Noble on Fifth Gear

[micknall]

If FG's schedules don't change, the Noble M400 will feature on Bank Holiday Monday (May 2nd) at 8.30am.

Simon Hucknall
Press Officer
Noble Automotive Ltd.

[alex s]

Simon, who is going to be driving it on 5th gear??

[gemini]

Make sure whoever it is doesnt pull off knobs!

[LaurenceFrost]

Someone posted this on the lancer register because it's up against the new Evo FQ-400!

2 CRACKING cars in one show!

This answers your question about who's driving:

-----------------------------
MOTORING: Fifth Gear
Channel: five 105
Date: Monday 2nd May 2005
Time: 20:30 to 21:00
Duration: 30 minutes.
Motoring magazine. Tiff Needell teams up with supermodel Jodie Kidd to race a Maserati at the Monza grand prix circuit in Italy. Vicki Butler-Henderson pits two rich man's track cars against each other: the Noble M400 and the Mitsubishi Evo FQ400. Tom Ford tests the chic new Peugeot 1007 which comes with innovative sliding doors, and Jon Bentley debunks some common myths about diesels.

[AMG Merc]

Just got this reminder from MV...

"Rumour has it that the M400 will be driven by Vicki Butler-Henderson on Fifth Gear, either next monday or the monday afterwards."

Now then if she's on track she'll be wearing those wide, body-hugging, tight-fitting racing harnesses gripped tightly to her upper torso to keep her snugly pressed into that Sparco seat - anyone NOT getting my drift?!

(or not as the case will be! LOL)

[lucozade]

micknall said:

If FG's schedules don't change, the Noble M400 will feature on Bank Holiday Monday (May 2nd) at 8.30am. Simon Hucknall Press Officer Noble Automotive Ltd.

Simon,

Don't you mean pm ?

>> Edited by lucozade on Sunday 1st May 22:47

[washy]

Should be interesting...

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

What was the time again (somehow missed that, 48ish I thought)?

[robp]

49.5 secs - Brundle took it round in 48.8; so she didn't do too bad!

[chillidog]

robp said:

49.5 secs - Brundle took it round in 48.8; so she didn't do too bad!

... and she was 2.49s quicer than the Evo

[silversix]

To be fair, I've done Anglesey in an EVO (albeit a 6), and it isn't exactly suited (understeered like a pig). Might have been fairer somewhere bigger like Donnington, although I know that the M400 would be quicker there too. At least It's confirmed that I bought the right car.

Adrian

[joust]

silversix said:

To be fair, I've done Anglesey in an EVO (albeit a 6), and it isn't exactly suited (understeered like a pig). Might have been fairer somewhere bigger like Donnington, although I know that the M400 would be quicker there too. At least It's confirmed that I bought the right car. Adrian

EVOs are some of the most overrated cars IMHO.

I often follow them around tracks, waiting for them to realise that they aren't going to be faster than me, even in the wet, and all that "trick" electronics just make them take a corner as a series of short, straight lines.

The whole car looks very unsettled and really scrubs off speed as the engine bogs down with the diffs going mad and the EMU sapping power.

Sitting behind them, going "la di dah di dah" in the M400 (and previously M12) is quite amusing because they just look so unsettled and it's quite obvious that the computer is doing all the work and is fighting against the driver's steering inputs.

TBFH I much prefer sitting behind a bog standard 112bhp Elise - well driven it's much faster and it looks so much more composed....

I'm sure an EVO in the god like hands of someone pro is a sight to behold, but in Vikki's own words... "there is nothing to beat a well sorted car that can handle"

J

[joust]

Not often I gloat, but you just have to love this stuff....

