Noble's new 506bhp V6-powered M500 is set to challenge the company with its unique supercar formula. We drove the prototype Any journalist lucky enough to arrive in Maranello to review a Ferrari will know the drill. The heart-pounding excitement as you pass under the famous arch, the rising tension as you see the day's incredibly busy schedule, then the mad dash south down a road every loyal reader will recognize, with its leaf-draped hairpins in the below section. lower and more open corners with expansive views while climbing. Add the F140 series V12, with its distinctive gurgles and squeals, plus the sound of tires being tortured, and it's an experience as powerful as when a kid decides on the right ratio of concentrate to water in their juice drink.
Continuing the mind association game, testing a Noble also had the same clarity. Rutland Trail, green, fast, and flowing; all small villages with the suffixes -Oadby, -thorpe, and -Ville; and whatever has happened in the last few years, forever the dry sound of a Ford V6, layered with the whistle, chuff, and sneeze of two hard-working turbos. Less romantic, sure, but in its way it's as locked into my subconscious as any other car and place combination. It's been nearly 20 years since the development of the Ford-engined Noble hit the trail, but the hope is that the glory days of the early nineties have returned, as Noble returns with this car, the M500.
The M600 stopped production a few years ago. For a car that received much praise in the pages of this magazine upon its launch, the launch was done anonymously. Since then, the small staff at Leicester have weathered the pandemic and bounced back with a new car, a car that slightly drops the company from the higher echelons of the current supercar world and into more familiar territory: outcomes the new Volvo bespoke. based on a V8 and carbon panels, it comes with a reassuring presence of traditional fiberglass and Ford Motor Company.
We discuss the development of the new car in the Evo 295. The chassis is closely related to the M600, meaning a steel space frame structure with double wishbones at each corner along with a coil spring/damper unit. The gearbox is manual only, a six-speed open gate unit from Graziano as found in the original Audi R8 V8 and Lamborghini Gallardo, and the engine connected to it is usually found in the US-spec Ford F-150 Raptor.
Known as the 'DR35', the 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 is untouched internally, but Noble has developed a radical new installation for it, including a standalone ECU to power it. It produces 506bhp – 56bhp more than a pickup – with 594 lb-ft of torque. There will always be some people who scoff at Ford's use of an unusual engine, but if it was good enough for Carroll Shelby,
For many people, a supercar lives and dies by its design, and that's something that can only be judged by the beholder. The M500, styled by Noble boss Peter Boutwood, is by his admission more of a 'supercar' than the highly functional M600. You could say the headlights have a touch of the Ferrari 458, the big vertical slats behind the side windows might remind you of a certain hypercar from eastern France, and there's perhaps a hint of the Porsche 918 Spyder at the back. Of course, the angles are interesting, and although the effect is not like the 'tractor beam from Santa'Agata' on the motorway, many young people pointed and smiled at it even when I drove through the car's home territory. Then again, this must still be a rare sight as there's only one M500 in existence, and that's the car. I was reminded by Noble that this was their prototype and therefore I objected to a) not including it in the scene and b) giving it the benefit of the doubt on certain fitments and finishes. Indeed, the panel gaps on this car aren't up to production standards, but Boutwood countered by saying that the first production panels would be much better. They will also be thinner, requiring less additional support, so they should be much lighter, helping to reduce the weight of the car. I'm told the prototype currently weighs around 1,450kg but the ambitious target for the production car is 1,250kg.
For now, it's time to jump in and drive. The doors open conventionally, and it's not the easiest task for tall drivers to enter gracefully, as the gap between the seat side bolsters and the top of the door opening is quite narrow. Once inside, almost everything you see is covered in charcoal Alcantara, and although there's a new 'floating' top on the dial pack, most of the interior surfaces are very plain. The instrument cluster is a TFT screen, while to the left is a large multimedia head unit from car audio company Alpine that offers CarPlay and other mod cons presented in the slightly overly complex and graphically naive way that only a third-party infotainment system can do. control. However, you can still connect your phone; it worked.
There were some reach adjustments on the steering wheel, but I couldn't get a driving position that suited me. Ideally, I would sit a little lower, and the wheels would come out further so I could move the seat further back and my right knee wouldn't rub against the post, which makes heel and toe work tricky. After much experimentation, I found a workable compromise, but it felt like something Noble could solve easily enough with just a small range of adjustments to the key elements. The switchgear is recognizably Ford, and its visibility is that of a classic mid-engined supercar, which is, to say the least. Forward vision through the downturned nose is expansive, but three-quarters of the way over the shoulders is almost non-existent, and useful rearward vision is concentrated in the middle. When on the road, the rear screen reflects oncoming traffic, making it appear as if the vehicle is about to overtake you. I never got used to it.Insert it and turn the key – how traditional – and the V6 fires up after a few revs with a dry, bass-laden rasp. This is the start of a constant presence inside the cabin, but it's not too noisy outside. Noble says he'll try a louder exhaust, but there's something quite retro – and in my opinion – about a supercar that doesn't force the windows to shake from 200 yards away. Click into first gear and the M500 rumbles out of the Noble industrial estate and our journey of discovery begins.
