my terms. Interestingly although Bennet was slowly deleting that 20 feet deficit, it wasn’t until the hairpin at the end that I had just had enough (too much detail flowing into the brain from front and rear) and pulled over to let him by.
Whilst on my 6 laps I reeled in three 3L cars and easily passed them, so that coupled with me keeping Phil “in his place” it shows how much the car flatters the driver.
So – do you need this upgrade? Will Santa have only one thing on his list? Well – if you drive on track then
, , , and . There is no comparison. It is a quantum leap ahead, probably +50% in “perception” terms.
Would I recommend it for the road? Not on those tyres (just looking at them reminds me of 340R tyres in the wet), and also I’d need to get it out on the road and test it (more hints!!)
What about the “normal” cars. Well, remember that I’ve driven a lot of stuff on a lot of tracks, and enjoy a dynamic car that pushes my ability to increase my envelope. Also, I appreciate and understand the costs involved in tracking cars, and am prepared for significant bills.
This upgrade allows so much more stresses to happen things at the "edge", so just as any trick track day car, things will break if you constantly push it, and I have a feeling Lee won’t be warranting them past the normal “duff manufacture” obligations. To me there is nothing wrong with that - this car is so far up the capability scale, but for such little money, it seems a totally fair compromise.
If you hit a high kerb, at speed when everything is fully loaded up I am sure something somewhere will break. You cannot create a car that goes through a chicane at a clear 10mph faster than a “normal” car without generating significantly greater forces. Remember that in force equations there is a “v-squared” law, and so you cannot keep the dynamics and be able to cope with every force that a track will generate. This is not really any more a “road car that can whizz around a track”, this is a “track setup car”. Take your choice Sir!
However, saying that, Phil and Martin were razzing the 3R and "M400" around all day and nothing broke. In fact, I didn't see any really serious faults during the day, and *that* is dam impressive for what we were doing to these cars. I'm stunned at the reliability of the whole marque, even the little 2.5l that I was razzing around stood up like a man and took the spanking without a single whimper - obviously from the Grammar School of abuse management. It was reassuring to see so much machinery pushed so far with so few casualties - amazing!
Overall – I want the track day upgrade (but then I generally want everything!).
After tasting “M400” I then took the 2.5l out again. What a difference! However, interestingly the play with the “M400” version had shown me some smarter lines, and I got more confident with the 2.5l. Alas, this was my downfall!
Two things happened. 3 laps in with Richard Jones (the Chairman’s son – what have I done to my reputation within the factory????) he was grinning a lot, so I absolutely flew out of the chicane and didn’t really let up through the sweeping right handers. Carrying on down the hill I was a clear 5-10mph faster than the previous laps. BRAIN FADE! Instead of getting onto the brakes *earlier* I got onto them later. End result….. Very very light end, locking of brakes and a “opppsssss…….bugger.....****”.
No drama, just not much point in trying for the corner. Wiggle from back controllable, and so I just kept it straight and narrow and headed for the kitty litter.
I nearly would have got away with it, but hitting the grass it offered just too little grip and I ended up about 3 foot into the kitty litter – the splitter doing a fine job of carving a way through for me.
I nearly got it out, but in the end needed a tow (which was done very effectively - thanks lads!). Back to the paddock and Simon was none to pleased with me, having spent 10 minutes before lunch clearing out the stones when Richard (yes the same one that I had with me) dumped it into the litter.
Bugger me those stones get everywhere! Still, I paid my penance and cleared out one side. Fortunately the splitter had done a fine job of stopping stones causing too much damage at the front, but I have a feeling the Silver paint helped as well to not show it up. I hope it was OK when it got back Simon (goes away and hides)
Sorry again to the factory – but I blame Richard for goading me into it!
Other highlights for me were
Charles (Mr. Mole) giving me instructions and complaining I didn’t use enough of the track. 3rd lap we spun at the 90 degree right hander – but I just wanted to show Charles close up the “wake” of the kitty litter trip (oh, and having Charles giving me 20 instructions per second overloaded my processing capability – must remember to drink 4 cans of Winged Elixir before letting Charles passenger me again!)
The ride with Martin in the M400. Stunned silence. What else can I say?
The 2 laps with Phil before it needed new pads. Amazing the difference between Phil and Martin. Phil seemed to be fighting with the car permanently, but Martin seemed as though he was out for a Sunday drive. I noticed also the different techniques – Phil hard into the corner, stamp on the brakes (so that’s what 1.4G feels like!), let off and then take it round. Martin was much more progressive in, and seemed to carry more speed into the corner, using different lines to Phil (much earlier turn in – well I say much, I talking the odd foot or so) and using the power to bring the car out.
