| Archive for The Motor Forum talking cars since 2006 |
| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
Noble M600 road test - spoiler alertQuite a coup for Autocar, running full figures on the car so soon:0-60 3.5, 0-100 6.8, 0-150 14.0, 0-200 29.8 1/4 mile 11.0/131.1 1 km 19.9/170.2 Most in-gear figures quicker than the McLaren F1. http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarRevie...History/Noble-M600-4.4-V8/243971/ |
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| Twelfth Monkey |
I had the feeling that this was being dismissed in rather pat fashion when it was last discussed. | ||||||
| Turbonutter |
I did see the test this morning - pretty quick isn't it 
No ABS though and still beaten by the Scud wet and dry laps ( although they put that down partly to the tyres ) |
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
I don't think anyone ever doubted it would be incredibly fast and also handle well. But my opinion hasn't changed, it still looks too much like a kit car. Why couldn't they have put as much effort into the styling and the interior as they obviously did into the engine and chassis? MP4-12C would still be my choice. |
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| Gurney |
Just seen it on the cover of the mag, bloody quick indeed. 458 Italia for me though and that's a first I don't usually like the Ferrari route.
Lovely Audi R4 in Auto Excess by the way. |
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| Blarno |
I'd have one. Now, where did I put my balaclava? | ||||||
| Twelfth Monkey |
My issue was with the assertion (not made by your good self) that Sutcliffe was automatically an ape for suggesting that he'd rather have one than an F40. A car which, lest we forget, was also not the last word in cosmetics and luxury interiors. |
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| Eff One |
It's certainly interesting and doesn't smack of kit car to my eyes.
Although the 458's spec and basic proportions are stunning, I have a major problem with the front - specifically the headlight treatment, which I find pig-ugly. Guess I'll have to cross it off the shortlist then 
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| scamper |
Not German? Must be shit, so off my list too. | ||||||
| Twelfth Monkey |
Glad I'm not the only one, I think the 458 is desperately ordinary. |
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| Blarno |
+1. Ferraris don't even register on my scale. | ||||||
| TimR |
I don't think the new Ferrari is ordinary as such but I think it's done a lot of favours by its recent less-than-beautiful predecessors.
Certainly the gushing from some of the press seems OTT. |
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
Especially as none of them have driven it yet. I'm sure it will be great, but I'm equally sure a specced one will cost over 200k. And it doesn't stir me the way the McLaren does ... |
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| Blarno |
It's Italian, the motoring press have to love it. It's the law. 
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
Because it's a car with lots of p****** and s*** | ||||||
| Blarno |
Pussies and shit?
Oh wait, that'll be the owners... |
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| TimR |
It amuses me how the motoring press (and lots of motor racing fans too) get all dewy eyed about the 'passion' and style of Ferraris - of any era - yet often the same people seem to hate Alfas and Fiats.
It's doubly amusing since so many Ferraris in particular appear to attract wankers as owners. |
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| "him" |
I am glad I am not the only one... ...though I thought it was pissing and shit! 
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| Mark |
Ferrari’s do very little for me these days but it has to be said that they do consistently (with the odd exception) make excellent, well built cars that are either class leading - or at least ‘up there’. The same cannot be said for the other two marques you mention. Unfortunately. |
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| TimR |
Maybe with recent efforts but Ferrari have certainly made some howlers in the past but that somehow seems to be forgiven. In addition they were building some fairly agricultural cars - compared with their competition - in the 1960s yet these cars are worth far more than the equivalents from different marques. Alfa and Fiat are still stuck with the rust bucket & dodgy electrics image for a lot of people but that applies to pretty much every car from that era. When was the last time anybody saw an early '80s Honda, Nissan or BMW? |
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| Mark |
I completely agree. But, I can’t remember when Fiat or Alfa Romeo had two universally praised mainstream (and that’s what they build) models in their ranges that were competitive in class. Maybe the Tipo & Uno? |
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| TimR |
Punto and Bravo?
Whenever the Punto comes out - all 3 versions - it gets decent praise but the motoring press seem to forget it pretty quickly. The current Bravo appears to be at least as good as the Astra, Megane, etc which are its competitors and , in my opinion at least, the Stilo was no worse than the Mk4 Golf at least at the mundane levels of the range. |
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| Mark |
Yep -could be. I have read/heard some real nightmare stories about living with the current Punto, though - or do you mean the MK1 version? |
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| DaveGibson |
Ferraris have never done anything for me but, then, in my early car appreciating years, from winning Le Mans in 1965 and Niki Lauda arriving in 1975, they hardly won anything. As far as road cars were concerned, the Lamborghini Miura was much more exciting than Ferrari's offerings of the time. | ||||||
| TimR |
I think each version - Mk1, Mk2 and Grande - have done well in reviews when they first came out. |
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
The first year I really started following F1 was 1970, which was the year the first flat-12 Ferrari appeared. The first half of the season was a steep learning curve as the car was very fast but unreliable, but in the second half, they got it sorted, and Ickx was fairly dominant, in fact, following Rindt's tragic accident at Monza, he could have taken the title if he won the last three races. He did win two of them, and would probably have won the third if he hadn't had to stop to repair a fuel leak. |
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| Gurney |
I have never been a Ferrari fan, the fact that I like the 458 is more to do with the styling than anything concerning the marques history.
The only reason I like the 500 Tributo Ferrari is because of what's been done to it, certainly not any association with Ferrari. Mind you if someone was to give me something with the prancing horse on from the thirties I wouldn't say no! I guess I have always been more of a Maserati fan, whose cars have (imho) ranged from the miserable to the magical. |
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
I always loved the Maseratis of the 1960s and 1970s, and from the 3200GT to now, but I more or less gave up on them in the Biturbo years. | ||||||
| Eff One |
Perhaps it's in our nature to be stuck on the Ferraris of our yoof.
