For those in the Charlotte area and not yet aware, we have a new exotic car dealership. It is located on Independence Blvd across from the area where the Mercedes Benz dealership is (if you're really familiar with Charlotte, they are located in the old Cycle Sorcery location).

The dealership is officially signed as a Maserati dealership, but they have a wide selection of exotics. I stopped by over the weekend to check out their inventory.

On the showroom floor...

• yellow Ferrari Enzo!
• yellow Carrera GT!
• Red Ferrari 360 Spyder
• Two Ferrari 355 spyders (black & red)
• Porsche GT3

Some of the cars in the lot...

• Two more 360s... a red spyder and a silver modena
• Aston Martin Vanquish S
• Aston Martin DB9 (my personal favorite )
• several Maserati drop tops
• a smooth Maserati luxury sedan
• Audi A8L

Definitely worth a stop if you appreciate some fine road machines.

 

Thinking about stepping up your game?

 

well... actually, yes... but the car I am likely to buy is not on the list above. Have a roughly 18 month plan to add something extraordinary to my garage... keeping it hush-hush in case things don't work out as well as I would like.

 

Since I know everything except, when a cop is tailing me! I would say a Porche is your likely choice, but how much modding can you do to a Porche?

I just don't see you leaning towards the M3 or M5 because of the vehicles shape!

But since you clearly have the Modding Bug I'm stumped!

 

what I'm shopping for will run circles around a GT3 or 360 CS for 1/2 the price.

 

I know what I am going to do this weekend!

 

noble m12 gto?

 

UnderPressure, I have never heard of that vehicle before...looked it up here! That's Crazy!!!

http://www.noblecars.com/new-noble-s...del-gto-3r.htm

 

Ant... check out the latest Car & Driver.

Noble M12 GTO-3R (I hope I'm remembering these right)
$78K
0-60 in 3.3sec
0-100 in just over 8 sec
1/4 mile = 11.8sec
Skidpad = 1G

Then, when you get tired of reading, find a place to download the Jeremy Clarkson review from BBC's Top Gear. They review an older model, but the commentary pretty much tells it all regarding the handling.

mcduck can neither confirm nor deny this is the car he is pursuing.

 

The Noble M12 is awesome. Great Article in Car and Driver too. I just looked at the website for the only Noble distributor in the U.S. today. It is www.1gracing.com The biggest problem with the Noble is that you have to purchase the motor from a company in Texas separate from the car and either install it yourself or have it installed. It is done that way because as a kit car so it avoids U.S. crash test and emissions requirements. The Noble may be the best exotic for the money though.

 

yeah... but I hesitate to really call it a "kit" car. The only thing you have to do is drop the motor in. Otherwise the car is complete. Once you put the two together, you essentially have the same car you buy off the lot in the UK.

BTW, I looked at the article again last night. The correct figures are...
$75K

0-60 in 3.3sec
0-100 in 8.1sec
1/4 mile = 11.5@118mph
Skidpad = 1G

 

You are correct engine about the engine, but the car also does not come with a transmission either. In other words the car is complete except for the engine and transmission which takes approximately 40 hours to install. That is why I refer to it as a kit car. I believe the C&D article does too.

 

when you order it through 1G, you get the complete rolling chassis. If you want, they will procure the drivetrain for you as well... meaning engine and tranny come as a unit.

It's up to you whether they arrange "assembly", which consists of dropping the motor & tranny into the car, or whether you do it yourself or employ another shop to do it.

I understand your point, but the only way this car really is a kit is in that it is not turnkey when you receive it in the states. If you bought the car in the UK, you'd drive it right off the lot you bought it from.

BTW, for those unclear, the $75K price tag is for the complete car... chassis, engine, tranny, and install costs.

 

Okay Andy, the Noble is a great choice (if that is in fact the car you are planning on adding), but those specs don't quite make it a full circle around the GT3, and it is a lot more than 1/2 the price.

 

Morris... next time we get together for a drive, remind me to bring some copies of the various road course tests where they compare the M12 (the old version, not even the GTO3R) to a myriad of other "track" editions.

I was shocked at how many seconds it was ahead of the GT3 and the 360 Challenge Stradale on road courses. It is less than 1/2 the price of the 360CS and is considerably cheaper than the GT3 ($99,900 sticker + dealer markup).

Now, the Noble figures were in C&D, so I pulled C&D's most recent GT3 road test figures for comparison

0-60 in 4.0 seconds (0.7 sec slower than the Noble)
0-100 in 8.8 seconds (again 0.7 sec slower than the Noble)
1/4 mile in 12.3sec @ 118mph (0.8 secs slower, but the same speed)
Top speed (est) = 190mph (this is 4mph faster than they rated for the Noble, but how often will you get to go this fast?)
Lateral = no figures posted for the GT3, so no valid comparison. The other articles I mention show that it has a huge advantage here as well, tho.

So $100K+ for a GT3 or $75K flat for an M12 GTO3R that will bust the GT3 and any other factory Porsche short of a Carerra GT. I know what I would want.

BTW, the new Ferrari F430 only pulls 0-60 in 4.1sec (comparing C&D numbers to C&D numbers here) and the 360CS did 0-62 in 3.9sec. COuld not find a complete test of the CS in C&D archives.

 

I have talked to a guy that had one a few monthes ago. It was unreal. His car had a six cylinder twin turbo, and sounded really good. Here are some pics..sorry they are so bad i took them with my phone.

 

ok, here is a secret, i used to assembly the nobles thru horsepowerhouse out of lex, ky. I've worked on about 8 of them. we did turbo upgrades, intercooler updates, ecu upgrades, traction control, hard pipe kits, etc...
The maroon car that hold motor trend's records for performance was our guinea pig. I have driven this car. It's sick. If anyone is interested in purchasing or more information about the noble's please pm me. I have stories...... hahahaha.....

 

Andy, I am not arguing. I read up on the Noble after you mentioned it to me last time. I understand it is faster and less expensive. I thought you were comparing the price to that of the GT3 when you said it was half the price. I just thought you were stretching the price difference and the performance difference a little bit.

The Nobles' stats are very impressive!

 

Ditto here... I just thought you might want to read the articles.

 

Can you image a modded Noble????? drool!!!!