What is happening at Noble?

[ryallm]

I am a bit of an interloper on this forum being an Exige owner myself, but as a general enthusiast of British sports cars I am curious to know what on earth is going on at Noble. I would hate to see them go the same way as TVR. Their website just says they are continuing work on the M15, but no release date is given. How do they carry on financially with no new cars being sold? What are the realistic chances of Noble cars ever being produced again? Is the M15, or whatever the new model will be called, still going to be aimed at the £75k area of the market, or pitched more in £50k territory like the M12? Personally I think Noble would be very brave to take on the 911 and Audi R8 head on on price.

Apologies if all the above has already been done to death in earlier threads, but I really am curious.

Mark

[AMG Merc]

Hi Mark, yes, all done to death but you're not to know that. Regarding your questions, we are let to believe that...

Noble have a rich American investor who wants things right and will wait indefinately until they are so before lauching the new model.

Noble/s WILL be produced again.

The next model (I call it MXX) will be aimed at the £75-80K, and not the M12 brigade.

Noble brave? Well, they think they are. Hopefully we'll all see one day!

[ryallm]

Well that sounds promising, thanks for the info. With any luck that means there should be 2 new British mid engined supercars to look forward to in the next couple of years, the other being the Lotus Esprit. The latter is rumoured to have a BMW V8, posssible even the V10 from the M5 - any idea what engine Noble have got lined up for the M15?

Mark

[2priestsferrari]

ryallm said:

Well that sounds promising...

next couple of years...

any idea what engine Noble have got lined up for the M15?

Mark

Has done for years

I think you have the timescale about right

I don't even think they know

[Timbo_Mint]

2priestsferrari said:

any idea what engine Noble have got lined up for the M15?

I hear it's a V8 Volvo (ford)engine

[joust]

From Autocar

"Noble is doubling it's efforts to complete the M15..... well placed sources have told Autocar that Noble has plans for a more extreme car, combining carbonfibre construction and a lightweight V8, with a sub-1000 kg kerbweight."

J

[2priestsferrari]

Timbo_Mint said:

2priestsferrari said:

any idea what engine Noble have got lined up for the M15?

I hear it's a V8 Volvo (ford)engine

No the odds are that it will be that V8 bike engine (i.e two 4-cyl bike engines mated on a single crank) that was hawked around some time ago I think under the brand RST.

Mountune tried to help bring it to production 2 years ago but it all ended bitterly, then I think the Caparo was going to use it and then binned it..

Any other big banger that is commercially available is just going to be too heavy. Remember the V8 race engines in LMP cars only last around 3000kms before rebuilds, and a P2 car is around 700kgs and a P1 car around 900kgs - and I'd like to see anyone live with one of those engines for more than a day!

[Dakkon]

2priestsferrari said:

Timbo_Mint said:

2priestsferrari said:

any idea what engine Noble have got lined up for the M15?

I hear it's a V8 Volvo (ford)engine

No the odds are that it will be that V8 bike engine (i.e two 4-cyl bike engines mated on a single crank) that was hawked around some time ago I think under the brand RST.

Mountune tried to help bring it to production 2 years ago but it all ended bitterly, then I think the Caparo was going to use it and then binned it..

Any other big banger that is commercially available is just going to be too heavy. Remember the V8 race engines in LMP cars only last around 3000kms before rebuilds, and a P2 car is around 700kgs and a P1 car around 900kgs - and I'd like to see anyone live with one of those engines for more than a day!

Are you sure about this? Radical use their own version of a V8 bike engine and it needs rebuilds fairly regularly.

[3rtt]

2priestsferrari said:

Timbo_Mint said:

2priestsferrari said:

any idea what engine Noble have got lined up for the M15?

I hear it's a V8 Volvo (ford)engine

No the odds are that it will be that V8 bike engine (i.e two 4-cyl bike engines mated on a single crank) that was hawked around some time ago I think under the brand RST.

Mountune tried to help bring it to production 2 years ago but it all ended bitterly, then I think the Caparo was going to use it and then binned it..