For all its foibles I've always thought the 512TR a magnificent thing, and I still consider the F355 the most beautiful of all modern Ferraris. For me, those cars are special; the models that followed seem dliuted somehow. |
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| TimR |
I've always liked the 308GT4.
It's not far short of the 308 in terms of styling and it's 1,000,000 times better than the Mondial. I reckon the reason it gets a bad press is simply who designed it, i.e. NOT Pininfarina, rather than what it looks like. I've got to say Ferrari owners put me off a lot as well. From the ones I've seen at car shows they fall into 2 main camps :- 1) The 30 something guys with a shaved head who you just know would drive a Lancer Evo if they didn't have as much money. 2) The 50+ brigade sometimes seen wearing cords but at car shows they'll be decked out in their Ferrari branded gear. That's fairly petty I suppose. |
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
I know what you mean, Tim, though in answer to point 2, I'd say that nothing shows you DON'T drive a Ferrari like wearing branded gear! Type 1 is definitely correct though - one essential quality for ownership is that your neck is wider than your head. | ||||||
| TimR |
I'm sure I've mentioned this before but I'm the owner of a BRIGHT RED Ferrari jacket, kindly bought a few Christmases ago by my in-laws. They mistakenly assumed that because I like cars and motorsport I'd simply lurve a Ferrari jacket
It's almost fluorescent but at least it's warm in the winter on those rare occasions when I have to wear it. |
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
Wasn't there a guy on the old Autocar forum who actually had a Ferrari? It was a 208 GT4 (tax-dodging Italian market model) IIRC. | ||||||
| TimR |
Yeah Dan someone or other.
I think he had a 928 with a bust engine as well. |
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| Gurney |
I have actually driven a 308 GT4.
Round the car park of a pub... The only impression I got was that I needed to do a lot of work on my left thigh muscles. The clutch was a tad heavy. The owner was a '2' on Tim's scale of Ferrari owners - actually a blueprint for a '2'. |
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
The GT4 is actually one of my favourite Ferraris. Bertone had that 1970s wedge look better than anyone else, and so the GT4 is like a slightly better resolved version of the Uracco.
My other favourite obscure Ferrari is the 365GTC/4 from the early 1970s: 
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| TimR |
Last time I saw a 355 on the road it was at a petrol station and the owner was wearing dark blue cords and a blue checked shirt.
I drove a 308 once but it's owner fell into neither category being an attractive young lady with a slim neck. 
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| Gurney |
I have a bit of a dillema at the moment. I want/need a Netbook for sofa surfing. The only one that fits my needs is this.
http://fwd.five.tv/gadget-show/ga...is-acers-ferrari-notebook-the-one Nooooooo! Christ I would even buy one in pink just to avoid being a Ferrari branded plonker. Hopefully someone will bring something out with similar spec before I crack. Not that I would tell you lot if I did.
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| Mark |
It's not a netbook (edit - it is I suppose)? Tis small though - but at that money I'd just buy a proper full blown laptop. A lot of it's spec is optional, too. |
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
Get a Mac. Which is also the solution for those who want a 458 ... | ||||||
| Turbonutter |
I'll have to cheat a bit here because most mornings I see an X-reg E21 BMW |
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| Gurney |
I need 'small' so a conventional lappie is no use. The base spec of the Acer is just fine, way quicker than any Netbook as it is.
The much rumoured Apple web tablet is of great interest - if indeed it isn't just vapourware, all the other Macs are way too expensive/powerful for what I need - sadly. |
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| DaveGibson |
One thing is for certain, if you found a thirties car with a prancing horse, it wouldn't be a Ferrari, because Scuderia Ferrari raced Alfa Romeos before WW2.. They didn't start making cars until 1947. |
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| Dr. Hfuhruhurr |
I think that was what he meant ... |
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| DaveGibson |
I've mentioned in another thread that I'm thinking about replacing this PC, which is now nearly eight years old. I was curious about the relative speed of the AMD Athlon 1700+ I have now with the usual Intel Atom 270 that you fine in almost all netbooks. Having found a comparison chart, it transpires that they are almost the same. |
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| franki68 |
Never ever liked ferraris or a lot of the people who have them.I would always take a porker or a lambo over a ferrari anytime.
My view has entirely changed since I drove the 430,it may not be as pretty as a gallardo,but it stirs the soul in a way no other car I have ever driven matches. |
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| TimR |
I read a classic car mag article about a pre-war Alfa Monza and the first half of the story was about how the team had been run by Ferrari and wasn't he great, etc. Drove me mad. It wouldn't have done so well if the cars had been shite even if he was still in charge. The Lancia article in Classic Cars this month pissed me off because the cock who owns the Stratos has spoiled it by putting massive Prancing Horse shields on the doors. Wanker. I think I need to go and lie down now
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| scamper |
The only ferrari i've driven are a 360 and what i think was a 328 or even a 308 - both just a few laps round a track. The 360 was increadibly easy to drive quickly, but the 328 i could not see what all the fuss was about - not very quick and awful driving position. Good looking car though. | ||||||
| Gurney |
Sticking a prancing horse on the flanks of a Stratos is cockery of the highest degree 
A Stratos need pay homage to know other car or maker, it is what it is and that is more than enough. And that's enough philosophising. I did mean a thirties Alfa btw. Make mine an 8c 2.3, bodywork by Touring please.http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/chassisNum.aspx?carID=10253&iDNumID=394 Particularly love the way the spare wheels are faired in, brilliant. |
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| Matt |
No complaints about the Bertone 308 from me.
I'm oddly proud that my car was put together in Italy. |