Interestingly that Phil I think had the more effective technique for the Chicane and the 90 degree turn after the dip, but Martin was much more effective on the long sweeping series of lefts – Phil almost seemed to take them as a series of small, direct, straight lines, whereas Martin took it in one constant radius sweep – almost perfecting a perfect Bezier curve.
So, winding up, it was a great day and amazing to see so many people having so much fun. I also think it “worked” as there was no need to “prove” to anyone that their M12 was faster than someone else’s 996TT or similar, and hence the respect shown on the track (particularly to the three people I passed when out in Lee’s M400 mule) was impeccable and made the whole thing feel safe.
The final icing on the cake for me was upon finding the “Skyline” bar locked up at the end of the day a few of us popped off to the Pub with the factory people and reflected on the day’s activities. Amazing really – there you are, having razzed around all day in a serious bit of kit, and you end up in the pub discussing life and the universe with the guys that design and build it!
Too many people to thank but I’ll have a go.
Lee – for being himself, and being so honest about my car and giving me a ride in your M400 mule – an experience that still, looking back here over 24 hours after the event, is still shaking my head in disbelief. Sir – I salute you, and look forward to sampling your products for as long as you deem to keep selling to me.
Stuart – thank you for being so kind, for handing me the keys to the M12 without a care in the world, for insisting that you would keep it fueled, and for chatting away to me for hours on end it seemed (sorry!)
Simon – for clearing out all the nearside kitty litter for me. Sorry!
Richard – for allowing me to dump you into the kitty litter, and still smile at the end of the day. Also, sorry for not adding 1+2 and making 3! (Sorry!)
Andrew – for making a boring trip back down in the X5 a delight with your conversation and you are welcome to “tea”
Charles – for convincing Martin to turn up – and making me laugh so much in the car I lost it – excellent fun!
Danny – for providing the best talking point (we are going to lunch out on that for years!)
Phil – for not lynching me and yep – you can drive
That's a lot of sorrys in there!
And to everyone else – thank you for just being so friendly!
I certainly proved yesterday that there are two reasons a car doesn’t go where it should, one is mechanical failure, and the other is the driver. I’m off to try and find lots of mechanical failures – because I’m sure it can’t *possibly* be my driving – can it?
Video at
High Quality (75Mbytes)
www.lotus-elise.org.uk/noble/Movies/Rockingham2003/Noble%20Rockingham%20Trackday%20Best.mpg
[Right click and save to disk - you will not be able to stream unless you have > 3Mbps connection]
Medium Quality (9Mbytes)
www.lotus-elise.org.uk/noble/Movies/Rockingham2003/Noble%20Rockingham%20Trackday%20384kbps.wmv
J
“Hey baby wake up, come and get me”
“Hey baby wake up, come and get me”
“Eh? Eh? Ah? Bloody Chicken – where are you – shut up”
Hitting the chicken alarm clock from my slumber I saw the clock on the video. 5:40am. What? What’s going on? Oh, yes, I remember, Rockingham…….
Having on Wednesday not got to bed until 3:00am and up at 7:00am despite getting in the full 8 hours in on Thursday night it was an unwelcome arising from my slumber on Friday morning.
But, soon the brain had kicked into gear and it was all clear. Rockingham Speedway National Circuit. 20+ Nobles. Lots of people to meet.
A quick shower and the obligatory can of Red Bull I collected together my things (driving license, map, video camcorder, helmet..... anything else...... oh yes, two fleeces as it was October) and wandered outside to start my journey northwards.
Another can of the winged enhancement beverage (I'm sure Lee would prefer the warm brown stuff, me, too many years of abusing the body until 4:00am in some dodgy club jabbering on with workmates about who's car is the preverbal dangly bits, with a requirement to be in work and "functional" by 8:00am, have given me a particular taste for the Red stuff), plum in the address into the Sat Nav and off we go.
The first command from "heir who should be obeyed" was "please proceed to the planned route" - what does that mean you silly bint? I thought you were planning the route! Of course what she actually means is "get your car onto some black stuff that I know about and I'll work it out from there", but does she say that, no, she just keeps on jabbering away telling me that I'm lost, and that she, the superior being, needs to be obeyed.
If it wasn't just before 6:00am I would have turned the silly moo off, but at that time a reminder that you are meant to "turn left at the next junction" is a welcome interaction until the brain starts to get fully engaged. I've often wondered why humans don't have manuals that say "no more than 3 commands per minute until the temperature is up to operating levels" just like cars do. But then ours is not to reason why things are as they are.
