The Noble M600 is a handbuilt British sports car manufactured by low volume automobile manufacturer Noble Automotive in Leicestershire. This evolved from our research of the available ‘supercars’ most of which lean heavily on computer assistance. The use of fashionable but often inefficient gear paddle shift, over assisted brakes and inopportune traction control have all become standard features of the modern day supercar. Construction of the car is of stainless steel and carbon fibre. The standard model uses carbon-fibre for vital body parts of the car and this allows it to have a curb weight of 1,250 kg (2,756 lb), although when independently tested, the standard model weighed 1,305 kg (2,877 lb). The car uses a twin-turbocharged Volvo/Yamaha V8 engine. The M600 is hand-built by a team of 20 workers at the company’s Leicestershire facility.
The Noble M600 is primarily designed for speed and handling however this is not at the expense of either comfort or practicality. The cabin features a traditional British hand built finish, with your choice of leather or Alcantara. Natural finished polished carbon door cards and centre console, hand turned knobs and bezels and fine quality wool carpets bound to the edge with leather. The seats, designed and created exclusively for the Noble M600, are of lightweight carbon fibre composite construction which can be bespoke upholstered to individual requirements. The seats also feature carbon fibre inserts for the optional five point harnesses. The 330mm flat bottom steering wheel is also hand stitched and can be finished in either suede or leather. The luggage space, situated to the front, is fully carpeted and bound in leather and is both spacious and practical. Noble also offer the option of a beautiful calf leather travel set bespoke to the luggage area.
The M600 uses a 4.4 L (4,414 cc) Yamaha-built Volvo B8444S 60º V8 engine which is also used in the Volvo XC90 and S80. The engine used in the M600 is manufactured by Motorkraft in the US from B8444S crate engines with Garrett AiResearch twin-turbochargers equipped with variable boost. This allows the buyer to choose from variable power outputs ranging from 450 hp (336 kW; 456 PS) (Road setting, 0.6 bar (8.7 psi) pressure), 550 hp (410 kW; 558 PS) (Track setting, 0.8 bar (12 psi)) and 650 hp (485 kW; 659 PS) (Race setting, 1 bar (15 psi)) through the use of a switch present on the dashboard. The engine also features a MoTeC M190 and Injector Dynamics ID725 electronic fuel injection. It has a compression ratio of 9.50:1. It uses an Oerlikon Graziano transaxle six-speed manual gearbox and has the redline set at 7,000 rpm.
The M600 uses steel brake discs with six piston calipers at the front and four piston calipers at the rear. The brakes are designed by Britain-based braking specialist Alcon, feature semi-floating front disc with cast aluminium alloy monobloc calipers. Caliper bore sizes are staggered to ensure even pad wear and the pin mounted pads provide low threshold pressure and low noise. The calipers clamp 380mm front and 350mm rear ventilated discs both of which are mounted to lightweight aluminium bells. Friction is provided courtesy of Pagid performance pads.Owing to the driver focused nature of the car, there is no Anti-lock Braking System installed and the brakes have limited servo assistance. The wheels, manufactured by Speedline in Italy, are exclusively designed for the Noble M600, featuring forged aluminium alloy 9Jx19 fronts and 12Jx20 rears. Tyres are Michelin Pilot Sport 255/30-19 fronts and 335/30-20 rears.
The Noble M600 has a massive 650bhp available, this amount of power, or indeed the power delivery, is not always either appropriate or required, however with the Adaptable Performance Control function you can select the power output to reflect both the location and suitable driving conditions.The Noble M600 features three APC settings, the chosen setting is displayed on both the APC dial and the dashboard display:
ROAD: This is the ‘comfort’ setting and represents circa 450bhp, this also supports full traction control and a gently progressive boost curve and throttle response.
TRACK: This is the mid-range power setting circa 550bhp, this setting features a little less intrusive traction, a steeper boost curve and more initial response to the throttle.
RACE: This is the full power setting of circa 650bhp, this allows increased wheel slip, an aggressive boost curve and a heightened reactive throttle ‘tip in’ to allow effective and responsive heel and toe operation.
