Daily Archives: July 14, 2018
Noble M500 Gets Introduced With 550HP
Since 2010, British sports car manufacturer Noble has been making one car only—the M600. But at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, the automaker has introduced an all-new concept in the form of the Noble M500. It has a fiberglass body and packs in the powerful twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 engine.
The M500 is only a concept car for now, and the car that was showcased during the festival is still in early development, so the actual production car might not be launched until 2019. It was reported that the M500 will have a rear-wheel-drive system with a fiberglass body and a direct-shift dual-clutch automatic gearbox.
Under the hood, the powerful twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 engine can produce 550 horsepower. The engine comes from the same family of engines that are in the Radical RXC Turbo, Ford F-150 and Ford GT. There’s a difference in power, though, since the GT produces 647 horses. The figure also leaves a 110hp gap between the M500 and the M600.
Unlike the M600 which is made with a carbon fiber body, the M500 will use fiberglass for its frame. It will put it at par with the M600’s 2,756 pounds of weight, though the M500 will likely be heavier as it focuses on being more of a comfortable daily car.
Noble is positioning the M500 to be more of a daily car than the M600. It will also be priced lower so that it can bring in more volume and customers.
Noble company director Peter Boutwood was responsible for the design of the M500, which is really a step up from the M600. The company moved away from the squarer design of the M600 and follows other modern supercars with a slippery shape and flying buttresses.
The car isn’t expected to be in production until well into 2019 and pricing hasn’t even been set yet. But based on Noble’s decision to lower the price of the M500, it should be way below the M600’s $272,000 price.
2020 Toyota Supra Makes a ‘Dynamic Debut’ At Goodwood Festival of Speed
Toyota finally unveiled in a kind of “dynamic debut” fashion its 2020 Supra at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. By “dynamic,” Toyota meant that what they have shown at the festival was the production version of the car, but it’s still covered with camouflage.
Chief engineer Tetsuya Tada and master driver Herwig Daenens sprinted the Supra up the famed hill climb. The Supra is cloaked in red, white, and black camo, which comes from Toyota Gazoo Racing. These are the same colors used on the 24 Hour of Le Mans-winning TS050 Hybrid LMP1 racer sports.
The next-generation A90 Supra will remain true to its predecessors as the Japanese automaker confirmed that it will use an inline-6 engine and rear-wheel-drive layout. The standard Supra should come with BMW’s 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-6 and a likely hybrid version should come with more power. There’s still no word on whether a manual transmission will be developed for the car.
The Supra’s development is tied with that of the BMW Z4, but Toyota was very clear on its mission to distinguish the Supra from the German car. Tada said that the two cars will offer completely different driving experiences and even their shared hardware will have dissimilar configurations.
To sooth the ego of Supra fans, Toyota also asked for their opinions and suggestions on how to develop this next-generation Supra.
Interior
The spy shots of the Supra’s interior were published by Motor1 also. The last time we took a peek inside its cabin was in April and back then, we only saw its instrument cluster and steering wheel. This time, we are given a good sense of what the interior will look like.
The dashboard does not have the same wraparound effect but occupants will still sit lower in the car. There’s a wide infotainment screen on top of the center stack and a second screen is possible given that there’s still space for it. The shots make us think that the Supra will have a smaller cabin than what was originally planned, but let’s just wait and see.
Toyota said that the car will be on sale in the first half of 2019, meaning the full reveal is six months away from today.