The journey up was pretty uneventful apart from I had forgotten my Road Angel (obviously I exceed my 3 commands per minute limit - wonder if I can claim on the warranty?) so I just stuck to the speed limit – taking in the slowly lightening vistas along the way. Seeing sunrise I think really sets you up for the day, and with the current Autumn colours in the trees, it really is a sight to behold.
As I came into Corby after leaving the M11 the sun was starting to come up and the colours of the leaves on the trees were lovely. Apparently it's something to do with lots of sugar being formed because of the weather that we have - wonder if they would make good tea (leaves) then???? (I’d proffer Lee likes “Northern Tea” – or is it PG???)
Still, now the sun was coming up I could see that it was going to be a glorious day. Excellent news, I didn't really want to be playing on a wet, unfamiliar track.
The directions to the track were excellent - well signed. "Heir Madame Sat Nav" didn't want to follow the signs (they so rarely do) so I pressed on and kept to the checkered flag signs to the hallowed ground of Rockingham Thunder (or so it was named on their website).
Upon turning into Mitchell Road I thought I was in the wrong place. A bloody great big power substation was on our left with six 45KV 3-phase supplies going into it. The whole place looked like a big industrial estate - a strange place to build a speedway was the first reaction, and hardly "welcoming".
Still once I got up to the hut the little man gave me a prepared set of instructions to the “Skyline” area for the briefing. A quick whiz around the entry roads and I was parked up.
Getting out of the car and making my way up staircase six I bumped into Lee chatting animatedly to Danny about his car. Danny confessed to me the day before about his roundabout moment – suffice to say by the end of the day Danny was doing a sterling job convincing everyone that it involved at least 100mph, a roundabout, a beautiful girl, a granny that is lucky to be alive and 4 broken wheels – but we know the truth hey Danny
Entering into the briefing area, a quick signing of your life away (interestingly with a new disclaimer about inter-driver / passenger 3rd party liability, an interesting topic of discussion on some track day forums), and it was a quick head over to the bacon butties and the dark black wet stuff (sorry Lee – Tea is for the afternoon, about half past 4, just before Gin and Tonic hour).
Bumping into people I started to have the “JF nightmare” – whilst you ask me the IP address of our original DNS server from 7 years ago I can recount it off the top of my head as if it was yesterday, actually remembering names of people that obviously knew me is a bloody nightmare, so a lot of parry and deflect the question was used until that vital bit of information was received that enabled me to link the person to some event.
Unfortunately whilst I seemed to get away with it for most of the day, the final realisation that “Richard” was “Richard Jones” of the factory who I had had many a conversation with didn’t happen until the pub drink right at the end, and stupidly I went “ah – your Richard Jones” to which I got the reply “yes, and you threw me into the kitty litter”. This means that I obviously need to either work out how to remember peoples names, or just work out a more bullet proof parry strategy!
The briefing was usual stuff; however the lack of blue (overtaking) flag was an interesting decision. At this point Phil Bennett was introduced, at which point a few sarcastic comments stated to be bandied around about his driving ability. Always a good sign – especially if you are looking for pointers and indicators about how to up your own driving ability.
Looking around the circuit it is a positively huge place. I’d never been before, but you can imagine that on a “full” race day it must be an amazing spectacle, but I do wonder about how exciting oval racing can be – I mean it’s just high speed and keep it off the concrete barrier – how exciting can that be? Perhaps I’d better come along to one to check it out.
So, off it was to the paddock area.
The first thing was a few familiarization laps playing “follow the leader”. So – off I went for a quick hoon around. After a lap or so I could work out there would be three interesting areas. Firstly the chicane, on each side it has adverse camber, but there did seem to be a flat area through the middle – but setting the car up for the next right would be interesting. Secondly the braking area coming down the hill to the 90 degree right – you could easily outbrake yourself there (more of that later), and thirdly the final lefthander before the hairpin onto the start/finish straight – seemed to be an ideal “drifting” area, but would require the right combination of entry speed, gearing and throttle.
After a few more laps at about 2/3rds speed, we came in and started milling around.
Onto the day’s festivities. Remembering to disarm the tracker, I twisted the ignition key and that familiar burble started behind me. Mmmmmmm.
All briefed up I took the car out for a few laps to get used to the car. I’d forgotten how much the car impresses even on the first lap, but ever mindful of the fact that this was a factory car I built up slowly. I got caught out by the 2nd to 3rd change on the first stretch, it’s funny how little time away lets your brain go into “normal mode”, however, the whole circuit was a 3rd & 4th gear circuit (compare that with my later M400 experience), and I quickly got the brain working in “Noble mode”.
