M400 first drive
Discussion
I'll post pics of the car later on today but I thought I'd share my experience of the first few days with the car. I picked it up from the factory at 1.00pm on Thursday and then drove around the Yorkshire Dales , Cumbria, the Scottish Borders and Northumberland before coming back home to Derbyshire via the Dales again(and Butterstub pass
) Rave revues received from almost all people I passed especially a bunch of lads in Cumbria who threw themselves on the ground and assumed the'we're not worthy' position. Very amusing. Only one negative was when going through a tiny village in the same county and three very pleasant youths gave me synchronised w@nker signs. Didn't upset me because as all three had baseball caps on backwards and one had to dismount a sheep to gesticulate, I figured their opinions didn't count.Arrived home at 6.00pm on Friday having covered 875 miles,as fresh as the proverbial daisy. It's gone in for its first service today and nothing has either fallen off , needs adjusting or fixing apart from a crack appearing in the bottom of the offside part of the windscreen.
This is an unbelievably well sorted car!
I thought the 3R to be a great car but, in no particular order, I'll list the differences that to my mind lift this into a different league.
I didn't like the original steering wheel, I thought it too big , too thin and the hand 'resting' position at a quarter past nine brought the mitts into direct contact with the sweaty plastic bits. The Millenium wheel has changed everything. It is the same diameter as the original but thicker to make it feel smaller and it is much more comfortable--every Noble should have one!
The gear change is now sensational.It slots up and down the gate with rifle bolt precision and makes immensely satisfying mechanical clacks between changes - an absolute joy to use.
The steering now has a 'normal' lock which was pleasant surprise to discover. If I was ever on a narrow lane in the 3R and wanted to go back to see something , I would have tended to reverse it for a couple of hundred yards rather than subject myself to endless full lock manoevering.A revelation.
The seats are perfect , after all the miles I did in a relatively short period I climbed out with no bum or back ache and could have gone on for much longer without a problem. I initially thought that the ride had improved over the 3R but in actual fact it's just the thicker padding on the Sparco seat which makes it seem that way. The engine pull seems so smooth and even though restricted to 4000rpm,the acceleration is impressive. When properly unleashed it's going to be literally breathtaking.
There must also be other improvements which together with the points highlighted above, have transformed a great car into this latest sensational incarnation but I'm not technically minded enough to relate.
The only thing I know is how good it is even without being able to fully open it up or try it on the track. Lee and his team have done an amazing job with this car and his only problem will be in convincing me to swap this for the M14 I have on order because at the moment even the threat of having my goolies set on fire wouldn't drag me from it.
) Rave revues received from almost all people I passed especially a bunch of lads in Cumbria who threw themselves on the ground and assumed the'we're not worthy' position. Very amusing. Only one negative was when going through a tiny village in the same county and three very pleasant youths gave me synchronised w@nker signs. Didn't upset me because as all three had baseball caps on backwards and one had to dismount a sheep to gesticulate, I figured their opinions didn't count.Arrived home at 6.00pm on Friday having covered 875 miles,as fresh as the proverbial daisy. It's gone in for its first service today and nothing has either fallen off , needs adjusting or fixing apart from a crack appearing in the bottom of the offside part of the windscreen. This is an unbelievably well sorted car!
I thought the 3R to be a great car but, in no particular order, I'll list the differences that to my mind lift this into a different league.
I didn't like the original steering wheel, I thought it too big , too thin and the hand 'resting' position at a quarter past nine brought the mitts into direct contact with the sweaty plastic bits. The Millenium wheel has changed everything. It is the same diameter as the original but thicker to make it feel smaller and it is much more comfortable--every Noble should have one!
The gear change is now sensational.It slots up and down the gate with rifle bolt precision and makes immensely satisfying mechanical clacks between changes - an absolute joy to use.
The steering now has a 'normal' lock which was pleasant surprise to discover. If I was ever on a narrow lane in the 3R and wanted to go back to see something , I would have tended to reverse it for a couple of hundred yards rather than subject myself to endless full lock manoevering.A revelation.
The seats are perfect , after all the miles I did in a relatively short period I climbed out with no bum or back ache and could have gone on for much longer without a problem. I initially thought that the ride had improved over the 3R but in actual fact it's just the thicker padding on the Sparco seat which makes it seem that way. The engine pull seems so smooth and even though restricted to 4000rpm,the acceleration is impressive. When properly unleashed it's going to be literally breathtaking.
There must also be other improvements which together with the points highlighted above, have transformed a great car into this latest sensational incarnation but I'm not technically minded enough to relate.
The only thing I know is how good it is even without being able to fully open it up or try it on the track. Lee and his team have done an amazing job with this car and his only problem will be in convincing me to swap this for the M14 I have on order because at the moment even the threat of having my goolies set on fire wouldn't drag me from it.
It was a 3R Chris. Post service the acceleration is almost beyond description. When I first had the 3R, people asked me how accelerative it was and I summed it up as savage. I then had the brake mod done at the factory and they remapped the ecu at the same time. I then changed my description to savage and smooth.This is savage plus and smooth. When I had the 3R I posted that apparently all GP drivers brains have the ability to slow things down when they are going at a rate of knots,so everything serenely floats past them.I also noted that it doesn't happen for me as it all flashes by as if I'm in an episode of Star Wars.This is just an even quicker version of the same, so whereas the car's now safely run in I can't yet say the same thing about my brain.
Gassing Station | Noble | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff