I just read on the wire that “India’s Sensitive Index tumbled 2,029.05 points, or 11.5%, to 15,576.30 in the early minutes, forcing trade to be halted for an hour” which might act as an indicator that the US and European markets may well plunge when they’re opened in the morning. Hopefully, the automatic safe guards will prevent too much of a run in the market. Quite a few people believe that Martin Luther King, Junior, again has saved the day as his birthday on Monday kept the financial markets closed in the US, possibly protecting it from the worst of it. Via the New York Times

Asian stocks extends losses into a second day

By V. Phani Kumar , MarketWatch

Last Update: 11:51 PM ET Jan 21, 2008

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Asian stocks came under relentless selling pressure for the second straight session on Tuesday, a day after fears the U.S. economy could slip into a recession triggered a sell-off that spread to Europe and Latin America.

India’s Sensitive Index tumbled 2,029.05 points, or 11.5%, to 15,576.30 in the early minutes, forcing trade to be halted for an hour. The index had finished 7.4% lower in the previous session, after dropping as much as 11% during the day.

“It doesn’t look good at all. We expected it to fall, but nobody expected this kind of correction,” said Sharmila Joshi, a trader with Prabhudas Lilladher in Mumbai.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 average tumbled 4.8% to 12,682.47, while the broader Topix index skidded 4.6% to 1,233.99 in afternoon trading. Earlier in the day, the Nikkei dropped as low as 12,666.09 — its lowest level since September 2005.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slumped 8% to 21,914.28 as the sell-off deepened from the previous session, when it tumbled 5.5%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index plummeted 11.9% to 11,927.55. See related story.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 extended losses into the 12th straight session, slumping 5.8% to 5,257.80 and New Zealand’s NZX 50 index ran its losses into the 14th session, dropping 1.1% at 3,607.13, while South Korea’s Kospi shed 4.8% at 1,602.93.

China’s Shanghai Composite, which fell more than 5% in the previous session, sank 4.1% to 4,714.30, Taiwan’s Weighted index tumbled 6.4% to 7,585.93 and Singapore’s Straits Times index lost 4.4% at 2,789.31, while Indonesia’s JSX Composite tumbled 8.3% to 2,279.27.

Tim Rocks, regional strategist for Macquarie Research, said investors were likely to worry about the impact of a U.S. economic slowdown on exporters in Asia.

“Whenever you have got any kind of disappointment in global growth, you always have big downgrades across Asia and particularly in the export-dominated markets,” said Rocks. “On a six-month view, we’re still going to have a lot of earnings downgrades in Asia, linked to the U.S. cycle.”

Rocks said hopes of interest rate action from the U.S. Federal Reserve is “the next great hope for the markets now,” adding that an interest rate cut by the Fed would “certainly be a break for the markets.”

Regional detail

Financials came under selling pressure across the region, with shares of Mizuho Financial Group (8411)(MFG) sinking 4.5% in Tokyo, Macquarie Group (MQG) slumping 9.2% in Sydney and Kookmin Bank (KB) shares dropping 3.4% in Seoul.

In Hong Kong, shares of market heavyweight HSBC Holdings (5)(HBC) tumbled 6.2%, while Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings shed 4.6%.

The decline in crude oil and metal prices hurt resource stocks as well, with Woodside Petroleum (WPL)(WOPEY) plummeting 8.3% and Rio Tinto (RIO)(RTP) slumping 9.2% in Sydney, while shares of commodities trader Marubeni Corp. (8002) dropped 5.6% in Tokyo. In Hong Kong, shares of PetroChina Co. (857)(PTR) plummeted 10.8% and Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH)(2600) stumbled 12.1%, while in Seoul, Posco (PKX) shares dropped 3.2%.

Japanese exporters also ranked among losers in Tokyo, with shares of Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)(TM) dropping 4.6% and Sony Corp. (6758)(SNE) fell 5.1% on concerns over the yen’s rally recently.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar gained 0.6% to 106.29, recovering some of its recent losses against the Japanese currency, while the Australian dollar rose 0.3% at 91.52 yen.

Crude oil prices fell below the $90 a barrel level in electronic trading on worries related to U.S. demand. February futures of the commodity were recently $2.06 lower at $88.51 a barrel.

In the previous session, European stocks suffered their largest one-day decline since Sept. 11, 2001, with the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index ending down 5.4% at 309.67 on heavy losses in banks and insurance firms.