Any other big banger that is commercially available is just going to be too heavy. Remember the V8 race engines in LMP cars only last around 3000kms before rebuilds, and a P2 car is around 700kgs and a P1 car around 900kgs - and I'd like to see anyone live with one of those engines for more than a day!

Sorry, but who is this muppet? He knows Bog All.....

Cheers,
Ian.

[yak293]

Timbo_Mint said:

2priestsferrari said:

any idea what engine Noble have got lined up for the M15?

I hear it's a V8 Volvo (ford)engine

[2priestsferrari]

3rtt said:

2priestsferrari said:

Timbo_Mint said:

2priestsferrari said:

any idea what engine Noble have got lined up for the M15?

I hear it's a V8 Volvo (ford)engine

No the odds are that it will be that V8 bike engine (i.e two 4-cyl bike engines mated on a single crank) that was hawked around some time ago I think under the brand RST.

Mountune tried to help bring it to production 2 years ago but it all ended bitterly, then I think the Caparo was going to use it and then binned it..

Any other big banger that is commercially available is just going to be too heavy. Remember the V8 race engines in LMP cars only last around 3000kms before rebuilds, and a P2 car is around 700kgs and a P1 car around 900kgs - and I'd like to see anyone live with one of those engines for more than a day!

Sorry, but who is this muppet? He knows Bog All.....

Cheers,
Ian.

Who are you to say I know "bog all.." There seem to be very many people who claim everyone else knows nothing then have nothing to say themselves OR claim that they are sworn to secrecy etc, etc, blah, blah.

I didn't say that the RST motor was a certainty and neither did I suggest it was a positive thing. However in terms of a sub-1000kg car then it is highly unlikely that the usual commercially available Ford/GM motors would do the job given their weight.

As for the history of the RST V8 bike motor - I think you will find that completely correct.

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

The V8 Volvo engine isn't really a Ford engine.

[gizard]

ThatPhilBrettGuy said:

The V8 Volvo engine isn't really a Ford engine.

I believe it has been co developed with Yamaha and is a 60 degree V8 - which seems an odd choice for a supercar? in std trim it's only got 315 BHP - so if this is the engine Noble are going to use it's going to need a lot of fetteling...

[goodlife]

They'd better strike the engine deal PDQ, if the rumour mill is anything to go by then Volvo won't be owned by Ford much longer...

[AMG Merc]

3rtt said:

Sorry, but who is this muppet? He knows Bog All.....

Cheers,
Ian.

Here we go again - another unnecessarily harsh retort likely only to antagonise and tarnish our previously good name!

[humpy]

As a comparison - if Ultima can dump a Chevy V8 lump into a car and get sub 1,000 kilos then surely Noble can do so, especially with the carbon fibre equation applied..?

[joust]

Ian,

Mr Ferrari indeed knows bog all, but still continues to post his rubbish.

Still, it's an open forum. Such is life.

J

[2priestsferrari]

And again you come to the table with nothing to say.

So on what basis are you making the comments this time? The history of the RST motor is as I say and I am entitled to suggest that this type of motor might be used as you are entitled to say it won't be - difference is I don't slag you off in the process.

Why don't you get off your high horse? OK so you have owned a few Nobles in your time but does that make you the Queen of all things car related?

Go and do some research on the RST motor and then come back and tell your peers what you have learnt..

Re: Ultima/1000kg car Chevy V8 - Maybe that is a point although I had an expectation (rightly or wrongly) that the new Noble was going to a fully trimmed road car rather than a stripped racer?

[egomeister]

2priestsferrari said:

Re: Ultima/1000kg car Chevy V8 - Maybe that is a point although I had an expectation (rightly or wrongly) that the new Noble was going to a fully trimmed road car rather than a stripped racer?

Don't you go saying that on the Ultima forum! It's a road car not a race car!

[joust]

I have more to say than you do bozo. Still, if you think it's going to be a RST, who am I to tell you different, as clearly you have the inside track.