I said, easy to drive. It has a vibe, like any well-defined vehicle, and in this case, it's so relaxing that once you get used to the weight of its controls and the way it operates, you can wander around in it with a kind of involuntary sleepy ease. it's actually very satisfying. The dampers are relaxed, absorbing poor urban road surfaces in a way that immediately shows where they were developed, the gearshift and clutch are light, and although the power steering is weighty, it doesn't require much movement to adjust. the way the car is going. Off boost the V6 is very tractable and linear; You'll never guess the potential chaos that lurks there.
When the road was less congested, I tickled the accelerator a bit, only to see… Whizzz‑Ker–Char! 500 bolts forward, the V6 engine suddenly meows to the right and behind my head, and everything is subdued by a ferocious turbocharger whistling, followed by a mad sneeze from the exhaust hatch as I lift it. It's like installing the big Stage 3 turbo kit in the early Gran Turismo games – a truly unfiltered and incredible signature.
It didn't take long to get the M500 size. Your initial thoughts are dominated by the engine, or more specifically the turbocharger. It's a real, intoxicating mix of old and modern: the soundtrack and punchy power on boost, punctuated by manual gearshifts, evoke the spirit of turbocharged legends, but there's little respite and the V6 kicks in as powerfully as ever. only 2000rpm. You can dip in and out of the torque curve almost wherever and whenever you want, surfing with incredible muscle, or you can keep your foot on the carpet and out of every gear, shifting at around 6000rpm or maybe just a little higher and then experiencing busy again. The fact that Noble was probably able to make significant weight reductions with a production-spec car makes the performance even greater; it was already too strong to laugh at.
These gated switches are as involved and character-laden as you might imagine, but not as much of a hindrance to the top performance as you might also assume, as the speed with which you move the levers isn't as easy as the dictatorial layout of the system. the grid shows that may be the case. Therefore, gear shifts are blurred, resulting in no lag in acceleration.
We took a seemingly innocuous turn off the main road and soon the road swerved left and right, the line was blocked by hedges and the surface deteriorated drastically. Suddenly the M500 feels wide – a common weakness of the supercar genre – but that feeling of restraint itself is tempered by the precision of the Noble's steering. Around town, it felt a bit heavy as it was too heavy (Boutwood later confirmed he was experimenting with different levels of assistance from the hydraulic system) and also a little inconsistent in its weight. But when it comes to speed, the feel is more confidence-inspiring, with only wrist input needed to keep the M500 pointed where you want it. Tighter angles reveal the limitations of the small, flat-bottomed steering wheel, which feels awkward when having to change hand position; I prefer round ones. Overall, the steering isn't as fussy as you might expect in a low-volume, hydraulically-assisted sports car, but this makes up for it with almost no kickback and a calming feel on the move. As we whistled and cruised at speed, the car's directional stability was apparent, inspiring a genuine feeling of confidence. In short, this is a very easy car to drive quickly.
It's also a car that feels comfortable on these roads, its suspension tuned to deal with bumps, not just tolerate them on the way to the racetrack. The M500 is considered a road car, and that's what it feels like. Only occasionally does a large pothole seem to use up all the available travel dampening, and a few times the long, low nose is subjected to awkward pressure, which then breeds more caution, but the overriding feeling is one of effortless composure. , stability, and grip in an unalterable package.
You may remember that the M500 doesn't offer airbags or anti-lock brakes, and while there is an ignition-based traction control system, via the ECU, it doesn't currently work. Such an oversight immediately polarized the car's appeal in the eyes of many: would you want to make an emergency stop on a wet highway that reaches triple figures? After all, many would consider this resolute mechanical approach to be at the heart of the car's appeal, and certainly on driving in these dry conditions, the brakes never felt like they were close to locking up. On the other hand, the pedal feel is excellent and seems capable of slowing the car repeatedly from high speeds. The traction is also very good. The M500 currently rides on 255/30 ZR19 front and 345/30 ZR20 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S rear tires, but Noble wants to switch to a narrower rear in a more readily available size. As it is, and despite the big jumbo turbo available, the M500 wants to stick around, even with some provocation.
The Noble can't hope to offer the sophisticated, technology-rich modern supercar experience of an established brand, and when you consider it's the product of a handful of people in an industrial unit rather than a workforce of thousands – and a budget running into hundreds of millions of pounds – this isn't surprising. But as our 'hobby' rapidly expands in the contemporary era, it feels like there should be room for the M500 and cars like it. To say I'm glad it exists seems like faint praise, but it is, and what's more, it offers a driving experience that's both involving and hugely exciting, with a character unlike anything else on the market.
On the thorny issue of price, the aim is to get as close to £150,000 as possible, but you can't help but detect the company's frustration at the increasing amount of raw materials required to make the product, and the current official line is £150,000-200,000. Consultation of the Bank of England website reveals that the price of the M400 in 2004 – £62,548 – was the equivalent of £107,000 in today's money. The M500 was a class above the quasi-Group B track car, with far more power, and Noble's efforts to sell far more M500s than the more expensive M600s were helped by the disappearance of entry-level supercars such as the Audi R8, Lamborghini Hurácan and so on, but much of it depends on whether the car can reach acceptable quality standards in production cars. I hope so because there's already a lot of good stuff here.
Mulia M500 Specifications
V6 motor, 3496cc, twin-turbo
Power 506bhp @ 5300rpm
Torque 594 pound-feet @ 4000rpm
Weight 1450kg
Power-to-weight 355bhp/tonne
0-62mph 3.7 seconds (estimated)
Top speed TBC
TBC base price (estimate £150,000-200,000)