In Canada, the S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange composite index sank 604.98 points, or 4.7% to end at 12,132.14. Brazil’s Bovespa sank 6.6% to 53.694, while Mexico’s Bolsa index fell 4.8% to 25,444. See related story.

U.S. markets are closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch’s Hong Kong bureau.

Lincoln Memorial and Winter Trees, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

Drove by the Lincoln on the way home from the Hill (to Arlington) and grabbed this Wintery photo of the Lincoln Memorial with my Nokia N95. Was a “shooting while driving” photo so please forgive the composition.

Regina Spektor entry on Wikipedia

Regina Spektor (born February 18, 1980) is a Soviet-born American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered on New York City’s East Village.

Early life
Spektor was born in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union to a musical family. Her father, a photographer, was also an amateur violinist, and her mother was a music professor in a Russian conservatoire; she now teaches at a public elementary school in Mount Vernon, New York.

Spektor studied classical piano from the age of six, and was also exposed to the music of rock and roll bands such as The Beatles, Queen, and The Moody Blues by her father, who obtained such recordings in Eastern Europe and traded cassettes with friends in the Soviet Union. The family left the Soviet Union in 1989, when Regina was nine, during the period of Perestroika when Jewish citizens were permitted to emigrate. The seriousness of her piano studies led her parents to consider not leaving Russia, but they finally decided to emigrate, for religious and political reasons.

Travelling first to Austria and then Italy, the family settled in the Bronx, New York, and eventually moved to Fair Lawn, New Jersey, where she finished the last three years of her high school career. Spektor has stated that she was originally interested only in classical music, but later became interested in hip hop, rock, and punk.

Beginnings as a songwriter
In New York, Spektor gained a firm grounding in classical music from her piano teacher, Sonia Vargas, a professor at the Manhattan School of Music. Spektor studied with Vargas—whom Spektor’s father had met through violinist Samuel Marder, Vargas’s husband—until she was 17.

Although she had always made up songs around the house, Spektor first became interested in songwriting during a visit to Israel with the Nesiya Institute in her teenage years. Attracting attention from the other children on the trip for the songs she made up while hiking, she realized she had an aptitude for songwriting. Following this trip, she was first exposed to the work of Joni Mitchell, Ani DiFranco, and other singer-songwriters, which gave her the idea that she could create her own songs. She began writing her first a cappella songs around age 16, and wrote her first songs for voice and piano when she was nearly 18.

Spektor completed the four-year studio composition program of the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College in Purchase, New York within three years, graduating with honors in 2001. She worked briefly at a butterfly farm in Luck, Wisconsin. She gradually achieved recognition through performances in the anti-folk scene in downtown New York City, most importantly at the East Village’s Sidewalk Cafe. During this period, she sold her self-produced CDs 11:11 (2001) and Songs (2002) at such performances.

Style
Spektor’s songs rely on a mixture of styles and techniques, often starting with a piano riff but ending with moans, nonsense words, warblings, and other noises. Spektor has said that she has created 700 songs, but that she rarely writes any of them down. Spektor’s songs are not usually autobiographical, but rather are based on scenarios and characters drawn from her imagination. Her songs show influences from folk, Jewish, Russian, hip hop, jazz, and classical music. Spektor has said that she works hard to ensure that each of her songs has its own musical style, rather than trying to develop a distinctive style for her music as a whole.

Spektor possesses a broad vocal range and uses the full extent of it. She also explores a variety of different and somewhat unorthodox vocal techniques, such as verses composed entirely of buzzing noises made with the lips, beatbox-style flourishes in the middle of ballads, or the use of a drum stick to tap rhythms on the body of the piano or chair. Part of her style also results from the exaggeration of certain aspects of vocalization, most notably the glottal stop, which is prominent the single “Fidelity”. She also uses a strong New York accent on some words, which she has said is due to her love of New York and its culture.

Her lyrics are equally eclectic, often taking the form of abstract narratives or first-person character studies, similar to short stories or vignettes put to song. Spektor usually sings in English, though she sometimes includes a few words or verses of Latin, Russian, French, and other languages in her songs. Spektor’s music is further set apart from mainstream folk music by its frequent literary references, such as to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway in “Poor Little Rich Boy”, The Little Prince in “Baobabs”, Virginia Woolf and Margaret Atwood in “Paris”, Ezra Pound and William Shakespeare in “Pound of Flesh”, Boris Pasternak in “Après Moi”, and Oedipus the King in “Oedipus”. Recurring themes and topics in Spektor’s lyrics include love, death, religion (particularly Biblical and Christian references), city life (particularly New York references), and certain key phrases have been known to recur in different songs by Spektor, such as references to gravediggers, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the name “Mary Ann.”

