Convertible, an update
Discussion
Dear All,
We have nearly finalised the patterns for the convertible, unfortunately not in time for the first race at Brands Hatch next weekend, so Paul, make the most of it ;-)
Some of you are probably aware that the designer of our convertible is Paul Bailey, who also designed the much acclaimed Noble GTC, with Lee's help of course. Paul is a perfectionist and works to a very high standard and with this project has had a lot of detailed working out to do.
I have attached a few photographs to give you an idea of where we are going with the vehicle. Martin (V6GTO), don't say anything, I know I should have asked you to come over and take the pictures!
The convertible will initially be offered as a body conversion for existing M12 / M400 cars. However if there is demand for new vehicles then I'll have a chat with Stuart at the factory to see if we can come to some agreement.
A few salient feature:
- Convertible is being developed on an M12 chassis, which allows us to offer the panels to you as an upgrade. You can arrange for the work to be done locally, or we can do it for you here in Bristol.
- The panels will be stronger and weigh somewhat less than the standard Nobles ones. In the case of the roof, it can be held in one hand. Interestingly, whilst the existing rear clam is heavy, we found that the central tub section has an excessive amount of material and hence weight. In some places the bodywork is over 10 mm thick.
- Front and rear clam sections will accommodate wider wheels and tyres.
- Single piece, very lightweight roof is held in place by four over-centre catches. It can be removed or fitted in less than one minute and is designed to stow under the rear clam. The roof design incorporates a small shoulder at the edge to cause rainwater to flow to the rear. No more drips of water coming in when the window is open.
Headroom has been increased by 1” (25 mm)
- A front boot is available. This will require the replacement of the radiator by two side mounted ones.
We have tidied up the doors – look no door handles. Instead we have an electric door release operated by a concealed button at the rear of the door. In the photographs you can see a small cut-away to allow access to the button.
- The airflow into the engine bay has been increased and more of this airflow has been directed to the areas that matter.
- The rear clam incorporates two cooling vents above the front and rear turbos to allow heat to dissipate when idling in traffic or at slow speeds.
- The rear clam uses round wire mesh to maximise the flow of hot air from the engine bay, when driving at speed.
The intercooler has been replaced by two separate units, each located behind the rear wheel and fed by air from a NACA duct with scoop above each wheel arch.
We have nearly finalised the patterns for the convertible, unfortunately not in time for the first race at Brands Hatch next weekend, so Paul, make the most of it ;-)
Some of you are probably aware that the designer of our convertible is Paul Bailey, who also designed the much acclaimed Noble GTC, with Lee's help of course. Paul is a perfectionist and works to a very high standard and with this project has had a lot of detailed working out to do.
I have attached a few photographs to give you an idea of where we are going with the vehicle. Martin (V6GTO), don't say anything, I know I should have asked you to come over and take the pictures!
The convertible will initially be offered as a body conversion for existing M12 / M400 cars. However if there is demand for new vehicles then I'll have a chat with Stuart at the factory to see if we can come to some agreement.
A few salient feature:
- Convertible is being developed on an M12 chassis, which allows us to offer the panels to you as an upgrade. You can arrange for the work to be done locally, or we can do it for you here in Bristol.
- The panels will be stronger and weigh somewhat less than the standard Nobles ones. In the case of the roof, it can be held in one hand. Interestingly, whilst the existing rear clam is heavy, we found that the central tub section has an excessive amount of material and hence weight. In some places the bodywork is over 10 mm thick.
- Front and rear clam sections will accommodate wider wheels and tyres.
- Single piece, very lightweight roof is held in place by four over-centre catches. It can be removed or fitted in less than one minute and is designed to stow under the rear clam. The roof design incorporates a small shoulder at the edge to cause rainwater to flow to the rear. No more drips of water coming in when the window is open.
Headroom has been increased by 1” (25 mm)
- A front boot is available. This will require the replacement of the radiator by two side mounted ones.
We have tidied up the doors – look no door handles. Instead we have an electric door release operated by a concealed button at the rear of the door. In the photographs you can see a small cut-away to allow access to the button.
- The airflow into the engine bay has been increased and more of this airflow has been directed to the areas that matter.
- The rear clam incorporates two cooling vents above the front and rear turbos to allow heat to dissipate when idling in traffic or at slow speeds.
- The rear clam uses round wire mesh to maximise the flow of hot air from the engine bay, when driving at speed.
The intercooler has been replaced by two separate units, each located behind the rear wheel and fed by air from a NACA duct with scoop above each wheel arch.
BliarOut said:
Interesting... Wasn't the factory version going to lose a Turbo? I like the look of that a lot.
The factory wanted a rear boot, so the rear turbo had to go to make room for it in their version. I decided that performance is more important than two boot spaces. The front boot we have allowed for is a reasonable size. So we won't be impacting on the engine compartment space at all.
The roof, which is stowed under the rear clam occupies extra space that we have created by raising the deck of the rear clam.
lucozade said:It's a bit early to give you prices at this stage. So much depends on how far you want go. For example, we will be offerring as options larger wheels, very lightweight panels and interior makeovers. As soon as I have some better ideas about costs I'll post up some ball park figures.
I know this might be at an early stage but do you have any idea of costs?
DanH said:
Enzo style rear lights too! (look like Elise clusters perhaps?)
I really like this. What are you doing with the roll cage bars that run above the doors?
Well spotted Dan. The rear lights are indeed the latest LED style units from lotus. The roll cage is removed and two roll over hoops are fixed to the chassis behind the driver and passenger seats.
gizard said:
Does look quite cool - I assume the windows wind all the way down? - is there any extra strengthing applied to the Chassis?
I don't know about the windows, I'll find out and let you know.
The M12 chassis is the same one used in the predecessor car, the M10. This was designed as a convertible. We have conducted computer simulations and these indicate that torsional stiffness is okay for street and track day use. If I were to race one, which I will be, then you'll need a roll cage.
nickytwohats said:
Love it .... how much?
It really is too early to give you any pricing. As soon as can though I will.
m12gto3r said:
That looks great. Do the front and rear clams fit non convertable cars. I love th enzo lights and I would like a boot at the front.
I'm afraid you cannot pic 'n' mix on the panel front. The design spec. for the convertible meant that we had to take a fresh look at the lines and functionality. This has dictated the new shape and how the panels fit together.
The boot at the front is no problem.
brav said:
looks like a lot less space for airflow in the front. will thew new radiators take the place of the existing HVAC (or brake duct/tunnel cooling mods for some of us) ducts? Will there be room?
There is loads of airflow going through the front clam and even more through thr rear clam compared to the stock M12. I do not have the sizes to hand but the surface area of the two radiator intakes exceeds that of the M12/M400. The intakes also supply cool air to the front brakes and tunnel. Hot air is exhausted through the wheel and between the clam and the front door - we have increased this gap to about 1.5". It's similar to Lee's race car in this respect.
We will also offer air exit vents on the top of the front wing as an extra. This really is only required for heavy track or race use.
The rear clam has much larger side air intakes which flow air to the front and rear turbos. The twin intercoolers are fed by fresh air from NACA ducts sited above the rear wheels.
The tunnel cooling mod is incorporated into our design - it's a nice effective mod, one of Paul Cundy's I believe. As for the HVAC, the heater box remains in its current position. We have yet to sought out the condensor.
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