Car Lust--Noble M12 GTO-3R
It may not have much name recognition on this side of the pond, but the Noble M12 GTO-3R is one of the all-time great performance cars the world has ever seen. Like the Ariel Atom, the Noble is available in the United States under kit-car regulations if assembled here. But don't let the kit car designation fool you; this is no VW Bug that looks like a mashed Lamborghini, or a Pontiac Fiero made to look like a lumpy Ferrari.
No, the Noble is a thoroughbred. The light, intricately designed mid-engined chassis and aggressively voluptuous body were designed specifically for the Noble, without intrinsic family car-based compromises. The Ford Duratec V-6 started off as a family car plant with Ford Contour--not typically a great foundation for exotic performance. But, with the addition of two big turbochargers, and an output of 352 horsepower and 350 lb. ft. of torque, with less than 2,400 pounds to haul around, it holds its own.
The result is a car so exotic and with such a broad performance envelope that it makes a Corvette look like a grocery-getter. The Noble rips to 60 mph in less than 4 seconds and handles with such a blend of stability and agility that, across the pond, it is held up as the gold standard of roadholding.
The combination is a car that can easily outduel any Ferrari or Porsche with the exception of the hugely expensive and exotic Enzo or Carrera GT--and even then the Noble keeps things respectable. What's even more remarkable is the fact that the Noble costs less than $100,000. That doesn't sound like a bargain until you consider that it can run with cars that cost twice as expensive or more. It's not quite the bang-for-the-buck howitzer the Atom is, but it's a unique lightweight English approach to high performance. I think of the Noble as sort of a 21st century Lotus Esprit.
These two photos are courtesy of Flickr user rikusrautenbach, who also has some nice pictures of of the M12's replacement, the slightly cushier but still lethal M15.
Below, the typically fantastic Top Gear review. As reference, the Ford Mondeo they refer to is the UK name for the US Contour.
--Chris H.
Rob the SVX guy on May 23, 2008 at 12:03 PM
That engine is a great engine, I've driven a few Contour SVTs, and they would make a VERY ideal daily driver. Ford fit and finish, so you don't need to worry about scratches and dings since it's kinda crappy anyway, but factory recaros, amazing suspension, and a fantastic SVT tuned duratec V6. Great shifter also! Awesome car for under 5 grand!
Cookie the Dog's Owner on May 23, 2008 at 12:47 PM
A mid-engined exoticar that if the engine misbehaves, you can actually get parts for it! Cool.
Mochi Mochi on May 27, 2008 at 06:13 PM
Since we are talking about supercars again... here's a twist: The Tesla Roadster. An electric super car 0-60 3.9 Sec. Top speed 125mph. Batteries included.
http://www.teslamotors.com/
I saw it on Nova "Cars of the future". Which you can watch online at:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/car/program.html
Chapter 5 is all about hybrids and the tesla.
Rob the SVX guy on May 27, 2008 at 06:45 PM
Since we are now talking about that piece of sh*t Tesla, did you know it that it's batteries come from CHINA? Do you know China has zero emissions regulations? Did you know they're then shipped around the world? Did you know they've reduced the advertised range on it many MANY times? Electric cars are a great idea. If you are a senior citizen and live in an always sunny climate like Florida. I'm sorry, but I hate that car. If you really want to be green, go buy a Honda CRX, shove a built B18 or fresh K series engine into it, and achieve performance better than a Tesla, with a much MUCH smaller carbon footprint, and all for a fraction of the price.
Mochi Mochi on May 27, 2008 at 11:24 PM
Rob: Did I mention that Tesla is making an electric SUV that does 0-60 in 2 sec and employs 19th century buggy suspension technology - it has a completely unsafe unrestricted nano-nuclear-powerplant made in china and sports air-conditioned seats constructed with third world slave labor? They buy their lithium ion batteries from the refurb department at Dell and Apple. Hah - just kidding Rob. Its ok if you don't like the Tesla. I'm just interested in alternative technologies that will ultimately need to find some kind of realization.
Personally my favorite electric car is the Porsche 914 electric Car conversion. I have actually seen a few running along very nicely at highway speeds around LA. They're not going to blow anyone's doors off but they are a great proof of concept.