In Spektor’s early albums, many of her tracks had a very dry vocal production, with very little reverb or delay added. However, Spektor’s more recent albums, particularly Begin to Hope, have put more emphasis into song production and have relied more on traditional pop and rock instruments.

Performances
Since roughly January 2005, Spektor has performed on a bright red Baldwin baby grand piano. She opened for The Strokes in 2003, on her first North American tour. Subsequently, she appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien twice, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno twice, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Last Call with Carson Daly twice. She has toured the United States and Europe. Although she generally only performs original material, she performed her first covers in 2005, of songs by Leonard Cohen and Madonna for the 2nd Annual Jewish Music & Heritage Festival at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.

While with The Strokes on their 2003–2004 Room on Fire tour, Spektor performed “Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men” alongside the band.

In 2006, Spektor embarked on a successful headlining tour of the United States and Europe, selling out numerous clubs and theaters.

Media coverage
Beginning in 2005, Spektor’s music has been used in various television programs and commercials. In late 2005 “Us” (from Soviet Kitsch) was used in a commercial as part of the What Do You Want To Watch? series for the United Kingdom’s Sky Television. The advert features a clip from a documentary on skateboarder Danny Way. In the summer of 2006, a clip from “Us” was used for the teaser website for Microsoft’s Zune project at ComingZune.com, as well as for a promotional campaign for MtvU. “Somedays” was used in a 2005 episode of CSI: NY and “Samson” was used in a 2006 episode of the same series. “On the Radio” was used in an episode of ABC’s popular Grey’s Anatomy. “Field Below” was used in a 2006 episode titled “The Last Word” of CBS’s Criminal Minds. “Fidelity” was also used in a recent episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” titled “Sometimes a Fantasy”, in an episode of Veronica Mars titled “Friday Night Sleights”, and in an episode of “Brothers & Sisters” titled “Sexual Politics”. “Better” is currently being used in a commercial for XM Satellite Radio. Spektor also sang the title song “Little Boxes” of Showtime’s television series Weeds in the 2006 episode “Mile Deep and a Foot Wide” and her “Ghost of Corporate Future” was used both at the beginning and end of the episode.

Regina Spektor gained much media attention in 2006 when her video for “Fidelity” was viewed over 200,000 times in two days on the YouTube website. On SIRIUS Radio’s Left of Center channel, her single “Fidelity” was voted by listeners as the #1 song of 2006.

In Australia particularly, Spektor’s music has rapidly gained popularity in mainstream culture primarily due to Begin To Hope being played on the nation-wide radio station Triple J, where it eventually became a feature album. Prior to Begin To Hope, Regina Spektor had only a small following in Australia in comparison to the US and Europe.

Discography
Most of Spektor’s early albums have been released exclusively in the United States. Her compilation, Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories, has been released worldwide.

Albums
2001 – 11:11 (Regina Spektor)
2002 – Songs (Regina Spektor)
2004 – Soviet Kitsch (Sire/London/Rhino)
2005 – Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories (Transgressive)
2006 – Begin to Hope (Sire) US sales 160,720

Singles and EPs
2003 – Reptilia b/w Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men by The Strokes (Rough Trade)
2004 – Your Honor / The Flowers (Shoplifter)
2005 – Live at Bull Moose EP (Sire)
2005 – Carbon Monoxide (Transgressive)
2006 – Us (Transgressive)
2006 – On the Radio (Sire) UK #60
2006 – Fidelity (Sire) US #84*

Compilations
2006 – Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories (Transgressive)

REGINA SPEKTOR
Begin To Hope (SIRE)

A mere five years ago, Regina Spektor was hypnotizing small crowds at hole-in-the-wall venues on New York ‘s Lower East Side . After playing hundreds of shows in and around NYC, Spektor became the talk of the burgeoning music scene. Though she was selling many copies of CDs she had recorded and produced with friends ( 11:11 and Songs), it was her next album, “Soviet Kitsch,??? that would become her calling card. Originally released as a CDR and handed out at shows, Spektor signed with Sire Records who re-released “Soviet Kitsch??? in 2003. While touring nationally and abroad in support of “Soviet Kitsch,??? Spektor began as an opening act but by year’s end was the main attraction. Going from 200-capacity venues to selling out 1,300 capacity-venues like New York ‘s Irving Plaza and London ‘s Shephard Bush Empire, this Russian-born chanteuse’s songs have gone from being burned in her bedroom to receiving a worldwide fanfare. Though in love with playing shows to her rapidly growing audience, Spektor had written hundreds of songs since “Soviet Kitsch??? and was eager to get back into the studio.