Some chav on the lancer register said:

mate i def agree with u bud coz the m400 is a race car and we know in our heart if that fecking of an evo had some good spool up and was fully spooled up by 3500 revs it would have ripped the hell out of that m400 plus it doesnt even have race suspension not even a cheapie adjustable one i swear bud like u saw stuarts evo, sams graphs and mark sheads cars, fecking have bigger turbos and still spool up faster, mark lows low comp pistons as we know even with them his cars do brill just hurting mate thats all, they should have given the fq400's to someone who has been tuning evos for donks and who know everything about them never mind that, talk to mark when my spec was 610 bhp it had quicker spool up than alot of standard cars and that turbo was alot bigger than this fq400 one im sure if we can do it so could have they not just the turbo, im sure the turbo is good enuff, is the manifold good enuff and the pipework, put it this way the same manifold in roscos old spec lost him power, not gain any and they stick a bigger turbo in it

www.lancerregister.com/showthread.php?s=3d39008a0a3f87c5176cf43f78739d37&threadid=76708&pagenumber=3

it hurts, it hurts!!!

[silversix]

J

an EVO can make a moderate driver (me) fast round a track. An M400 can make a moderate driver (me) very fast round a track. An M400 can make a good driver pretty much God like round a track. The EVO is a saloon car made to go fast, and does pretty well. The M400 is a "proper" sports car. That is why I bought one, and not an FQ340 or 400.

[silversix]

J

just read the Lancer register stuff. I'm kind of glad that I sold mine three years ago now. How anybody expects a car with slightly less power, and a lot more weight to be faster defies me.

[joust]

Adrian,

Don't get me wrong, it's a great car for what it is, I just don't understand EVO owners who don't share your view that for it to be just 2 seconds slower than an M400 is "pretty dam good".

The posting above from the lancer register is pure class!

Some people seem to think that they can make a 4 door road legal production car behave the same way that a car 3/4s of the weight and 2/3rds of the height can....

I love the dyno plot he's posted.

His "super car"


A MBE 2.5l M12


Obvious it was going to loose me thinks...

J

[joust]

silversix said:

J just read the Lancer register stuff. I'm kind of glad that I sold mine three years ago now. How anybody expects a car with slightly less power, and a lot more weight to be faster defies me.

I know. Class stuff isn't it!

Of course they don't realise that driving around with a cup of tea in one hand and a fag in the other is the *true* way to get a fast car

J

[silversix]

J

off boost performance????????? might be a bit "peaky". The only way to get an EVO really quick, is to strip it (grp N) sort the suspension, rip all the computer gubins out, and build a proper engine with ALS etc etc. i thougt about this, but it gets very expensive, and you still end up with a saloon car....

[Matt_FP]

Another chav on the lancer register said:

for 47k at least give it some race suspension and struts and stuff

What! Rather than a brilliant and perfect double unequal length wishbone setup they want struts?

The mind boggles.

Matt

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

joust said:

EVOs are some of the most overrated cars IMHO. ... The whole car looks very unsettled and really scrubs off speed as the engine bogs down with the diffs going mad and the EMU sapping power.

Well, having had an EVO6 for 4 years before the 3R I can give some first hand observations :-

My EVO NEVER handled like that. It wasn't difficult to run smoothly around corners in classic sweeping lines. The electronics didn't feel too intrusive either.

It really wasn't laggy at all. Looks like the extra 80BHP that one had over mine was achieved at some cost.

To be honest it looks like the FQ400 is all mucked up.

The EVO 6 knew where it was in my book. 4 seats (and I've had 5 people in it without problems) and a really big boot. Iffy road conditions never fazed it. A truly great, practical, ROAD car. I could never understand why mags always touted it as a track day machine.

I really cringe when I see the Lancer Register now. When I first got my 6, people on there used capitals, full words, punctuation the lot!

Lastly, overrated? Well @ £28K new with the performance it had + being a truely practical everyday car I don't think so. But I'm talking about the EVO 6 obviously. The FQ400 does look a bit like it's lost it's way.

Next week I assume 5th gear are pitching a Exige against a Transit van as they both have the same rear visibility. It's not only Mitsubishi who have lost their way me thinks....