It just really goes to show that this car isn’t “wrong”, it’s just different. Some people may complain about the setup, and some like me love it, but it’s that old story of not everyone is the same, and it seems, you can’t please 100% of the people (and some are never satisfied as we now know…..)
As expected the chicane was very tricky. However, the approach of fast in, onto the brakes as you hit the central apex, and then a quick snip down of the gearbox into 3rd was the correct way to get the car setup.
Out of the right hander you were quickly into 80-90mph. A quick lift to get the weight onto the front before the two sweeping right handers was needed to get the car settled, but then it was pretty much either full to ¾ throttle through those two. The only limit really was the tyre grip / suspension setup at this point, and so you could drift the car if you wanted to completely on the throttle cable – lovvvveellly.
Coming out of that section it was a dive downhill into the 90 degree right. This was, for me, one of the hardest bits to get right. The car really starts to get to work, and this is where a small part of brain fade will quickly catch you out. It “eggs” you on to keep 4th planted, but then if you start to brake after the 100 board you really are into trouble. Confidence building I started to master it but never really felt happy there – more practice would be needed really. More about this section later…..
Once round that 90 degree bend, there was then a lovely blast up the hill into another 90 right then a long long set of lefts. This for me was one of the nicest parts of the circuit, and really showed why the Noble is ahead of most other things.
Once out of the hill and around the right-hander, you then do a quick dab of the brakes to set you up for the first of what is really three lefts that slowly open up. Here the car really starts to work, loading up the offside suspension the car starts to really punish the tyres, the net effect that you can feel the “zudder” as everything starts to get to its physical limits. However, unlike a few other marques that I could mention, the Noble doesn’t let you get over the limit without serious warning. The sublime communication of the chassis and the ability to correct so easily with the steering allows you too smoothly, and without drama, sort everything out. The G’s being generated were huge, with the fuel gauge going from ¾ full to around ¼ full around this stage of the circuit. No wonder the “¼ full at all times” recommendation from the factory about fuel on track – ignore it at your peril!
The last corner was my favorite, and one that myself and Phil Bennet seemed to enjoy. Get it right (very very late turn in point – look for the “X” on the ground and go about 5 foot beyond it in my opinion) and you fly into the corner and can drift the whole thing “scream mode” in pure control onto the straight before the hairpin (sorry factory – I promise I only did it a little bit but people were smiling whilst being passenger – so it sort of “egged” me on – hope I didn’t take too much rubber of the tyres….)
Get it wrong though and you’ll not get anywhere near the limit of the tyres.
The last hairpin was “spinners” corner. I managed to keep out of that club (but am a full paid up member of the Cat Sanitary Products League) but you can see why – the temptation is to turn in too hard and try and get away from the “paddock in” tarmac – I’d worked out that if you aim for the paddock, and then sort it out later it flows much better (and that was what the pros were doing – so it must be right!)
Few more laps and I was ready for some passengers. I did four runs back to back and everyone seemed to enjoy it. One word of warning though, when Lee gets up your rear in his test mule, do NOT look at him. I saw him coming hard up on me into the downhill section and then 90 degree right hander, missed the 100 board because of it, and just couldn’t stop in time. The weight transfer onto the front is terrible if you overcook it at this section of the track, making the rear very very light.
Couple that with not enough brains on the issue, and forgetting cadence braking to keep it close to it’s lockup point, and I did the obvious “oppsss, arrgh, turn, oppps, oversteer, correct, bugger, spin” – right in front of Stuart Jones (Director of Noble) in with Lee Noble. So guys – I’m a member of the “buzzed by Lee” club, and later I found out he had decided I was going to spin and hence aimed for where I “wouldn’t be” (but would have been had I made the corner) – just shows that his racing days magic is still with the man.
With a few more runs it was getting close to lunch, so I gave the car back to the Noble guys and let them have some fun and take out prospective customers, and after about 20+ laps I was getting a bit knackered – how the pros go all day god only knows!
Lunch came and went good food, and even greater conversation.
In the afternoon I was very honored to have Lee pass me the keys to his “M400”. This is one special special car that will have, I am sure, even more converts to the marque.
