My Noble M12

[tuxman]

So 2013 turned into a epic year and a crazy road trip was planned , bookatrack had a 2 day track day booked the Monday and Tuesday of Le Man weeks !!! What followed was a 2000 miles road trip !! Even my wife thought I was mad ?
The Sunday morning I left my house at 3 am and headed for spa , on the train I bumped into a group of Ferrari owners who were also going to Spa .




Went over to say hello on the train but it soon became apparent they were not too impressed with the Green a Noble that was taking space up in there train !!! Followed them off the train and decided to tag along , thought it would be nice to go in convoy .
Unfortunately that seemed to realy curse word them off so for and hour they tried to shake me off , firstly slowing down to 40 mph and bunching up then when I would not pass they sped up flat out too well over 100 !!! Made me chuckle Anoying them :-)
In the end I flicked into high boost then as they all slowed down to 40 mph I pulled out to overtake , yes you gussed it they all floored it !!!!! Needless to say they were not expecting me to fly past them all with 1 finger out the window waving them goodbye :-)

Arrived at Spa to lovely sunshine without drama , stayed at a nice hotel .



Monday and Tuesday was epic and the weather was amazing , it was 40 degrees in the sunshine and the hottest I have ever driven the Noble in !!!






It was brilliant 2 days of non stop action again the Noble never missed a beat completing 40 laps on the Monday and 30 laps on the Tuesday , that's 280 miles on track !!!!



This Photo is one of my favourites , going through En Rouge flat out is such a thrill !!!





Wednesday morning after loading up all my camping kit I left Spa at 4 in the morning and headed for Le Man , the plan was too meet up with all my friends and lovely wife and son , it was a long way !!!





The trip from Spa had everything , scorching temps across Belgium to torrential rain around Paris !!! Bloody epic is the only way I can describe it , did the last 100 miles in 56 minutes , not bad going :-)
It felt great to arrive at the Chataux .





Everybody arrived on the Thursday to find me laying by the pool !! The Noble covered in rubber , road curse word , dirt , and just about anything else you could chuck at it but she looked stunning !!!!









As I pulled into the garage on the following Monday she sat there idling as if nothing had happened in the last week . Incredible only the driver was knackered :-)

[dan]

oh my goodness, this really is living the dream.

Keep the story & pics coming

[welshpug]

are those Michelin Pilot sport cups?

[tuxman]

Yep they are the only tyre I can find that cope with all the power and milage !!!

[ads7]

Not many of these around at a bargain price, nice purchase I love it

Had a blast in an Ultima demo car a while back,any experience with how they compare?

[tuxman]

Yep I had a Ultima before my Noble , here she is .





The Noble is quite a bit quicker !!!!!!!

[Mark]

Fantastic car. Seller of my first E30 M3 had one and have been pretty much smitten ever since. Sadly I don't have the funds to run one myself. Once my lotto win come up though, I'll have one amongst the collection.

Any details on the white one?

[wheeler]

Wow! What a coincidence! I have the same car!

Well, basically the same.

I mean, I have the same rear lights on my mk1 Mondeo.

How's yours treating you?




Jokes aside, that is a mouth-watering motor!

[tuxman]

After Le Man the main event was a big Noble meet at Silverstone , this was part of a Goldtrack track day and we saw 30 Nobles on track and a similar event in the pit lane .
Great fun and brilliant too see so many British cars together !!







I fitting end to a stunning year .

[BackCountry]

tuxman said "In the end I flicked into high boost then as they all slowed down to 40 mph I pulled out to overtake , yes you gussed it they all floored it !!!!! Needless to say they were not expecting me to fly past them all with 1 finger out the window waving them goodbye :-) "

Like Mad Max and his supercharger, so sweet!!

[tuxman]

2014 started with some new admissions to the family , firstly a trailer to help keep the mileage of the UFO .



Then in February we bought this :



Never thought I would own a Jag but she is just plain stunning both to look at and drive .


2014 was a big year as I decided to have a go at UK Time Attack , the early part of the year was taken up by a mega road trip to Spa and my first time at Zandvolt , both stunning a tracks which the Noble just loves !!

Very wet at Spa but some great practise and some stunning photos .

Here is one of my favorite's .



Fantastic shot of all the aero working at high speed , even in the wet 150mph was achievable with great stability .


Zandvolt was stunning !!





After returning back things were set for our normal trip to Le man , this was a family tradition and both cars were packed and ready to go , along with us was a group of TVR and other nobles .



All in all the Noble did 2000 miles in 5 weeks !!! Apart from a litre of water and 1/2 litre of oil nothing else was needed !!!

June was a incredible month for me and UFO , our first ever competition , Cadwell park was our first event and I was pretty nervous , I think I was more afraid of letting the Noble down !! She looked great in her new sticker set .




Format is basicly 2 practise sessions 1 qualifying then a final . I don't mind admitting sitting in the pit lane waiting to go out for my first practise I was crapping it but I need not have worried , the Noble was quite frankly stunning , I was fastest through the speed traps all day and qualified 2nd in class !!








The final was just just bloody brilliant , never been so scared yet thrilled at the same time !!! The Noble never missed a beat and looked after me even when I pushed too hard !!! Managed to hold on to 2nd and win the one hit wonder class :-)

So proud of her !!

[ChasR]

What a great tale of how the car became to be what it is! I am sure that it must have been testing when the car blew up on you when it did but what a reward! It looks fabulous for all intents and purposes.

[mdh]

That Ultima is gorgeous!

[tuxman]

Mar 29, 2015 18:31:38 GMT mdh said:

That Ultima is gorgeous!

Thanks5 years in the making . 

[Stu]

Brilliant story! Thanks for sharing.

[scratcher]

That is an amazing car! I loved the whole thread.
Well done on the win. Time Attack is tough!

[tuxman]

Thanks very much guys , it has been a epic journey !!

On the way back from Cadwell it became apparent that the car was built to do Time Attack and with a 3 second gap to make up on the winning car it was obvious to me that my Road/track setup was not good enough .
Add too that the next round I could do is Silverstone I new my setup was not right and would cost me more time !!! So a pretty drastic step was taken and over the next 5 weeks the suspension was completely stripped and rebuilt using stronger lower Eibec springs and re valves Protech dampers .
Then the car was Shipped too Center Gravity for a full chassis race setup to be put on the car !!!!
It was a massive gamble but if I was going to get faster I needed a more aggressive setup and I had nothing to loose as if I was going to do a full season next year I had to get the car sorted !!!
I collected the car 2 days before Silverstone and boy was it low !!!





Getting it on my trailer was a major feat with planks of wood and a trolley jack and I have to say most people thought I was mad changing a setup I had used for 4 years but I was convinced it was the only way to go !!!

Silverstone arrived a bright sunny warm day and as I sat on the pit lane waiting I have to admit my guts were churning !!!!!
First practise went well but I had massive amounts of under steer !!! Something I hate :-(
I softened the front dampers a bit a dropped the front tyre pressure also but in second practise it did not improve !!! The car felt so slow and difficult to drive fast :-(
I was gutted !!!!! I sat in the pit lane feeling very dispondant when my wife came skipping over with the time sheets grinning from ear to ear , she wanted to know why I was curse word off when I had topped the time sheets in both rounds !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was stunned , how then he'll did that happen ?

Time to regroup and head out for qualifieing , keep smooth and trail brake seemed to help the front end and I pushed like crazy , never had I driven the Noble so hard !! Running med boost (550bhp) the car felt brilliant and it just came together , no time to check gauges or temps I just went for it !!!! The Noble never missed a beat and on the second to last lap I set a time that put me second in class but just 3/4 of a second behind the winning car !!! Bloody fantastic .

I was exhausted and elated !!! The final was a mess as 2 red flags ment no running on pace but I still came second and won the one hit wonders class !!!!

What a weekend :-)

A second trophie to add to the first and a very dirty Nob signalled the end of a epic year !!



Tux

[Ian]

I'm enjoying reading this, always liked the M12, such a great looking car. It's funny how it can set such times when you aren't comfortable with the set up. Looking forward to the next installment!

[tuxman]

Thanks Ian , I'm never sure if there is anybody ready this post !!! Thanks for the input .

[R3TR0_R0B]

What a car... and a cool story to add, very nice!