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    Oct 29, 2005 10:00:10 PM

    Turbo Al Offline
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    Turbo Al
    Loc: Rochester, New York , United States
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    Noble M400 Ordered

    I put down a deposit on the Noble M400: Azure Blue Metallic paint, Black Alcantara seats, Carbon Fiber spoiler supports, Silver wheels. Rolling chassis shipped from South Africa (Mike S., mine is #NUS0146, so put in a good word for me at the factory -and with 4 numbers, that means they plan to build only 9,999 ) by 12/9/05, final assembly in the US by late 2/06.

    Interesting, the recommended oil for the first 3,000 miles is non-synthetic. Can anyone explain the mechanical reason for this? I have heard it supposedly helps the rings set faster. Also, the recommended break-in for the Ford Duratec modified V6, Garrett twin-turbocharged engine with titanium rods is 4,500 rpm's or less (sustained) up to 1,000 miles, but that brief smooth revs to below redline are also recommended sort of like what I did to break in my 996TSCab. Now all I need do is find out when the 997TCab/TSCab release will be. And get through another long Rochester winter.

    At least I'll be able to look forward to a test drive of the Aston Martin DB9 and AMV8 this January down in Florida.

    Oct 29, 2005 10:08:04 PM

    Gary(SF)
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    Gary(SF)
    Loc: SF Bay Area
    Posts: 510, Gallery
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    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    That's great! I've been following the Noble with great interest, but the difficulties with registering the car in CA have stopped me from ordering it. I'll be interested to hear your impressions since some have said the quality is great and others dismiss it as a shoddy kit. I have not seen one up close yet. Keep us posted!

    Gary

    Oct 29, 2005 10:22:58 PM

    Turbo Al Offline
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    Turbo Al
    Loc: Rochester, New York , United States
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    Reply to: Gary(SF)

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Quote:
    tdf360 said:
    That's great! I've been following the Noble with great interest, but the difficulties with registering the car in CA have stopped me from ordering it. I'll be interested to hear your impressions since some have said the quality is great and others dismiss it as a shoddy kit. I have not seen one up close yet. Keep us posted!

    Gary



    I suspect that some folks are turned off by the interior-definitely not a piece of jewelry-but for what I want out of this car, fun acceleration and handling for track days-non-competitive, just recreational thrashing-yet still driveable on public roads, the interior appointments weren't critical. Purely a summer weekend toy-even rainy summer days will be avoided-the car has no ABS or traction control, BUT on dry pavement, the car has more grip than superglue, with its double-wishbone suspension, mid-engine layout and RWD on barely one ton of weight, and I found the car less noisy and less uncomfortable to drive than rumoured. My Porsche911, specifically a 996 (hopefully soon to be 997 ) TSCab is my summer GT car, actually my "daily driver" from spring to the first snowfall and salting of the roads come winter. . . .

    Oct 29, 2005 10:55:02 PM

    JimFlat6
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    JimFlat6
    Loc: Cave , United States
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    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Good luck with it Al! I bet you will have a lot of fun with it. Please go for a more open exhaust to keep the neighbors on their toes.

    Today I saw a Ariel Atom on the road in the Seattle area.
    The driver was wearing a full face helmet and bike leathers.

    It looked fun for a summer day, but not fall.

    Oct 30, 2005 1:07:24 AM

    Gary(SF)
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    Gary(SF)
    Loc: SF Bay Area
    Posts: 510, Gallery
    Registered on: Nov 4, 2003
    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Quote:
    Al Pettee said:
    Quote:
    tdf360 said:
    That's great! I've been following the Noble with great interest, but the difficulties with registering the car in CA have stopped me from ordering it. I'll be interested to hear your impressions since some have said the quality is great and others dismiss it as a shoddy kit. I have not seen one up close yet. Keep us posted!

    Gary



    I suspect that some folks are turned off by the interior-definitely not a piece of jewelry-but for what I want out of this car, fun acceleration and handling for track days-non-competitive, just recreational thrashing-yet still driveable on public roads, the interior appointments weren't critical. Purely a summer weekend toy-even rainy summer days will be avoided-the car has no ABS or traction control, BUT on dry pavement, the car has more grip than superglue, with its double-wishbone suspension, mid-engine layout and RWD on barely one ton of weight, and I found the car less noisy and less uncomfortable to drive than rumoured. My Porsche911, specifically a 996 (hopefully soon to be 997 ) TSCab is my summer GT car, actually my "daily driver" from spring to the first snowfall and salting of the roads come winter. . . .