Abandoning her usual method of production and opting for a new experience, Spektor holed herself up at New York Noise Studios in NYC’s Meatpacking District with seasoned producer David Kahne (Paul McCartney). Spending two months during the summer of 2005 working on her fourth release (this new album is also considered her major label debut), Spektor had the opportunity to experiment “until a little Frankenstein was born.” Taking two months to record was a huge amount of time by Spektor’s standards, since she had recorded her “Songs??? record in 1 day and “Soviet Kitsch??? in 10. “To work like this had been a dream of mine, but I thought it would be years before it happened. I definitely tried to put every aspect of myself into it. We played with wires and sounds, set the lab on fire a bunch of times, laughed and started again.???

“Before I even started I knew I was going to experiment with things I’ve only thought about, like beats and drums,” explains Spektor, a multi-instrumentalist. “I really wanted to play with electronic instruments and bigger arrangements. Still, on this record, there are some songs where it’s really sparse. You don’t want to arrange just for the sake of arranging. I had to be careful so the music wouldn’t be more fun to make than to listen to.”

Judging from the final product, we’d say mission accomplished. On “Begin To Hope??? Spektor took the lyrical vignettes and sparse instrumentation she crafted for “Soviet Kitsch??? and pushed herself more in every direction—both lyrically and musically. From the staccato strings plucking the opening chords to the album’s first song, “Fidelity,??? to the blues-infused homage to Billie Holiday “Lady,??? Spektor isn’t able to pinpoint the exact inspiration behind her musical musings.

“You don’t ever know the true lineage of your songs,??? reveals Spektor. “Maybe I’m becoming less of a narrator and more of a character these days. I was always used to observing and writing third-person narrative stories about things I was seeing. Then, as time went on, I started placing myself in these scenes, more like an actor.???

“I don’t fully understand the fascination of people wanting to know the ‘real’ you after listening to your songs” says Spektor, who is still extremely careful when it comes to sharing her personal life with the public. “I understand the fascination of people to want to know you,??? admits Spektor but “ People always want to know which part of the song really happened, they want to know some sort of a “Truth.” For some reason they can see the same actor acting in 17 different movies, using 17 different hair colors, using fake props, changing their voice, changing their accent, being evil or being the victim, and they are okay with that. They understand that it’s just a movie, they understand that it’s an art. But with music they forget. Music, somehow, is life.”

Always willing to damn convention for the sake of creativity, Spektor is one of those rare talents who manage to outrun the trends and force the rest of the world to keep up. “The more I experience in this world, the more questions I seem to have about where this life is leading,??? reveals Spektor . Begin To Hope might still mark the beginning of her career, but Regina Spektor has been carving out her place in music history since she sang her first note.

The M18 Claymore, a directional fragmentation mine, is 8-1/2 inches long, 1-3/8 inches wide, 3-1/4 inches high, and weighs 3-1/2 pounds. The mine contains 700 steel spheres (10.5 grains) and 1-1/2 pound layer of composition C-4 explosive and is initiated by a No. 2 electric blasting cap. The M18 command-detonated mine may be employed with obstacles or on the approaches, forward edges, flanks and rear edges of protective minefields as close-in protection against a dismounted Infantry attack.

The Claymore projects a fan-shaped pattern of steel balls in a 60-degree horizontal arc, at a maximum height of 2 meters, and covers a casualty radius of 100 meters. The optimum effective range (the range at which the most desirable balance is achieved between lethality and area coverage) is 50 meters. The forward danger radius for friendly forces is 250 meters. The backblast area is unsafe in unprotected areas 16 meters to the rear and sides of the munition. Friendly personnel within 100 meters to the rear and sides of the munition should be in a covered position to be safe from secondary missiles.