The reason I posted this ( aside from the need to get content up that would elicit your unique blend of easy-going and restrained commentary ;) - was that we've been having some really interesting here discussions about oil and cars. I fully agree that old cars - especially the highly efficient ones like the CRX - are about as green and patriotic as they come. Beyond that, they are incredibly lovable. I don't know about you but I want to give those cute little CRX's a big hug. Only problem is they are rusting away. As are the 914s. They are also being cannibalized. Here in sunny SoCal a virgin CRX or CIVIC pre-95 is hard to find. Too many have been savagely molested by speed hungry tuners.
Eventually - especially with rising gas prices and restricted production - we are going to need to consider what's next in auto design. If not for our personal transportation then for the transportation of the goods and that fuel our economy. The Tesla - love it or hate it - is an example of a potential future. This particular future overlooks the problems of Lithium mining - while focusing on lithium recycling.
To some the Nova program "Cars of the Future" will present nothing new. But most people will find it an interesting study of options, and current experiments in auto design. I found the chapters devoted to the design of safe and light highly efficient cars to be really interesting. It directly follows some of the discussions we have been having about such topics as: the economics of car production, can you make a light car that meets safety standards, what is going on with engine performance and the horsepower wars. One of the biggest challenges is how to automate the production of carbon fiber structural components.
Recently I saw that honda has been designing a car and fuel-cell system that becomes part of your house. The home based "fueling station" not only powers your car, but it also powers your house and feeds back into the grid. There's some interesting thinking out there that is sometimes brilliant (honda as usual) and sometimes flawed (Tesla for some).
I'm currently looking only at old cars. There's nothing else interesting to me right now. And all the old cars I'm interested in are 2liters or less in a package that weighs less than 2300lbs. As thrilling as the Noble M12 GTO-3R is - and as conceptually interesting as the Tesla is - these are still not as exciting to me as what honda did 12-20 years ago with a 1.5 liter 4. You want to make me happy, build me a new porsche 914 from carbon fiber that weighs 1000lbs and power it with 0.75 liter 3 cyl engine that outputs 80hp. Figure out how to do that for under $25k and I'll buy one. If I could get that same car as a hatchback version based on my 91 Civic I would be the happiest man in the world. Can I order it in a mid-engine version and upgrade to 900cc's? Let's have a weight and displacement limit on all new cars 1100lbs and 1.1 liters - how's that for a formula?
I personally think that a lot of the problems we are experiencing around oil consumption are pretty fixable. A lot of the pricing issues are largely the result of rampant corporate greed and greed on the part of speculators. As I said before, I'm not even complaining about the price per gallon. Make it go higher, it will only hasten change in the auto industry and in people's consumption. The biggest problem I see is the impact on the poor, AND especially as relates to food prices.
But peak oil ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil ) is something we need to be aware of. It will be something that affects us all on both macro and micro economic levels. And design of more efficient vehicles is going to be part of the solution- both for peak oil and global warming.
Where will a solution come from? It will likely be in smaller lighter vehicles that are capable of being built in large numbers at affordable prices. They are also going to need to run on a variety of fuel types. And they can't be limited to "the developed world" - the technology that produces them needs to be portable and global.
The fact is that whether we like it or not, we will ultimately need new vehicles. These will be for transport and personal use. We'll need better public transportation systems. The US will need to be at least as efficient as Europe. But personal transport will not go away. And countries like China are going to need to be able to pick up and implement these new technologies too - they need to be on the same road that we need to be on. China's huge population and increased oil consumption needs to be taken into account. We're still the leader in consumption of oil but there are some new players in town who also want and need oil.
Everything will have an effect on the environment. Old cars. New cars. People. When the rail road was invented it brought with it a host of unexpected problems (but now they are per pound the most efficient means of transport, but also one of the most expensive to build). Subsequent technological revolutions similarly fixed some things and made others worse. We can try to be better about predicting the downside of technology and designing with a larger frame of reference, but there will be problems. The best solutions will minimize those problems and maximize benefits. Tesla is a good example of a somewhat flawed advancement in electric car design that may ultimately make positive inroads.
One big problem for old-car-efficient-car enthusiasts is the depleting pool of excellent options. Right now we are still able to benefit from the advances in efficiency that were brought forth by legislation of the 80s - sub compacts of the 80s and early 90s really represent a high point for economy car design. After the loosening of regulated fuel economy standards and the shift to production of SUVs, that dodged those standards, the 90's and 00's has seen a steady reduction in great small cars, and an over-abundance of oversized, overpowered, inefficient vehicles. Eventually this next generation of larger less efficient cars will end up being the pool of used vehicles we draw on. So keep an eye on those MR2s, Miatas, and Mazda 3's. These will be the next group of hot used cars that start commanding higher prices.
