MOST UNDERRATED SUPERCAR - NOBLE M600

NOBLE M600

Noble M600

A Car like the company never made before – The M600 is the Ferrari-challenging supercar produced by british car brand Noble. The car was launched in 2010 and is still in production. The M600 isn’t considered a normal car. It fits in the category of a hypercar. One major question mark hangs over the Noble M600 is that it starts at a hefty £206,000 asking price. So is this 662bhp British supercar really worth more than a McLaren 570S or a Ferrari 488? Yes it is! During the course of Autocar’s road test, the M600 went faster than a McLaren F1 in almost every in-gear increment from 20-160mph. That being the case, you might begin to understand why Noble sees fit to charge such a fee. Because in the end it is its raw, brain-mangling performance that defines the M600. Not just in a straight line but also around corners, under brakes, during acceleration, everywhere and anywhere. What we are talking about is one of the fastest cars that has ever been built for use on the public road, in light of which £206k no longer seems quite so crazy. There are three models of M600 currently on sale – M600 standard coupe, Carbon Sport and Speedster. M600 is featured in video games series Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport.

Noble M600 in Forza Motorsport 4

PERFORMANCE

The heart of the M600 comes from a Volvo XC90! With two turbochargers attached, it becomes a Yamaha-designed 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 with variable boost. Power is delivered through a six-speed manual gearbox. This engine then produces 660 bhp and 818 Nm of torque. M600 is capable of reaching 362 kmph (225 mph) is goes from 0-100 kmph in just 3.0 seconds! The Car offers three modes of engine power: ‘Road’ gives a relatively sane 450bhp, ‘Track’ bumps it up to 550bhp, with ‘Race’ releasing the full 660bhp. The M600 uses a mid-engined spaceframe steel chassis with double wishbones at each corner and coil-over dampers for its primary suspension. M600 uses six-pot calipers at the front brakes and four at the rear brakes, designed by British braking specialist Alcon. It uses carbonfibre for all the key body parts, so the production car weighs just 1250kg. With this weight, M600 provides one of the best weight-to-power distribution in supercars – 530 bhp / tonne. However, with no ABS and no stability control, the car breaks one’s heart. The sole electronic aid is traction control.

INTERIORS

If you are expecting £206,000 of luxury in M600, you’ll be disappointed. This goes back to basic performance car, rather like the Ferrari F40 (which was made in 80s). There is no big screen, no climate control, just a focused cabin with a tight-fitting set of bucket seats to hold you firmly in place. It also trades modern flappy-paddle gearboxes for a traditional stick-shift six-speed. Behind the gear lever is M600’s weirdest feature - the cover for its traction control button, pinched from a Tornado fighter jet. Ahead of the gear lever is a red, three-position toggle switch with ‘road’, ‘track’ and ‘race’ modes.You’ll recognise ‘parts bin’ indicator arms that also feature in Jaguars and Aston Martins, as well as a regrettably downmarket audio system that definitely doesn’t belong on a £206k supercar. Inside there are lots of carbonfibre touchs, but Noble hasn't neglected the comfort or practicality aspects of the M600, with buyers given the choice of adorning the interior with leather, suede or Alcantara, fine wool carpets and knurled finished metal.