Characteristics: M-18A1 (Claymore)

Present Status: Fielded
Arming: Manual
Safe Arm Time: N/A
Fuzing: Command
Warhead: Directional Fragmentation
Sensing Width: N/A
Anti-Handling Device: No
Self-Destruct: No
Explosive Weight: 1.5 lb
Mine Weight: 3.5 lb
Mines Per 5T Dump: 1,782

REMARKS:

The M18A1 mine is primarily a defensive weapon. It may be employed to a limited extent in certain phases of offensive operations. The M18A1 has the same basic capabilities as antipersonnel mines and can be used in most situations where other types of antipersonnel mines are employed. In addition, the M18A1 has the capability of being sighted directionally to provide fragmentation over a specific area and does not necessarily rely upon chance detonation by the enemy. The M18A1 is adaptable for covering the ranges between maximum hand grenade throwing distance and the minimum safe distance of mortar and artillery supporting fires.

The M18 antipersonnel mine is an earlier model of the M18A1 antipersonnel mine. The M18 antipersonnel mine comes in two versions–with or without a peep-sight; otherwise, both versions are identical. The mine is a curved, rectangular, plastic case and contains a layer of composition C3 explosive. It has a fragmentation face of rectangular steel fragments. The front face containing the steel fragments is designed to produce a fan-shaped spray which can be aimed at a prescribed target area. The electrical firing device issued with the M18 CLAYMORE is not safe. Due to its construction, it may cause premature detonation of the mine. Whenever possible, the battery holder (firing device) issued with the M18 mine should be replaced by a standard M57 firing device if the battery holder is used, both firing wires should be connected to one terminal until the desired moment of detonation.

“The Noble is one of the best sports cars in the world.” – R&T

Rent, expenses, classes, luxuries — the works!

I am sure that over time he would be come attached to her — oftentimes surely be in love with her.

And of course, never ever ever consider getting married to her.

What would people think? Too young, to hot, too roughly-hewn. Basic and brassy like a showgirl. A mistress does not a wife make.

I mean, it made no sense to me. I am a one-woman guy, 100%. I can barely handle one woman.

For the Noble m400, I would pay all of her rent, buy her expensive furs, send her on lavish vacations, and keep her in the style to which she is accustomed. I would even keep her in Manhattan. Do you know how much it costs to keep a car in the City?

Now I understand, totally and completely! But not for a mistress but for a sportscar! But not any sportscar. She’s certainly not a car that the neighbors could possibly see in my driveway! She’s not the car I could pick a child up in. She doesn’t have a bumper-to-bumper warantee and she is really rough around the edges. The Lotus Elise is even much more refined and practical than she is. While the Lotus Elise may be the summer intern, the m400 is the showgirl! She is the exotic dancer. The supermodel. The Victoria Secret girl? No, she’s a porn starlette!

But, I would never marry her. But I would surely be in love with her and love her dearly. But be practical!

Via Road & Track and 1g Racing’s Noble m400.

The 1g Racing Noble m400 Specifications:

BODY
GRP composite with removable front and rear sections

CHASSIS
Steel spaceframe with bonded and riveted alloy panels. Full safety roll cage

SUSPENSION
Double wishbones front and rear with coil springs and alloy uprights. Dynamics Suspensions dampers all round. Front anti-roll bar

BRAKES
Make Noble/AP Racing
Size 330mm x 30mm discs front
330mm x 26mm discs rear
Type Ventilated and cross drilled front and rear

STEERING
Rack and pinion, hydraulic power assistance; 2.5 turns lock to lock

WHEELS
Design Noble designed one piece 10-spoke
Colour Anthracite
Size 8.5J x 18in (front), 10J x 18in (rear)
Made of Aluminum alloy

TYRES
Make Pirelli P-Zero Corsa
Size 225/40 x 18 (front), 265/35 x 18 (rear)

ENGINE
1g Racing USA M400 chassis are sold without engine and transaxle. Similar USA engine specs are available from independent engine builders
Construction All-alloy block and heads
Layout 6 cyls in vee, 2968cc, twin turbochargers
Max power 425bhp at 6500 rpm
Max torque 390lb ft at 5000rpm
Compression Ratio 8:0:1
Power to weight 401bhp per tonne
Torque per weight 368lb ft per tonne
Specific output 143 bhp per litre
Installation Transverse, mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
Bore/stroke 89.0/79.5mm
Valve gear 4 per cyl, dohc per bank
Ignition and fuel Electronic
Turbochargers Water-cooled with air to air intercooler; max boost at 0.85 bar