Now, a word in everyone’s ear. This is a development car, so don’t get too excited about it, as nothing is finalised, and there is no idea what the price will be, but Noble brought it along so they could test it throughout the day (and it never missed a beat), and also so their existing customers could have a play and see where Noble as a business are going. Well – hats off to them, it’s not often you get to see a development car, never mind be given the keys and told to “go play”
A bit of background I suppose. From an owners perspective, over the last year there has been standing arguments about the ability of the Noble compared to cars like the 996TTX50, 360CS and others. You’ve probably read the Autocar performance car shootout, and seen where the Noble came in some of the other tests. Lately it’s been slowly having chunks taken out of it’s standing compared with the 1 to 2 years ago where it was consistently voted “top of the pile”. Second against the 996TTX50 in the Autocar A-2-B test is an amazing achievement, but can Noble get the crown again?
So – what have the factory been doing lately. They did the 3 and 3R last year, the GTC just needs a roof (a tricky job if it’s going to be up to the normal Lee engineering standards for practicality and pure engineering genius), but has that been stretching Lee’s brain cells enough?
So, has Lee been sitting around, no sir, he has not. What I was given the keys to was Lee’s own little toy. Sure it’s battle weary, with duck tape (best paint match apparently) holding together bits of the rear clam where a certain person (who will remain nameless, but we all know :laugh overcooked it at that country road blast in Germany and obviously run out of “pixie dust” that he usually can throw over the oversteer monster to tame it.
Still – as Lee said, it’s still got one nice side profile that you can photo, and why bother fixing that until something else gets dinged. Also, you can tell this has had 10,000+ track miles put on it, the sills, bottom of the door and wheel arches are covered in stone chips, well I say chips, more like angle iron marks (if you get the drift).
So, back to the story, instead of sitting around, Lee is now in “tweak” mode. Let me explain.
Apparently all you do to improve things now is tweak. The engineering hurdles that have to be jumped to get a sorted car have not only been jumped, but the 2000 Guinea prize has been collected and banked. So, if you aren’t competing in the National Hunt, what do you do? Tweak apparently, and tweak, and tweak, and tweak………
So, what’s so special?
Well – these “tweaks” are the basis of the “track day kit”. Soon to be available via your local friendly dealer (and given the fix this car gives you, it will surely be the local drug dealer rather than Mole Valley or similar), and if all goes well, in time for Christmas the spec reads something like:
Engine
Running 420 dynoed BHP.
440 is where it started, but it’s been wound back down to 420 is it current setup to check out reliability. The upgrade is “trick cam” and more changes (turbos will need to be changed to another type).
One thing though – running an engine in this land is for the serious fix junky, and just like the little white powder variety, that all encompassing warranties will not be available given the large power hike.
For the less addicted members of our clan, a 380ish upgrade was being mooted, available for existing 3l owners as a “re-map and tweak”. This one will be less painful to the wallet and is for the more “sensible” owners amongst us – a sort of Vodka shots night that may result in the odd hangover, rather than complete and utter paralysis after too many visits to the big white telephone to the Maker United variety.
Spring / Dampers
New system all around. Others had a closer look, me – I just implicitly trust Lee’s tweak’o’matic decisions
Geometry
Changed (Again not sure of the details – but who cares if it does what it does)
Tyres
Pirelli sticky things that are so sticky they stick more than a very sticky thing
So, what was it like?
Starting it up the engine immediately sounds different from inside. There is something in there, perhaps Ryu-wo himself has been finally captured and pushed into the bottom crank, snoring away until the right pedal links into his umbilical cord entry point and gives you a direct link to the inner depths of his castle, but bringing with him that mythical nobility and wisdom that the Chinese have revered for centuries.
Finding reverse in the 6 speed box is interesting. First you wonder where the hell it is, but Lee has kindly had the pattern scratched into the shiny wiggle stick in the middle of the car, so a quick read and we think we know.
Remember K series gearboxes? Remember that trick with the clutch? Well – I’m not sure if it’s similar, but there is a knack to getting it in. But then remember this is 4 “up” gates you have, and even our “9 hours from LA friends” with their S2000, (which I presume stands for the number of engineers working all day every day on the project) cannot overcome that fundamental issue about left right waggle and up down movement being transversed via a series of routes that require telepathic connection to the senses. Couple that with the same time pacifying the world that has become used to slushy, wiggly, boxes from our Germanic and American friends who put a missed gear change down to “driver error” rather than “design error”, and Lee’s compromise seems to work fine. Yes reverse is hard to find, but then, how many time do you actually want to go into reverse?
I am convinced, so good is the other 6 positions, that any compromise to find reverse easier would impinge on the forward direction selection.
Did I mention telepathic, after slipping out of reverse and finding first (opps, further left than my 5 speed – more brain reprogramming needed – wonder how many operations per minute I am up to know???), I wander forward.
