I'd be very surprised if the CSL was slower, despite having something like 220 bhp / ton less which brings me back to my previous point about them not actually being that quick round a lap in the hands of most people. I think that having that much torque on hand when the turbos spool up makes them very difficult to get on the power early enough coming out of a corner to make the most of the chassis.
The chassis is great (if a bit agricultural) but I imagine in most peoples hands (certainly mine) they'd be miles faster round a lap and more reliable if it were fitted with a decent NA engine, like an s54 or GT3 engine or even a 300bhp NA version of the V6 in there.
I was instantly quicker round a lap in the CSL, within a week of ownership I'd done 2 trackdays back to back on a bank holiday friday and monday, would've never done that in the Noble due to the TLC required, was quicker in the CSL straight away too, partly through the layout being more forgiving of a rubbish driver, partly through the NA engine being easier to use on track and partly through not worrying about it breaking.
They are basically a pre made kit car and if you go in to ownership knowing that I expect you'll love it, it was sold to me as a completely sorted low volume production car and it is safe to say I had more niggles than I was expecting based upon the sales patter. Of the first 12 months I owed it the car was back at the factory for 5 months. It took 3 days of ownership before the car broke to the point where it couldn't be driven and was collected by the factory...
Having to pay to fix a dangerous design flaw which would result in a throttle stuck wide open was a nice touch too when you'd spend over £50k.
For a B road blast or few laps of a circuit they are brilliant, as an ownership proposition not for me and I am still in contact with others who have moved on to properly built cars that think the same.
The chassis is great (if a bit agricultural) but I imagine in most peoples hands (certainly mine) they'd be miles faster round a lap and more reliable if it were fitted with a decent NA engine, like an s54 or GT3 engine or even a 300bhp NA version of the V6 in there.
I was instantly quicker round a lap in the CSL, within a week of ownership I'd done 2 trackdays back to back on a bank holiday friday and monday, would've never done that in the Noble due to the TLC required, was quicker in the CSL straight away too, partly through the layout being more forgiving of a rubbish driver, partly through the NA engine being easier to use on track and partly through not worrying about it breaking.
They are basically a pre made kit car and if you go in to ownership knowing that I expect you'll love it, it was sold to me as a completely sorted low volume production car and it is safe to say I had more niggles than I was expecting based upon the sales patter. Of the first 12 months I owed it the car was back at the factory for 5 months. It took 3 days of ownership before the car broke to the point where it couldn't be driven and was collected by the factory...
Having to pay to fix a dangerous design flaw which would result in a throttle stuck wide open was a nice touch too when you'd spend over £50k.
For a B road blast or few laps of a circuit they are brilliant, as an ownership proposition not for me and I am still in contact with others who have moved on to properly built cars that think the same.


) some people have only driven them on the road and had a nightmare time with breakdowns, some have tracked them plenty and had minimal probs. think that inconsistency goes with a low volume sports car like the noble. 
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