GEARBOX
1g Racing USA M400 chassis are sold without engine and transaxle. Similar USA engine specs are available from independent engine builders
Type Getrag 6-speed manual with Quaife automatic torque-biasing differential
Ratios/mph per 1000rpm
1st 3.15/6.2mph
2nd 1.95/10.0mph
3rd 1.52/12.8mph
4th 1.19/16.35mph
5th 1.31/20.8mph
6th 1.03/26.5mph
Final drive 3.87 (ratios 1,2,3 & 4)
2.76 (ratios 5 & 6)

MAXIMUM SPEEDS
1st 44.6mph
2nd 72.0mph
3rd 92.2mph
4th 117.7mph
5th 149.8mph
6th 185mph (est)

PERFORMANCE
0-60mph 3.5 seconds (est)
0-100mph 8.0 seconds (est)
Max speed 185mph (est)

DIMENSIONS
Length 161in
Width (inc.mirrors) 74in
Height 45in
Wheelbase 96in
Max/min legroom 44/39in
Headroom 39in
Interior width 55in
Kerbweight 2337lbs

A tip-of-the-hat to DS for the link.

Source Noble Automotive
View Statistics
Anyone who has driven a Noble M12 on a race circuit will attest to the car’s polished handling, user-friendly nature and – of course – its vivid performance. But there’s an irony here, because the M12 was always designed as a comfortable and breathtakingly fast road car first, with track-day competence thrown in as a bonus.
This led Noble Automotive to develop the M400, a car that takes full advantage of the scope left in the M12′s chassis and engine for drivers who seek even more focus in their performance and dynamics. With a power to weight ratio of 400bhp per tonne (hence the name), the M400 is not only substantially more powerful than the other cars in the M12 range, but it also showcases a variety of unique features not seen in other Nobles.

At £55,995, the M400 is not only one of the fastest production cars of its type, but its chassis – which in standard M12 form uniquely marries high-speed composure with low-speed ride compliance – has now been sharpened to give the driver even greater control of the car at speed.

But none of this has been achieved at the expense of the M400′s road manners. Thanks to completely new, highly sophisticated dampers, the M400 has lost little of the M12′s ride quality, which means that it is still as usable as any other M12 on the public road. Make no mistake, the M400 is so much more than just a ‘track-day special’.

Engine and Drivetrain

At the heart of the M400 is the 3.0-litre, 24-valve V6 engine that can be found in the current M12 range. However, power is now increased by 21 per cent to 425bhp and torque by 11 per cent to 390lb ft.

Internally, the engine has been modified with higher-lift cams and forged, rather than cast pistons, for extra strength. The forged pistons have been included as a safety feature for the engine, rather than out of necessity: in fact, the development car that spawned the M400 has covered many thousands of reliable miles on cast pistons with an even higher output than the production M400. Add to this the usual tuning recipe that goes into each and every Noble engine, and owners can be assured of plenty of durable high-performance.

The M400 retains the twin-turbocharged arrangement of the standard GTO-3 and 3R models, but now has a brace of larger Garrett T28 turbochargers, which produce maximum boost at 0.85bar, replacing the standard cars’ T25s. A revised fuel pump and larger injectors cater for the M400′s improved performance.

Working with leading automotive engineers, Roush Technologies, Noble has developed a bespoke engine map for the M400, which makes full use of the power and torque available in the mid- to top-end of the rev-range, allowing the 3.0-litre V6 to pull strongly right up to its 7200 rpm limiter. The maximum 425 bhp of power is now produced at 6500 rpm (300 rpm up on other models) and the maximum 390lb ft of torque at 5000 rpm, with 75 per cent of this figure available from just 3500 rpm.

Completing the drivetrain upgrades is a completely new gearshift mechanism for the six-speed manual gearbox, which uses low-maintenance, dry-running polymer bearings. The gearlever is now mounted slightly higher in the cabin and moves through a far quicker and more precise gate than before, making committed driving on circuit or road a pleasure.

Chassis

Noble has targeted three key areas while developing the M400′s chassis:

1.To improve levels of grip at high speeds without losing the inherently progressive breakaway characteristics for which the standard 3R is renowned;

2.To build in even greater degrees of body composure as the car approaches its limits, making it more predictable and controllable on the road and track;

3.To closely approach the on-road ride quality of the standard M12.

In order to achieve this, Noble started by replacing the 3R model’s dampers with highly sophisticated, bespoke Dynamic Suspensions units, supplied by Multimatic Technical Centre Europe. These coil-over dampers were chosen after objective testing on Multimatic’s 4-post test rig, followed by subjective evaluation on road and track, including Germany’s famous Nurburgring.