    Yeah, I love the idea of a super light car for a track-day car. Looks like a lot of fun.

    Gary

    Oct 30, 2005 1:08:32 AM

    Lazy Cat
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    Reply to: Grant

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Good choice and congratulations, Al!!I wish you a lot of fun with that car.I'm also happy to see that some clever people still recommend a break in period in order to get the best of the engine.

    Oct 30, 2005 1:20:40 AM

    Ron (Houston)M
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    Ron (Houston)
    Loc: Houston, TX , United States
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    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Congrats Al that sounds awesome.

    Oct 30, 2005 1:26:07 AM

    Grant
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    Grant
    Loc: Denver, CO , United States
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    Reply to: JimFlat6

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Nice going, Al Can't wait to hear your impressions. Yes, synthetic is supposedly too slippery for the rings to seat properly. I know several engine builders who favor dino oil for breakin and then change over to synth...

    BTW, I think the interior appointments are lavish compared to my track/street car

    Oct 30, 2005 2:13:39 AM

    RCA
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    RC
    Loc: Rennteam HQ , Germany
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    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Congrats, Al!!! I almost thought for a second or two that you're ordering a Bugatti Veyron.

    Don't forget to post pictures and a short driving review when you get the car. A lot of people are very very curious.

    Oct 30, 2005 2:29:18 AM

    Turbo Al Offline
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    Turbo Al
    Loc: Rochester, New York , United States
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    Reply to: RCA

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Quote:
    RC said:
    Congrats, Al!!! I almost thought for a second or two that you're ordering a Bugatti Veyron.

    Don't forget to post pictures and a short driving review when you get the car. A lot of people are very very curious.



    Well RC,

    If you "pitch in" and help by paying for the deposit, then maybe I would be willing to spend my ENTIRE retirement savings on a Bugatti Veyron.

    Will do on the M400 review, with pics, as well. Most likely March 2006 delivery.

    Oct 30, 2005 2:38:03 AM

    Turbo Al Offline
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    Turbo Al
    Loc: Rochester, New York , United States
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    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Thanks Jim, Grant, C-Monster and Ron,

    Yes that Ariel Atom is a fast machine. But my neighbors are angry at me enough, so I'll be nice and keep the decibels down with the Noble.

    And Grant, I was always told I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but the M400's "rich" performance easily compensates for the supposed "cheap" interior.

    Oct 30, 2005 2:43:02 AM

    Turbo Al Offline
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    Turbo Al
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    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    BTW tdf360,

    I heard from a good "source" that there's a chance that the M400 will be easier to buy and register in Cal next year-there might be a subtle mod. made to the car so that it won't be classifed as a "kit" car, and thus not be limited to 500 a year in Cal. This might open up the market there. Contact 1GRacing in Cincinnati if interested.

    Oct 30, 2005 10:36:39 AM

    Carlos from SpainM
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    Carlos from Spain
    Loc: Spain. , Spain
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    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Very cool Al, cograts! can't wait till you get it and show us some pics and impressions

    Oct 30, 2005 11:13:32 AM

    amir sarmad
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    amir sarmad
    Loc: dubai, UAE
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    Reply to: Carlos from SpainM

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    congrats. is there an option to get the m14 with the 450hp engine?

    Oct 30, 2005 2:35:02 PM

    Ferdie
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    Ferdie
    Loc: Europe , Germany
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    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Sounds good! Congrats!

    So what do you drive in the winter, a Hummer?

    Oct 30, 2005 3:23:56 PM

    Gary(SF)
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    Gary(SF)
    Loc: SF Bay Area
    Posts: 510, Gallery
    Registered on: Nov 4, 2003
    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Quote:
    Al Pettee said:
    BTW tdf360,

    I heard from a good "source" that there's a chance that the M400 will be easier to buy and register in Cal next year-there might be a subtle mod. made to the car so that it won't be classifed as a "kit" car, and thus not be limited to 500 a year in Cal. This might open up the market there. Contact 1GRacing in Cincinnati if interested.



    Thanks Al, I'll look into that.