I'm not expecting a panacea - and I'm not getting a chubby over hybrids or electric vehicles. It's just interesting to see what can be done. This weekend - with Memorial day travel - I experimented with different driving techniques to reduce my own consumption. The results were significant. Slowing a little adding a little time to my total travel but made a world of difference in the distance my car traveled on a single tank of gas. Wow - old skool technology - it really works. Drive a little slower and get better gas milage. As much as I hated the 55mph speed limit... it actually worked. But ultimately gas prices will be a stricter regulator than the US government when it comes to gas consumption. I'd love to see a big fat "gas consumption warning light" on the dash boards of those Priuses that were running over 90mph on the 5 between LA and San Fran. I can't imagine that a Prius is all that efficient at 90mph. Though I'm guessing it's a lot better than an Escalade.
A few years back I rented a Honda Insight. That thing was fantastic. It was so small yet had such a roomy interior. All 6 foot 3 inches fit comfortably in the driver's seat. The "trunk" and hatch could hold a lot of gear. The entire instrument panel encouraged efficient driving and rewarded it. It handled well. It was brilliant, completely odd-ball, and it was a lot of fun. I tend to think of the InSight as an alien vehicle. (The Prius is definitely mainstream.) I don't see a lot of InSights making 90mph runs... but I do see the drivers of InSights smiling and waving to each other as they pass. They remind greatly of the CRX but made of non-rusting aluminum and carbon fiber. My old Civic EF DX was capable of over 50 mpg, but I'm sad to say it rusted away to nothingness.
Who knows maybe in the future I'll be running an electric version of my Civic Si with an engine swap from a collaboration of Honda, Mugen and Nippon Denso. Maybe I'll spend my weekends running the canyons and tracks in a 2-stroke 125cc shifter Kart that I keep in a hybrid van which doubles as a tiny garage and solar collector. Maybe the Kart will dock with the hybrid van and run a generator that charges the van's batteries.
OldCarGuy on May 28, 2008 at 04:33 AM
Shhh! Quiet about the MR-2s . . . I want to pick one up in the next year . . . if I can convince my SO that we NEED a two-seater . . .
Rob the SVX guy on May 28, 2008 at 06:35 AM
Shhh! Quiet about insights. I'm hoping the world forgets about them so I can pick one up for under 5Gs with failing hybrid technology. Want a new CRX? Grab an insight, remove the hybrid garbage, and shove in a built B-series or factory K-series. Welcome to high performance, and 45+mpg. :)
Cookie the Dog's Owner on May 28, 2008 at 09:44 AM
There's a pretty good discussion going on here about hybrids and alt-fuel vehicles--in the discussion thread for a supercar! Go figure.
A few random thoughts:
Rob, I like your idea for a hotted-up Insight. Don't forget to swap out the low-rolling-resistance tires for real rubber!
The problem with electrics and hybrids and all is that the technologies aren't quite "there" yet. By "there", I mean that they're competitive in cost and performance with the technology it seeks to replace. Few people are going to pay a premium price for a car that's less useful than the one it replaces.
I've not much direct experience with hybrids, but I have a co-worker who owns a current-generation Prius. She is not an enthusiast driver. She lives in the city, and the Prius is meant to get her to work and to Giant Eagle and back home again. It does what she needs and wants it to do, and that's what counts. For her, at least, the hybrid is "there." I'm not sure the economics of hybrids work out quite yet--does the fuel savings offset the higher initial cost?--but as fuel prices go up and/or the technology matures, that will change.
The pure electric car is a long way from "there," and may never ever get "there." The Tesla will be impressive--if it ever gets into production!--but it's a shiny electric toy for people with lots of disposable income. A two-seat roadster that goes a couple hundred miles before requiring a several-hour recharge is not half as useful a transportation appliance as, oh, say, a 2002 Olds Alero with 100k on the odometer.
I'm normally wary of "industrial policy" proposals, but one idea that I find appealing is to mandate that all spark-ignition vehicles sold after a date certain must be flex-fuel capable. This would create an incentive for the market to make gasoline alternatives available, and you could buy an "alternate fuel" car and drive anywhere without having to worry that E85 (or whatever your favorite alt-fuel is) might not be available at your destination . . . or next month.
Evan on October 27, 2008 at 09:17 AM
bio diesel from algae, look it up, its where its at. Hybrids are silly, and electric cars are great for metropolis commuting, thats it. On topic... ugh, Noble's are dead sexy... i want one.