The dampers are monotube units, featuring an impact-extruded aluminium body to minimise weight, and have 45mm sintered pistons and 14mm shafts, incorporating a proprietary low friction-sealing system to optimise performance. Damping levels are fixed, though a threaded external body does allow the M400′s ride height to be adjusted, if required. As with all Nobles, double wishbones are fitted all round.

Complementing the Dynamics dampers is a revised steering rack, which allows a further 0.8 of a turn between locks, while retaining the same ratio found on other Nobles (to make this possible, the footwell has been re-designed and is now double-skinned, adding further strength to the car’s structure). There are now 2.5 turns from lock to lock (standard M12: 1.7 turns) which gives drivers potentially more control if the car is oversteering on a track. Naturally, this revision has also allowed improved manoeuvrability at lower speeds.

All Nobles are famed for their phenomenal roadholding, but the M400 raises the bar even higher. Replacing the M12 model’s Bridgestone SO-3 tyres, are Pirelli P-Zero Corsas of identical size. The Pirellis are directional and asymmetric in design and their softer compound offers increased levels of grip and steering feel. The M400′s high-speed control has also been enhanced by the Pirelli’s stronger sidewalls, which have a high resistance to flex under extreme cornering forces.

The M400 is the first Noble production car to use an anti-roll bar (ARB), which is fitted to the front suspension only. Designed in-house, the ARB weighs just 6kgs, thanks to hollow components which have been laser-cut and CNC-machined. While no road-going Noble has ever been fitted with an ARB before, Martin Short’s Rollcentre team is currently using the factory-designed system on its GT Cup Noble M12 this season, and is convinced of its worth under race conditions.

In order to arrive at the M400′s 400bhp per tonne power to weight ratio, Noble has managed to shave 20kgs from the M12′s already slender kerbweight by removing the air conditioning pump and its assorted plumbing. While air conditioning is a cost option on the standard 3R model, no cars have left the factory without it, hence its inclusion in the 3R’s kerbweight figure. However, Noble anticipates that M400 owners will be more likely to forgo this feature in favour of a superior power to weight ratio. Air conditioning will remain a cost option on the M400.

Brakes are 330mm diameter discs all round, with four-pot callipers, taken from the current M12 range. The M400 adds a revised pressure control valve, which sends more bias to the rear brakes.

Interior

In keeping with the M400′s ‘race-car meets road-car’ remit, all models will be trimmed throughout in high-quality black Alcantara and fitted with all-new Sparco race seats. The seats themselves are trimmed in a hardwearing black jaquard fabric, and fitted with an anti-slip cushion, as well as removable backrest and under-thigh pads. Both seats are fore and aft adjustable, and can be tilted backwards and forwards for maximum comfort. As with all Nobles, the steering column can also be adjusted for reach.

Bearing in mind that the M400 will be popular among circuit drivers, Noble has moved both seats in towards the centre of the car by 15mm to allow more headroom at the side of, and above, occupants’ heads, especially if they’re wearing crash helmets. This re-positioning has also removed the slight pedal offset found in standard M12s. All M400s come as standard with four-point race harnesses, as well as a conventional inertia-reel safety belt for road use.

While the basic dash architecture will be familiar to current M12 owners, the M400′s cabin also receives a combined oil temperature and pressure gauge incorporated into the central switch-panel and ‘M400′ badging on the steering wheel boss.

2005 Noble M400
Year 2005
Make Noble
Model M400
Engine Location Mid
Drive Type Rear Wheel

Performance
0-60 mph 3.5 seconds.
Top Speed 186 mph | 299.3 km/h Similar top speeds

Engine
Engine Configuration V
Cylinders 6
Aspiration/Induction Twin-turbocharged
Displacement 2968.00 cc | 181.1 cu in. | 3 L.
Valves 24 valves.
4 valves per cylinder.
Horsepower 425.00 BHP (312.8 KW) @ 6500.00 RPM
Torque 390.00 Ft-Lbs (528.8 NM) @ 5000.00 RPM
HP / Liter 141.7 BHP / Liter

Transmission Information
Gears 6
Transmission Manual

Dimensions
Seating Capacity 2
Doors 2

Steering
Turns lock to lock 2.50

Brakes
Front Brake Size 330.001 mm | 13 in.
Rear Brake Size 330.001 mm | 13 in.

