I was in Columbus Ohio for the Arnold Classic Weekend so I thought I could finally see and drive a Noble while wifey worked the expo.
Dynamic Motorsports/1gRacing is located in a small town called Ross in the middle of nowhere(really its not far from Cincinnati). This proves to be a great "test track" for the Noble since there was no shortage of winding back roads to show off the cars performance. They had 6 Nobles-2 M400's, the rest M12's, with one being a rolling chassis. The first thing I thought when seeing the Noble in person is that it is 10X better looking as compared to photos. It is sleek, aggressive and just bad ass!! The interior was much better than I expected and I really liked the alcantara racing seats.
Dean is a down to earth South African guy who just a pleasure to hang out with. After signing the waiver, it was off in the M12GTO3R. Dean drove first taking me thru numerous hilly curving roads at speeds of at least 100mph. The acceleration in these cars is awesome!! The power is linear with no turbo lag. The sound of the engine and blow-off from the turbo's is intoxicating. The handling is unbelievable!! After about 15 minutes it was my turn. The first thing he said is that I am not going to be driving on the same roads that he did!! He also told me a story how he almost got killed in a test drive in one of those cobra replicas so he is a little paranoid with test drives-understandable. The gear box was pretty smooth (improved on the newer cars and M400). The clutch is short but a little stiff especially compared to an NSX but than again everything feels heavy when making that comparison. All I can really say about the driving experience after that is WOW!! This car is what the NSX should be. There is a quick learning curve in driving a car with this much power with no traction control.
After the roads dried up a little more, I convinced Dean to take out the M400(400hp/ton) beast!! He was apprehensive because of the tires- P-zero corsas and the increased power(425hp with 400ftlbs of torque) on the wet roads. As amazing as the M12 was, this car was even more impressive. The increased torque and noise from the larger Garrett blowers was noticable immediately. This car absolutely rocks!! The suspension and steering are geared more for the track in the M400. The car still handles beautifully on the open road.
I will post pics when I download them from camera. I really think there will be a Noble M400 in the garage and a 97NSX for sale in the near future. I strongly recommend going to Ohio and meeting Dean and driving one of these machines-you won't be disappointed!!
Dynamic Motorsports/1gRacing is located in a small town called Ross in the middle of nowhere(really its not far from Cincinnati). This proves to be a great "test track" for the Noble since there was no shortage of winding back roads to show off the cars performance. They had 6 Nobles-2 M400's, the rest M12's, with one being a rolling chassis. The first thing I thought when seeing the Noble in person is that it is 10X better looking as compared to photos. It is sleek, aggressive and just bad ass!! The interior was much better than I expected and I really liked the alcantara racing seats.
Dean is a down to earth South African guy who just a pleasure to hang out with. After signing the waiver, it was off in the M12GTO3R. Dean drove first taking me thru numerous hilly curving roads at speeds of at least 100mph. The acceleration in these cars is awesome!! The power is linear with no turbo lag. The sound of the engine and blow-off from the turbo's is intoxicating. The handling is unbelievable!! After about 15 minutes it was my turn. The first thing he said is that I am not going to be driving on the same roads that he did!! He also told me a story how he almost got killed in a test drive in one of those cobra replicas so he is a little paranoid with test drives-understandable. The gear box was pretty smooth (improved on the newer cars and M400). The clutch is short but a little stiff especially compared to an NSX but than again everything feels heavy when making that comparison. All I can really say about the driving experience after that is WOW!! This car is what the NSX should be. There is a quick learning curve in driving a car with this much power with no traction control.
After the roads dried up a little more, I convinced Dean to take out the M400(400hp/ton) beast!! He was apprehensive because of the tires- P-zero corsas and the increased power(425hp with 400ftlbs of torque) on the wet roads. As amazing as the M12 was, this car was even more impressive. The increased torque and noise from the larger Garrett blowers was noticable immediately. This car absolutely rocks!! The suspension and steering are geared more for the track in the M400. The car still handles beautifully on the open road.
I will post pics when I download them from camera. I really think there will be a Noble M400 in the garage and a 97NSX for sale in the near future. I strongly recommend going to Ohio and meeting Dean and driving one of these machines-you won't be disappointed!!
Isn't there an advantage to five lug? i.e. better strength maybe? I dunno