    Gary

    Oct 30, 2005 6:04:16 PM

    Turbo Al Offline
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    Turbo Al
    Loc: Rochester, New York , United States
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    Reply to: Carlos from SpainM

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Thanks Carlos,

    Actually, you are the one to "blame" ( ) for making me aware of the exstence of the M400 from your post from September 20 on this board.

    Amir,

    I don't know if there are plans for a 450bhp version of the M14. AFAIK, it's offered only with the 3L-TT-V6, good for 400bhp/385lb-ft. At 1,100kg, it has a power:weight ratio of 363bhp:tonne versus 400+bhp:tonne in the M400 (thus the designation "400"). As of now, there are no plans for Noble to export the M14 to the USA, but where you are from might be different. Besides, the M14 is more of a jewelry car.

    Ferdie,

    In winter, I drive an Audi S4-with a couple of simple mods., Milltek sport exhaust, Oberscheider chip flashing-enough to keep me from being completely bored with it, it easily gets through the snow we get, and comfortably holds five of us-but every now and then we get slammed with huge blizzards, and the thought HAS crossed my mind to get a Hummer, but I'll stick with the Audi as the family sedan and wait for Porsche to make the turbocharged AWD Panamera. I hear they plan to take the CarreraGT V10 engine and turbocharge it to over 700hp with a 911Turbo AWD transaxle-maybe by 2010?

    Oct 30, 2005 7:50:41 PM

    Justin
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    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Congrats. A friend of mine is taking delivery of his next week, hopefully he can get it registered!

    No denying this car's pace, fantastic for the price too.

    - J

    Oct 30, 2005 10:13:37 PM

    Turbo Al Offline
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    Turbo Al
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    Reply to: Justin

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Quote:
    Justin said:
    Congrats. A friend of mine is taking delivery of his next week, hopefully he can get it registered!

    No denying this car's pace, fantastic for the price too.

    - J



    If your friend is from CA, remind him that the state allows 500 "special construction vehicles" or "kit cars" to be registered per annum, to get a sequence number (1-500), he should have also special reg. info. filled out in advance, then on the first "working" calendar day of the year (in this case, Monday, 1/2/06), he needs to go to the CA DMV to register the car. I hear the 500 slots are assigned in less than 48 hours.

    Oct 30, 2005 10:16:34 PM

    Justin
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    Justin
    Loc: San Diego, CA, USA
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    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Quote:
    Al Pettee said:
    If your friend is from CA, remind him that the state allows 500 "special construction vehicles" or "kit cars" to be registered per annum, to get a sequence number (1-500), he should have also special reg. info. filled out in advance, then on the first "working" calendar day of the year (in this case, Monday, 1/2/06), he needs to go to the CA DMV to register the car. I hear the 500 slots are assigned in less than 48 hours.



    That's exactly right. I wonder what he will do if he cannot get it registered.

    A bit of a shame, because ideally, everyone should be able to buy a Noble if they so desire. 500 cars a year for all the cars is not a lot.

    - J

    Oct 31, 2005 7:09:36 AM

    Mike S
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    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Quote:
    Al Pettee said:
    Quote:
    RC said:
    Congrats, Al!!! I almost thought for a second or two that you're ordering a Bugatti Veyron.

    Don't forget to post pictures and a short driving review when you get the car. A lot of people are very very curious.



    Well RC,

    If you "pitch in" and help by paying for the deposit, then maybe I would be willing to spend my ENTIRE retirement savings on a Bugatti Veyron.

    Will do on the M400 review, with pics, as well. Most likely March 2006 delivery.



    Congrats Al! I'm sure you'll love it! March 2006 is a LONG time for delivery?! I got mine in 2 months from day of deposit!

    Oct 31, 2005 12:49:34 PM

    Turbo Al Offline
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    Reply to: Mike S

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    Quote:
    Mike S said:

    Congrats Al! I'm sure you'll love it! March 2006 is a LONG time for delivery?! I got mine in 2 months from day of deposit!



    Tell me about it. . . .

    Oct 31, 2005 3:04:42 PM

    Alex18_996CC Offline
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    Reply to: Turbo Al

    Re: Noble M400 Ordered

    I want to see delivery pics!!!!!!

    Man congrats on the car, by the comments of Mike and others, the car should give you more than a smile

    congrats !!!!!
     
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