Noble M15: First Look

By Feann Torr - 5/Apr/2006

When niche British car maker Noble released the M12, it was on for young and old. The twin turbo 6-cylinder sports car could quite easily compete  with the best from Italy, Germany and of course the UK in all performance benchmarks, but without the heritage of a Lamborghini or the badge value of a BMW 'M' division, people still ask "Noble who?"

Lee Noble is the man behind the Leicestershire operation, and with the new M15 sports car - a quasi successor to the M12, and loosely based on the conceptual M14 - Noble hopes to increase its cachet and make more an impact in the exotic car market.

The way the UK company hopes to do this is by creating a practical super car, and it would pay to read the whole article before you cry 'oxymoron'.

"The M12 is a great car," says founder Lee Noble, "but it’s very focused and I wanted to produce a super car people could use every day. It was time for Noble to take a big step up in terms of refinement, practicality and style."

Despite laying claim to a more user friendly interior - complete with sat nav, leather sports seats and 300 litres of cargo space - the new M15 has not left behind its super car origins. Indeed, the new M15 is the quickest car to be built at its Barwell HQ rocketing to 96km/h from rest in 3.3 seconds, and is 57% stiffer than its forebear, the M12, which bodes well for its cornering abilities. 

"We’re delighted with this new car’s all-round skills and the I reckon there’s not a car in its class to touch it dynamically. After all, it’s still a Noble!" explained an obviously proud Lee Noble.

Featuring a bold, aerodynamic form with which to cut the air at high velocities with, the Noble M15's 3.0-litre engine takes pride of place behind the driver, in the mid-mount position between the front and rear axles. Interestingly, the the engine was moved forward by 300mm to help improve not only its weight distribution, but free up some cargo space too.

Sitting low to the ground and sporting a plethora of generous air ducts to keep things cool, the 185mph exotic vehicle also has a motor sports derived rear diffuser to ensure the airflow towards the rear does not create turbulence, which can increase drag and rear end lift. 

The shamelessly overboosted 3.0-litre (2968cc) V6 that powers the new M15 has 4-valves per cylinder and features a pair of Garret turbochargers to get things moving. By 'get' and 'moving' I really mean 'make' and 'crazy'.

Pumping out enough turbo boost to dry your washing, the M15's power delivery to the rear wheels is expected to be unrelentingly violent, with peak torque of 617Nm smashing through the crankshaft @ 4850rpm. Peak power meanwhile is a suitably shocking 339kW of power @ 6800rpm, which is about 455 horsepower.

As well as being able to hit 96km/h (60mph) from standstill in 3.3 seconds - which would be about 3.4 seconds to 100km/h, quicker than a Ferrari Enzo - the more civilised M15 will reach 100mph (160km/h) in "less than 8" seconds according to Noble, while top speed is a mere 185mph, which translates to about 298km/h. Incidentally, the Ferrari Enzo can reach 362km/h, but it's got automatically adjusting winglets and costs about five times as much.

Before now, there has been no engine as powerful as the 339kW twin turbo V6 in a Noble, and the company states that it's taken seven years and millions of testing miles to get it to the current level of performance. With more efficient intercoolers than before, not to mention a more aerodynamic keel, the M15 has been optimised to offer "effortless" acceleration beyond 210km/h (130mph).

In addition to the undeniably forceful powertrain, other aspects of the M15 have been upgraded when compared to its forebear, the M12. For example, it's the new M15 is a larger vehicle, measuring 4270mm long and 1905mm wide, up by 181 and 31mm respectively. Tipping the scales at a touch more than 1200kg, the Noble is a reasonably light sports car, and thanks to changes in the engine's mounting position - moved forward by 300mm - the vehicle's weight distribution will give it an even sharper dynamic edge with a 42:58 split between the front and rear.

Noble explains that the new M15 has a confidence-inspiring spaceframe chassis that has "supreme cornering skills" and there's really no reason to doubt such claims. Past Noble models have always been well received in terms of handling (but not so much ride), and with an integral roll cage that improves body stiffness by 57%, Noble is justifiably talking up the M15's dynamic prospects, saying that "handling on the limit is even better than before."

Noble mentions that production for the raucous M15 is strictly limited, and priced at £74,950 the M15 will be hot property on the British super car scene. "Hopefully people that test this car will see it as a real alternative to £130,000 exotica, as well as the immediate competition in the price range," said Lee Noble, indicating the higher price bracket in which it will compete. "We know we’re taking on tough opposition, but I’m sure this car is going to take us forward in a big way."

Noble has a plan to elevate its image and it's steadily moving towards this goal of bringing its models to a higher level in terms of comfort and style, while at the same time increasing its badge value in order to compete with the more established exotic brands. Noble's performance credentials are rock solid, and perhaps with a few more model cycles people won't be asking "Noble who?"