Discussion
Test drive GTO3R. Have had three TVRS over the last four years with the Sagaris next on the list.With TVR centre barnet now being NOBLE dealers we booked a test drive with Giles. Not the best conditions but i don't think it made a lot of diffrence.If you have not driven a NOBLE and like me are tuscan, sagaris minded i would strongly advise a test drive. The GTO3R is the slower of the two cars but TVR centre will have the M400 NOBLE 425 bhp mid feb so back for another drive and they will have the SAGAGIS at the end of feb.I cannot put in to words the power and the handling of the NOBLE due to my poor English perhaps someone else can.My main aim is to compair the two before parting with more cash.If you have driven a NOBLE your comments will be well recived. Steve.
Au contraire! I think we should give you a prize for it! "Nobel" not "Noble" that is! 
experience ?
never got this Noble thing. Will freely admit to not having driven one but to me they are just too 'kit car-ish' to look at. I'm amazed they seem to be selling at the prices they charge, the drive can't be that good. OK if you've come from an unfocused sports car like a porsche or a ferrari maybe you could be impressed with the directness or agility of it but surely not from a caterham/elise background. Also I can't agree with people who make 'handling' judgements based on test drives. Responsiveness, ok, ride and body control, sure but handling? I don't think so, no car salesman I've been with recently has ever let me really try out the outer limits of a car's performance and handling on the road. The only place to judge chassis balance and weight distribution is on the track. Where admittedly the noble ought to be impressive (although still nowhere near a caterham I'm willing to bet) but to say it handles brilliantly after a test drive on the roads (esp in winter)doesn't really wash with me.
OK perhaps iused the wrong word.I ment the way the car did not track all the time like the tuscan which made it alot less work to handle.Perhaps if you drove a Tuscan 03 then a Noble then i would like to know. Seeing your London based go take a drive and let me know befor you get your Sagaris.
.. also the magazines like EVO do not rave about their handling for nothing. I'm just not raving about their looks that's all. TVR's are works of art to me, Noble's just look a bit cheap, and kit car like.
I know what you mean about the tuscan tramlining and tracking but you should try a caterham or a nissan skyline they are much worse on the road and besides, loads of cars track better than a tuscan it that's all that matters - including tvr's own tamora (plus t350 so I'm told). Have you tried one of those yet? They are superb.
Not driven a Saggyarse yet, but the chassis dynamics of the Noble are akin to an Elise and as such, IMHO, a prospective TVR owner whose looking for tidy handling, would be well advised to take a look at the Noble.
For a low volume manufacturer the Noble build quality is superb... other manufacturers would be well advised to take a closer inspection. The interior is functional - don't expect to find sections of trees and acres of animal hides, but "kit" it is definitely not!
Appearance?... beauty has as always, been in the eye of the beholder. I can tell you that it is very much a car to turn heads and the ratio, in my experience, is as high as any TVR.
apprentice
For a low volume manufacturer the Noble build quality is superb... other manufacturers would be well advised to take a closer inspection. The interior is functional - don't expect to find sections of trees and acres of animal hides, but "kit" it is definitely not!
Appearance?... beauty has as always, been in the eye of the beholder. I can tell you that it is very much a car to turn heads and the ratio, in my experience, is as high as any TVR.
apprentice
Helllo, went from owning a Tuscan for 3 years to a Noble, ohh my word what a car!!
Don't get me wrong I loved my Tuscan to bits and love TVR, but as far as pure driving experience and speed goes the Noble wins hands down everytime, Drove the MKII Tuscan the other day and have to say the build quality put my Tuscan to shame they have improved massively, but I still will now have a noble everytime!!
Regards
Dave
Don't get me wrong I loved my Tuscan to bits and love TVR, but as far as pure driving experience and speed goes the Noble wins hands down everytime, Drove the MKII Tuscan the other day and have to say the build quality put my Tuscan to shame they have improved massively, but I still will now have a noble everytime!!
Regards
Dave
supergrass said:
OK perhaps iused the wrong word.I ment the way the car did not track all the time like the tuscan which made it alot less work to handle.
You should probably take a look at the thread on handling I've posted in the Tuscan forum...
The handling & balance on my Tusc is now within spitting distance of the Elise...
J_S_G said:Pah! Drive a properly set up Elise again to refresh your memory. I don't see how it possibly can given the huge weight difference and completely different weight distribution... Not knocking your Tuscan - I'm sure it's vastly improved (my Cerbie was after lots of Joospeed fettling), but they're not really comparable.
The handling & balance on my Tusc is now within spitting distance of the Elise...
dannylt said:
but they're not really comparable.
That's why I said "spitting distance". As in, round a track (dependent upon the type of circuit) on a single lap, I could probably just about spit the distance the Elise would be in the lead by.
OK, so that's not quite how literally I meant it... but for fast road driving it is that close for me - there's only so hard I'll push any car on a corner at 100+, and I wouldn't take the Elise any further than I do the Tusc. And at lower speeds, the greater ability to steer round bends with the right foot in the Tusc makes up for a lot, too. Personally, I never really got on with the Elise's characteristics when really going for it - it wasn't a car that suited me (or, rather, I wasn't a driver that suited the car!)
Gassing Station | General TVR Stuff & Gossip | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff