Told you so....

Told you so....

Author
Discussion

barefoot

Original Poster:

1,050 posts

291 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
quotequote all
Having revently posted about the interior and price of a Noble and getting a bit of stick in return here are a couple of quotes from this months EVO.....

"...the overall ambience of the cockpit quite simply it doesnt look up to the £60K-plus price tag....while most of the instruments and switches can be bought from Demon Tweeks...."

"...asthetics not counting for as much as the driving experience but if your spending £60K it matters, and the sooner Noble recognises this the better"

Exactly the points I have been making. Also why does the 3R have no oil temp or pressure gauge and why should you pay extra for a track day sump (on a track orientated car) over and above the already inflated retail price?

Come on Noble it's time to sort it out, look at the price of the original 2.5 and the price now for the 3R, I think some of the difference should have been spent on an oil gauge to say the least...

As for the decals on the 400 and them air scoops!!!!

amg merc

11,954 posts

260 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
quotequote all
barefoot said:
Having revently posted about the interior and price of a Noble and getting a bit of stick in return here are a couple of quotes from this months EVO.....

"...the overall ambience of the cockpit quite simply it doesnt look up to the £60K-plus price tag....while most of the instruments and switches can be bought from Demon Tweeks...."

"...asthetics not counting for as much as the driving experience but if your spending £60K it matters, and the sooner Noble recognises this the better"

Exactly the points I have been making. Also why does the 3R have no oil temp or pressure gauge and why should you pay extra for a track day sump (on a track orientated car) over and above the already inflated retail price?

Come on Noble it's time to sort it out, look at the price of the original 2.5 and the price now for the 3R, I think some of the difference should have been spent on an oil gauge to say the least...

As for the decals on the 400 and them air scoops!!!!



Barefoot, I admire the marque greatly but will not follow them blindly - I'm inclined to agree with your interior fit and quality comments. Whilst the product's performance is of the highest levels, Noble cannot continue ad infinitum with its positioning that the interior will do, so long as the performance is great - I still say look at TVR for inspiration in this area!

And, add the alarm cost and solid copper brake pipes to your list of "options-that-should-have-been-standard"!

barefoot

Original Poster:

1,050 posts

291 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
quotequote all
AMG

Thanks for an honest and unbiased answer from someone who obviously owns and loves the cars!

My point is here is a great drivers car that I would consider owning if only the interior justified the £10,000 price premium over my own csr.

To ask £62,000 plus air con for the M400 with a "kit car" interior and them decals is way too mich IMHO...

EDWARDO

83 posts

248 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
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Have to say agree with Barefoot, i havnt got a Noble but am looking to get one in the next few months, and the one thing that you notice is how poor the interior looks. Now to me thats not the be all and end all for me but i think Evo have a point that M400 with a couple of options will cost 65K, now thats alot of cash in anyones books and would allow you to buy some quite tasty second hand toys! As people who spend 65K should demand a good interior as well as chassis etc..

PS - anyone got any pics of a indigo 3r with interiors

m12_nathan

5,138 posts

266 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
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IMO people who are that worried about the styling don't "get" the car. It is functional and built to be driven fast, if you want to flounce along surrounded by half a cow then get a TVR. (or do a Joust and get a car for every occasion).

mikeN

276 posts

262 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
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I don't think about the interior too much when I'm driving, too busy concentrating my barely adequate driving skills on the road ahead.

The general public don't seem to be able to get past the exterior styling without forming a very positive opinion of the car. However I do understand what the others are saying re styling, in that there exists a type of buyer that IS put off by the interior as it stands..

The question is, given the production numbers of the current vehicle, is it worth the cost of design changes to appeal to that market segment?? Frankly I would imagine that competition in that space is very difficult (versus the GT3 for instance...)

Personally I like it the way it is (Alcantara in mine please!!)

All IMO of course. Mike

3rtt

943 posts

259 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
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It's also a weight / power to weight issue.

The more you spend on the interior fixtures and fittings the more you add weight. Sure, you want leather and rolled alloy bling bling, shop in Blackpool. You want a functional drivers car that performs and handles like a car as much as twice the price, go to Barwell.

Also remember the development time, and available resources at Noble. Can you think of another marque, company or person, British or otherwise that has made so much progress in such a short space of time? Colin Chapman?

Cheers,
Ian.

crb1

922 posts

249 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
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If Noble were making millions I would agree that they are charging too much. They are not, (from info in the public domain) therefore, how can the car be overpriced.

obes

3,298 posts

251 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
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I'm with Nathan on this one. I can't help thinking that the whole point of the Noble is that it's a bit of a sparse street racer. Almost kind of an anti-TVR.

I do think the M400 price tag is hefty though, even if it had shag pile carpets and solid gold door handles ! Having said that, the value of something is how much the buyers will pay for it. So we'll just have to see how many they sell !? If the order books are overflowing and they can't keep up I guess the interior doesn't matter a bugger!

If none get sold it may well be time to start tarting it up.

Lets remember that the M400 is a more trackday oriented car. If a plusher interior is generally thought to be required, shouldn't the 3R should be the one that gets it?

kj-r

1,877 posts

258 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
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I agree that the car is in someways dissapointing after all you can buy a better roadlegal track car for far less money, so at the price l would have expected a proper race type instrument panel and properly styled bodywork not stuck on air scoops that really do look naff.
IMO of course etc.
Kevin

joust

14,622 posts

266 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
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Funny - I overheard exactly the same conversation between three 10 year olds.....


"That bag is dish girl"
"Nan itss not, its wull drab"
"Yah boith wrong, yah need a DKNY"

Taste and style is personal. Personally I absolutly hate the modern TVR interiors but love the X5 black with Titanium, the 360CS and the Elise.

With a 6 month+ waiting list there are obviously enough people out there that either don't care, or like me, Tiff Needell and a lot of other people think the interior really adds to the whole experience.

As with fashion, art and anything else subjective you will never get a consensus - so why worry????

If you don't like it, don't buy it

J

GregE240

10,857 posts

274 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
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joust said:

If you don't like it, don't buy it

J

Well said Justin.

One things for sure, the cabin has an air of longevity to it. Okay, so a copy of Demon Tweeks catalogue later and you can see where most of the parts are sourced from, but its function above form. And it works. Simple as that.

I've personally thought some hacks just want to find something to take it down a peg or two. It looks great, handles superbly, the build quality is sound, so bollocks, lets slag off the interior.

I also feel that without a major manufacturer to raid parts from, going bespoke would add too much to the bottom line. An M400 for 70 grand anyone? Sorry about the price, but check out that single billet of polished aluminium that forms the dashboard! Yeah, right.

LaurenceFrost

691 posts

259 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
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I'm a firm believer of "you get what you pay for!"

It seems that the Noble’s interior is being compared to that of everything that offers similar performance, and I don’t think this is fair.

A Ferrari 360 CS may well go round a track with similar times to a Noble, and I have heard very few criticisms over it’s interior, but you’re talking about a car worth over double the price, so some of the additional money has clearly gone into the interior.

The TVR/Noble debate is getting a little dull. I know the TVR’s have superb interiors – I personally love them, but if the interior is great, but the price changes very little, then something else has suffered. We all know that the Noble has out-performed the T350 in many circumstances.

The Noble has amazing performance for the outlay, and for another 5 grand the interior could be made great as well. You get what you pay for.

kj-r

1,877 posts

258 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
quotequote all
I love the marque as much as anyone, but what a shame that your not suppose to be critical of anything, and for the record no l don't want leather interior and fancy aluminum switches.
Kevin

joust

14,622 posts

266 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
quotequote all
kj-r said:
I love the marque as much as anyone, but what a shame that your not suppose to be critical of anything, and for the record no l don't want leather interior and fancy aluminum switches.
Kevin
????

Noble owners not critical - where on earth have you been for the last 2 years - certainly not on here or the owners club mailing list.

Funny how people take "sorry, but your opionion is different to mine" as a direct attack on their original opinion. If you post your opinion on a public fora then you must be prepared to accept others will think you are talking total twaddle and post back their opionions.

It's called life and diversity, and its what makes the world such a great place to be in, and enables different manufacturers to produce unique tailored solutions to a wide range of tastes.

However, I do wonder why some people post "I don't like this, it's pants, and therefore I'm not going to buy it" on certain marque forums - it's almost as if they need a public place to somehow justify their decision for buying something else???

As I've often said on here I find the latest TVR interiors garish, bling bling and down right ugly in some cases. I also love Marmite and have a certain perchant for eating whole lemon and limes, rind and all.

It comes back to what I said earlier, if you are so disgusted by the interior, or if you think Noble are taking the piss in charging what they do for the car, go and buy something else. It's a free world guys!

J

DanH

12,287 posts

267 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
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Of course the people who've bought them like them -They'd have got something else otherwise I imagine!

I'll be interested to see what happens if Lotus ever get the M250 out the door. I know a number of Noble owners originally had deposits down on that car. Some dislike the styling of the new Elises, but love or hate them, they certainly don't look amateur.

Still even optimistically speaking Noble have 3 years to sort something out. The next Esprit is coming in 1.5-2 years but thats going to be an 80k+ car apparently.

SteveJT

77 posts

278 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
quotequote all
Joust said:

I also love Marmite and have a certain perchant for eating whole lemon and limes, rind and all



Dont tell me you also drink ice tea and have a mullet haircut

>> Edited by SteveJT on Thursday 6th May 18:22

stuh

2,557 posts

280 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
quotequote all
SteveJT said:



Joust said:

I also love Marmite and have a certain perchant for eating whole lemon and limes, rind and all






Dont tell me you also drink ice tea and have a mullet haircut

>> Edited by SteveJT on Thursday 6th May 18:22




Joust with a mullet................now you mention it

Personally i like the interior, smart, functional, non nonsense and feels like it will last forever and no turning a knob or fiddling around under your wing mirror to get in and out of the car

What i can't understand is why no one slags off the wing mirrors, they are truly awful IMO and the most kit-esque part of the design

FWIW The smell of marmite reminds me of babies nappies......this probably isn't the right forum for that though

>> Edited by stuh on Thursday 6th May 18:30

>> Edited by stuh on Thursday 6th May 18:32

amg merc

11,954 posts

260 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
quotequote all
[quote=stuh]
Personally i like the interior, smart, functional, non nonsense and feels like it will last forever and no turning a knob or fiddling around under your wing mirror to get in and out of the car :

What i can't understand is why no one slags off the wing mirrors, they are truly awful IMO and the most kit-esque part of the design [quote=stuh]

Taste is a funny thing - I think the mirrors look cool!

stuh

2,557 posts

280 months

Thursday 6th May 2004
quotequote all
amg merc said:

Taste is a funny thing - I think the mirrors look cool!