Strange, don’t remember the clutch being that nice on any car, and what’s this, a snick into second and it just “did it” (bit like the Nike advert, but without the bouncing feet). The change from 2nd to 3rd is more “normal” (but may I dare say, probably slightly slower than my 2.5 the way I use it – sorry Lee!), but from there its “playtown”.
And what the hell is that behind me? It’s Ryu-wo and at least 3 of his mates. My god the punch is hard, and as for the noise, think 355 mixed down 3 octaves and you’ll close (imagine the smurfs are a 355, and then speak normally).
Ohhhh – Daddy – I want one!
Ratios – stunning. Remember above I said that it was a 3rd & 4th with the 5 speed – well it’s a 3rd, 4th and 5th in this car with the corresponding warping of the sensory expectations that playing with 3 ratios, with 3rd and 5th being used probably 4 or 5 times around the track that you can see why this car was so devastatingly quick.
Turn in – oh my god! 2 years of development and this is just unreal. Now, my original 2.5 car is something special, and for the “road warrior” (remember there are some people who don’t want to razz around every track in the UK) that fancies the odd bit of circuit work you would never ever get near it’s limits on the road, and if you do then you probably will overcook it!
In that sense, is this development car a step too far for the road? Certainly the sticky sticky black stuff will wear at 4 times the rate of the SO3’s – so that’s 2000 miles per set, and in the wet I’d imagine they are as bad as an Elise MK1 on P0’s – a bloody nightmare that was only ever sorted out by SO2’s or Yoko Advan’s. I’ve yet to try Lee’s creation on the road (hint hint Lee!) but I’m not sure if it would be a step to far – but hey, I am sure I could get used to it. Cars that eventually get speced up to this level will positively annihilate anything on a twisty A or B road – I just can’t see how anything that jumps this far ahead on the track will have any competition on the road.
So, for, say, a 65-75k ish budget (NOTE!!!! pure guess on the cost of these tweaks – I have no idea, and probably just hoping that’ll be what the cost…… I don’t want Lee telling me off for setting his retail price!), you could get a spare set of wheels & tyres (make it two sets, one wet, one dry), tweak your 3l into this monster, find a friendly tyre change person, and have something that will demolish, and I mean demolish, anything out there.
“This is the Daddy” would turn into “………………………”
Stunned silence was all most people could get out of me after my laps for the first 5 minutes or so, with the odd mutter of “f*** me, f*** me”.
Here’s a lap based on my observations
Format of:
Track Point
2.5l comments
Lee “Tweak” comments
1st Corner
Hint of oversteer, lacking power out of corner, easily not need all of track
Catapult out of corner (LSD certainly doing its trick), serious kick in back from first application of throttle in corner
Chicane
4th gear, getting to max revs, brake in middle, unsettled for right turn, never finding right combination between gears and engine power
5th gear (once I was brave!) 10mph faster in at least, quick snip into 4th with dab of brakes, hard on after that, let car take you into corner, 10-15mph+ over 2.5l exit speed
Two right handers
Need to lift to get chassis sorted, never totally comfortable with full throttle.
Minor lift, full throttle, minor lift, full throttle
Dip & 90 degree
Easy to outbrake, easy to slide, bog down due to losing turbo spin
10 feet at least later braking, turn in amazing, rear refuses to let go, LSD working overtime on route out to keep everything together.
Up hill and right
Interestingly I found this better in the 2.5 into this corner. The turbo was singing in 3rd and as you reached the brake zone you were just at the right point to let the engine brake for you, and as you entered the right hander the engine was still on song.
In comparison I struggled to find the right gear here (3rd to short, 4th slightly too long) – but this was the only corner like that (down to the long 3rd in the 2.5)
Three lefts
Awesome – everything really fun, exceptionally fast but on "load limit". No words can describe it. Jaw achingly fun.
Never ever wanted to let the rear go, hammered into the last left hander probably 10-15mph more than the 2.5, never felt that the offside of the car was getting near it’s load limit
Hairpin
Needs LSD!
Got LSD – hence not fair to compare….. but boy did it shift out of there!
6 laps later I had the opportunity of having Phil Bennet coming out straight after me in a “normal” 3R going past the start finish. I slowed until he was about 20 feet behind me up to the Chicane and then did a lap on my terms. Interestingly although Bennet was slowly deleting that 20 feet deficit, it wasn’t until the hairpin at the end that I had just had enough (too much detail flowing into the brain from front and rear) and pulled over to let him by.
Whilst on my 6 laps I reeled in three 3L cars and easily passed them, so that coupled with me keeping Phil “in his place” it shows how much the car flatters the driver.
