M12 3R or M400?
Discussion
Hi All, i am on the look out for a noble be it a M12 3R or the M400, what im looking for is guidance on which would you purchase, the 3R and possibly improve/upgrade it or the standard M400? Which would make more sense? I have been looking for a number of months now and am still waiting to find the one for me, i do have 2 possibilities but will await your replies.
Cheers in advance
John
Cheers in advance
John
Edited by John W 3R on Tuesday 19th January 00:21
Drive both and see what you prefer.
The 3R performance can be made equal pretty cheaply so unless you want to spend many thousands on upgrades you're ging to be happy with either.
The M400 has a more "up on its toes" feel, a slightly better turning circle and looks a bit different.
Get the best you can afford.
As soon as possible!
We look forward to welcoming you to the Nobility
N2H
The 3R performance can be made equal pretty cheaply so unless you want to spend many thousands on upgrades you're ging to be happy with either.
The M400 has a more "up on its toes" feel, a slightly better turning circle and looks a bit different.
Get the best you can afford.
As soon as possible!
We look forward to welcoming you to the Nobility
N2H
Both can be improved. M400 will give you better gear linkage,seats,driving position,turning circle etc Both plenty quick enough ( not for some on here though!). If you're budget is 3R money you won't be dissapointed at all,( I tried to buy my old 3R back, was only when that fell through I got the M400)they are great cars.On the opposite side of the fence, if you can stretch to a M400 then you may as well do it,but there's not many available so good luck with the hunt!
John- I've had both. Taking standard cars both will blow you away performance wise; the 3R is better for knarly B road driving; for A-roads and M-ways not much in it in terms of ride comfort. For track, M400 every-time (this is the reason I sold my 3R and brought an M400). So base your decision on what kind of driving you are going to be doing most and then you can 'tweak' with mods to get it precisely how you want it when finances allow.
I'm thinking you'll pay £5k more for the m400 everything else being equal.
To get the 3r to m400 power could be as cheap as £600 but upgrading further is a fair bit cheaper on the m400.
I think you need a better exhaust whatever one you buy.
there really is very little between the cars in everyday use. I prefer the m400 interior and the seats are more comfortable, but as for the driving position and gearchange I wouldn't be too worried about it.
Like others have said, buy the best you can afford. I'd have happily bought a 3r if mine hadn't become available.
What is your budget by the way?
To get the 3r to m400 power could be as cheap as £600 but upgrading further is a fair bit cheaper on the m400.
I think you need a better exhaust whatever one you buy.
there really is very little between the cars in everyday use. I prefer the m400 interior and the seats are more comfortable, but as for the driving position and gearchange I wouldn't be too worried about it.
Like others have said, buy the best you can afford. I'd have happily bought a 3r if mine hadn't become available.
What is your budget by the way?
Edited by jamie g on Tuesday 19th January 15:28
Cheers for the advice, some thinking to be done, some points raised i had already thought about i.e. buy the 3R and upgrade to then be as good as the standard 400 but without the initial outlay of the standard 400, but then the little extra bits you get on the 400, linkage, driving position seats etc then sway me back again. I dont intend to do track days and enjoy the blast down a/b roads so maybe a tuned 3R????
Cheers again, and any other info/recommendations welcome. I am also only 2 minutes away from urban racing, how have people found these for providing a good service?
John
Cheers again, and any other info/recommendations welcome. I am also only 2 minutes away from urban racing, how have people found these for providing a good service?
John
You can clearly tune both variants (see below) but for power the M400 will always be the better starting point with the forged pistons, oil cooler and track day sump as standard. Not to mention the larger turbos, gear linkage, better seats/position and with an Alcantra interior which IMO is a better looking/wearing solution. The suspension is down to personal taste - It is a track variant of the M12 and I think it is quite hard but others believe it is better than the earlier models for road use.
As others have said buy the one which suits your driving needs and comfort (you don't need to track the M400 although it would be a shame not to
) but base that decision upon condition. There are not many M400's around compared to the M12 if you look at the classifieds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b5iyX1E3Wc
As others have said buy the one which suits your driving needs and comfort (you don't need to track the M400 although it would be a shame not to
) but base that decision upon condition. There are not many M400's around compared to the M12 if you look at the classifieds.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b5iyX1E3Wc
John W 3R said:
I dont intend to do track days and enjoy the blast down a/b roads so maybe a tuned 3R????
John
That's exactly how I use my 400, and most days to work.I'm no driver like some who can really pedal on here, but for me the extra fidgetiness on the B roads is compensated by the fact I'm a damn site more comfortable to start with! John
david.mt said:
See that car coming second ? That was me, that was.M400's require the driver to "press on" on bumpy roads, but if you do and start to load things up will, IMHO, reward much more. Apart form that the power difference, on roads, is negligable as both will scare you 
So, horses for courses. If you want to go down the dealer route then you might be able to test both to guage which one is best, otherwise I'd use the old adage of "buy the best example of what you want for the money you can afford".
J
So, horses for courses. If you want to go down the dealer route then you might be able to test both to guage which one is best, otherwise I'd use the old adage of "buy the best example of what you want for the money you can afford".
J
I will also mention this would be my daily drive/commute to work, only 20/25 miles per day but would one suit this more than the other? im guessing not,but maybe the 400 for comfort?
For all this to happen does anyone know of someone who is looking to buy a 57 plate Cayman, advertised on here in the classifieds, then i can join the clan quicker!!
For all this to happen does anyone know of someone who is looking to buy a 57 plate Cayman, advertised on here in the classifieds, then i can join the clan quicker!!
Edited by John W 3R on Tuesday 19th January 23:54
BOL John, it is not the easiest car to live with on a daily basis IMHO, others will disagree, but they are wrong 
. I’m 6ft 5”, getting in to the car is not too bad, its getting out, even if you are 5ft 6” its not going to be easy. A great car to turn up to work in, I would love to use mine every day, but wouldn’t dream of it, theirs my license of one thing and the roll bar is very close to my head (it has a layer of insulation covering it, but that’s more to please the wife than to have any real life saving advantages) anyway John, BOL in finding your P&J. My advice would be to buy a 3R, then, what you save in purchase costs, buy a cheap run around, save the Noble for the weekends and the occasional fine weather blat into work, when you feel the need for more forward momentum, chuck on a few mods, remap and away you go!! HTH
. I’m 6ft 5”, getting in to the car is not too bad, its getting out, even if you are 5ft 6” its not going to be easy. A great car to turn up to work in, I would love to use mine every day, but wouldn’t dream of it, theirs my license of one thing and the roll bar is very close to my head (it has a layer of insulation covering it, but that’s more to please the wife than to have any real life saving advantages) anyway John, BOL in finding your P&J. My advice would be to buy a 3R, then, what you save in purchase costs, buy a cheap run around, save the Noble for the weekends and the occasional fine weather blat into work, when you feel the need for more forward momentum, chuck on a few mods, remap and away you go!! HTH Gassing Station | Noble | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff