First introduced in 2010, the Noble M600 is a low-production, rear-wheel-drive, mid-engine sports car built in Leicester, England. It's an expression of pure driving experience, with very little to offer it's passengers beyond a total immersion in speed. The only driving assists you'll find are a rudimentary traction control system and the fear of death. There isn't even ABS. The handling is hairy, taking a Stig-like touch to drive well, and mounted directly behind the driver is a 4.4-liter V8 with two turbochargers strapped to the exhaust manifolds, yielding a total 650 horsepower and 654 pound-feet of torque. At 2,645 pounds, that's a power-to-weight ratio of 541 horsepower per ton, a figure that bests even the mighty Bugatti Veyron. That means, properly motivated, the M600 can blast from a standstill to 60 mph in three seconds, run a standing quarter mile in 11 seconds flat, and hit a top speed of 225 mph.
Although it costs over $300 grand, the M600 has enjoyed enough success to encourage Noble to produce an update. For the past few years, the British carmaker has teased the idea of releasing a convertible M600. Now, according to the Dutch publication De Telegraaf, it appears as though that idea is coming to fruition.
Given the uncompromising nature of the M600, it should come as no surprise that Noble's managing director, Peter Boutwood, is a Ferrari F40 owner and former racing driver. In an exclusive interview with De Telegraaf, Boutwood said that Noble still plans on developing a drophead version of the M600. While an official date has not been announced, Boutwood confirmed that Noble is currently in the prototyping phase. Given the long development period required for the small Noble team to actually put an idea into production, a drivable M600 convertible might not appear for some time. We'll eagerly await the results.
Typically, when a roofless version of a sporty car is released, the overall performance is nerfed. With no metal at the top to hold it together, the chassis loses a substantial amount of torsional rigidity, which yields a serious penalty when it comes to cornering prowess. Automakers often attempt to fix this with addition bracing lower in the body, but that creates weight. And weight, if you didn't already know, is the sworn enemy of any performance measurement. It makes everything worse - acceleration, braking, lateral grip, even fuel mileage.
Given this fact, you may be shocked to hear that Noble is planning to chop the top on its hardcore, driver-oriented M600. The question remains: can Noble offer all that speed in a car with unlimited headroom?
Click past the jump to read more about the Noble M600 Drophead
Above image is of the standard M600, not the Drophead."
Noble M600 Drophead originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 17 November 2014 12:00 EST.
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