So – do you need this upgrade? Will Santa have only one thing on his list? Well – if you drive on track then
, , , and . There is no comparison. It is a quantum leap ahead, probably +50% in “perception” terms. Would I recommend it for the road? Not on those tyres (just looking at them reminds me of 340R tyres in the wet), and also I’d need to get it out on the road and test it (more hints!!)
What about the “normal” cars. Well, remember that I’ve driven a lot of stuff on a lot of tracks, and enjoy a dynamic car that pushes my ability to increase my envelope. Also, I appreciate and understand the costs involved in tracking cars, and am prepared for significant bills.
This upgrade allows so much more stresses to happen things at the "edge", so just as any trick track day car, things will break if you constantly push it, and I have a feeling Lee won’t be warranting them past the normal “duff manufacture” obligations. To me there is nothing wrong with that - this car is so far up the capability scale, but for such little money, it seems a totally fair compromise.
If you hit a high kerb, at speed when everything is fully loaded up I am sure something somewhere will break. You cannot create a car that goes through a chicane at a clear 10mph faster than a “normal” car without generating significantly greater forces. Remember that in force equations there is a “v-squared” law, and so you cannot keep the dynamics and be able to cope with every force that a track will generate. This is not really any more a “road car that can whizz around a track”, this is a “track setup car”. Take your choice Sir!
However, saying that, Phil and Martin were razzing the 3R and "M400" around all day and nothing broke. In fact, I didn't see any really serious faults during the day, and *that* is dam impressive for what we were doing to these cars. I'm stunned at the reliability of the whole marque, even the little 2.5l that I was razzing around stood up like a man and took the spanking without a single whimper - obviously from the Grammar School of abuse management. It was reassuring to see so much machinery pushed so far with so few casualties - amazing!
Overall – I want the track day upgrade (but then I generally want everything!).
After tasting “M400” I then took the 2.5l out again. What a difference! However, interestingly the play with the “M400” version had shown me some smarter lines, and I got more confident with the 2.5l. Alas, this was my downfall!
Two things happened. 3 laps in with Richard Jones (the Chairman’s son – what have I done to my reputation within the factory????) he was grinning a lot, so I absolutely flew out of the chicane and didn’t really let up through the sweeping right handers. Carrying on down the hill I was a clear 5-10mph faster than the previous laps. BRAIN FADE! Instead of getting onto the brakes *earlier* I got onto them later. End result….. Very very light end, locking of brakes and a “opppsssss…….bugger.....****”.
No drama, just not much point in trying for the corner. Wiggle from back controllable, and so I just kept it straight and narrow and headed for the kitty litter.
I nearly would have got away with it, but hitting the grass it offered just too little grip and I ended up about 3 foot into the kitty litter – the splitter doing a fine job of carving a way through for me.
I nearly got it out, but in the end needed a tow (which was done very effectively - thanks lads!). Back to the paddock and Simon was none to pleased with me, having spent 10 minutes before lunch clearing out the stones when Richard (yes the same one that I had with me) dumped it into the litter.
Bugger me those stones get everywhere! Still, I paid my penance and cleared out one side. Fortunately the splitter had done a fine job of stopping stones causing too much damage at the front, but I have a feeling the Silver paint helped as well to not show it up. I hope it was OK when it got back Simon (goes away and hides)
Sorry again to the factory – but I blame Richard for goading me into it!
Other highlights for me were
Charles (Mr. Mole) giving me instructions and complaining I didn’t use enough of the track. 3rd lap we spun at the 90 degree right hander – but I just wanted to show Charles close up the “wake” of the kitty litter trip (oh, and having Charles giving me 20 instructions per second overloaded my processing capability – must remember to drink 4 cans of Winged Elixir before letting Charles passenger me again!)
The ride with Martin in the M400. Stunned silence. What else can I say?
The 2 laps with Phil before it needed new pads. Amazing the difference between Phil and Martin. Phil seemed to be fighting with the car permanently, but Martin seemed as though he was out for a Sunday drive. I noticed also the different techniques – Phil hard into the corner, stamp on the brakes (so that’s what 1.4G feels like!), let off and then take it round. Martin was much more progressive in, and seemed to carry more speed into the corner, using different lines to Phil (much earlier turn in – well I say much, I talking the odd foot or so) and using the power to bring the car out.
Interestingly that Phil I think had the more effective technique for the Chicane and the 90 degree turn after the dip, but Martin was much more effective on the long sweeping series of lefts – Phil almost seemed to take them as a series of small, direct, straight lines, whereas Martin took it in one constant radius sweep – almost perfecting a perfect Bezier curve.
So, winding up, it was a great day and amazing to see so many people having so much fun. I also think it “worked” as there was no need to “prove” to anyone that their M12 was faster than someone else’s 996TT or similar, and hence the respect shown on the track (particularly to the three people I passed when out in Lee’s M400 mule) was impeccable and made the whole thing feel safe.
The final icing on the cake for me was upon finding the “Skyline” bar locked up at the end of the day a few of us popped off to the Pub with the factory people and reflected on the day’s activities. Amazing really – there you are, having razzed around all day in a serious bit of kit, and you end up in the pub discussing life and the universe with the guys that design and build it!
Too many people to thank but I’ll have a go.
Lee – for being himself, and being so honest about my car and giving me a ride in your M400 mule – an experience that still, looking back here over 24 hours after the event, is still shaking my head in disbelief. Sir – I salute you, and look forward to sampling your products for as long as you deem to keep selling to me.
Stuart – thank you for being so kind, for handing me the keys to the M12 without a care in the world, for insisting that you would keep it fueled, and for chatting away to me for hours on end it seemed (sorry!)
Simon – for clearing out all the nearside kitty litter for me. Sorry!
Richard – for allowing me to dump you into the kitty litter, and still smile at the end of the day. Also, sorry for not adding 1+2 and making 3! (Sorry!)
Andrew – for making a boring trip back down in the X5 a delight with your conversation and you are welcome to “tea”
Charles – for convincing Martin to turn up – and making me laugh so much in the car I lost it – excellent fun!
Danny – for providing the best talking point (we are going to lunch out on that for years!)
Phil – for not lynching me and yep – you can drive
That's a lot of sorrys in there!
And to everyone else – thank you for just being so friendly!
I certainly proved yesterday that there are two reasons a car doesn’t go where it should, one is mechanical failure, and the other is the driver. I’m off to try and find lots of mechanical failures – because I’m sure it can’t *possibly* be my driving – can it?
Video at
High Quality (75Mbytes)
www.lotus-elise.org.uk/noble/Movies/Rockingham2003/Noble%20Rockingham%20Trackday%20Best.mpg
[Right click and save to disk - you will not be able to stream unless you have > 3Mbps connection]
Medium Quality (9Mbytes)
www.lotus-elise.org.uk/noble/Movies/Rockingham2003/Noble%20Rockingham%20Trackday%20384kbps.wmv
J
Great story Justin!
Waiting for the high quality download to finish (your servers are bloody fast!) so thought I'd post.
I felt genuinely excited reading all of that. Mole Valley have told us about some of the 'Noble' days that are organised at various stages of the year. I simply cannot afford to miss the next one.
I think it's great that Noble do a lot of research and development WITH their customers. There is no better source of feedback than from the people who own and drive the cars. It also means that you do not need to see 'spy shots' or read journalist reviews
I'll try and get the parents along to the next one too, so they can gain some of the enthusiasm that I seem to have far too much of
Download's finished
Thanks again for a really interesting read.
All the best - Laurence.
Waiting for the high quality download to finish (your servers are bloody fast!) so thought I'd post.
I felt genuinely excited reading all of that. Mole Valley have told us about some of the 'Noble' days that are organised at various stages of the year. I simply cannot afford to miss the next one.
I think it's great that Noble do a lot of research and development WITH their customers. There is no better source of feedback than from the people who own and drive the cars. It also means that you do not need to see 'spy shots' or read journalist reviews
I'll try and get the parents along to the next one too, so they can gain some of the enthusiasm that I seem to have far too much of
Download's finished
Thanks again for a really interesting read.
All the best - Laurence.
Remember that's a 3.0l engine, not a 2.5! 410bhp is therefore not that stressed.
Hardly any given the 6 speed box enables you to keep it singing above 3000rpm.
Lee did say as part of the developments they would be replacing the turbos, so something might happen to lag, but lag is not something that Nobles really suffer from.
J
Hardly any given the 6 speed box enables you to keep it singing above 3000rpm.
Lee did say as part of the developments they would be replacing the turbos, so something might happen to lag, but lag is not something that Nobles really suffer from.
J
LaurenceFrost said:
I think it's great that Noble do a lot of research and development WITH their customers. There is no better source of feedback than from the people who own and drive the cars.
After Rockingham, Lee Noble came to the pub with a few of us. During the evening he asked us how we thought he could improve the car.
Think that Luca Cordero di Montezemolo while downing a pint with Ferrari owners would ask the same question?
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