Mark writes, “I decided to celebrate this International Workers’ Day by driving the rover with my family into the remote mountains here in southern Tanzania to a fly-fishing and hunting lodge . . .”

Fraternal Revolutionary greetings to my dear comrades the world over on this May Day, the 30th Anniversary of the Committee for a Workers’ International! by Mark Harrison

Onward in solidarity towards reaffirming the ideas of genuine socialism!

I decided to celebrate this International Workers’ Day by driving the rover with my family into the remote mountains here in southern Tanzania to a fly-fishing and hunting lodge up amongst the highland tea estates to spend the weekend playing lawn tennis and drinking gin and tonics. An absolutely splendid opportunity to manifest our solidarity with the international proletariat with a few invigorating rounds of golf, and a sortie or two of croquet.

The workers at the lodge estate – rather disappointingly for the glory of Socialism but rather fortunately for us – chose not celebrate May Day, they instead chose to report to work, which ensured that our meals were excellent, and that the greens were well trimmed.

The weekend offered my niece and godchild a valuable opportunity to manifest some solidarity and learn the joy of physical labor in that I permitted her to carry my golf clubs (see photo). I will be an excellent father some day.

I also taught her to fly fish – though she failed to catch anything. I intended to give her two educational gifts with our angling outing – one, the pleasure of enjoying the fruits of her labor, and two, the unparalleled joy of living off nature’s bounty – by allowing her to eat for dinner what she caught. In this particular case, of course, nothing. However, the mollycoddling grandparents, in their appallingly undidactic and emotional way, undermined my entire evening fishing trip’s work in that, at dinnertime, she was simply handed a plate of food in whose production she had had no part. I’m sure she was disappointed, though she made an impressively brave effort to put up a very convincing show of enjoying her utterly decontextualized meal. Once things have gone their course, and I have my inheritance firmly in my hand, my godchild will no longer have to suffer such unfortunate assaults to the development of her character. (see fishing photo)

Fortunately for my goddaughter’s education, the weekend started rather differently with some very good opportunities for character-building . The drive up into the mountains is only a hundred miles or so, but it is across bone-jarring, treacherously dangerous, washed-out dirt roads that make the Appalachian trail look like the Disney World monorail. Within minutes of departure, she had nausea and a headache against which to practice fortitude in the face of adversity. After a little over an hour of this hell, her whinging and moaning had decreased to a low embittered mutter, and I was afraid that she had become too rapidly acclimated to the travails of the trip and that the didactic effect would fade long before we arrived at our destination. Fortunately, well out in the middle of the bush endless miles from nowhere, the radiator cap blew off, becoming irretrievably lost, ejecting the coolant in a dramatic geyser of spewing froth and steam, the engine overheated violently, and we came to a grinding halt.

We were traveling with a group of academics – they in another rover – and this breakdown presented us with the chance to have a committee meeting in which everyone could present their completely unqualified, but impressively formulated opinions on how to fix a diesel engine in the middle of the bush with absolutely no tools or materials. The librarian spotted the bottom of a colonial-era soup can rusting on the side of the road and proposed we hammer it into the form of a radiator cap. The committee considered this and tried a few preliminary experiments with the tire iron and concluded that the idea was terrible. By this time, we were up over 6000 feet, and it was a bit chilly which gave my niece something new to build character over. All the Midwestern academics found the biting air invigorating and reminiscent of all the years they spent out in that featureless, culturally devoid hellscape between Pittsburg and Denver. My few memories of the Midwest usually pitch me toward depression, but these folks jabbered on happily about such revolting things as headcheese and ice fishing.

In any case, at some point, the menfolk realized that we each had Swiss Army knives in our pockets, so we decided that we should whittle something to solve our problem. That idea had an incredibly manly, frontiersmanlike quality to it, and the women hadn’t thought of it so we hunted down a well-sized eucalyptus branch and set to carving a cork for the radiator.

The subcommittee of men decided that the best way to hold the newly-whittled stopper in the radiator was to cut it just precisely so long that slamming the hood closed would secure it tightly in place. The women discussed something about the Midwest and my niece whinged about it being cold, which made me happy because this whole Africa experience was finally presenting an experience to toughen her up a bit.

After a bit more discussion in subcommittee, we advanced our stopper design to include a rag around the bottom of the stopper to create a tight seal, and a bunch of rag on top of the stopper to provide a compressible mass that would allow us to push the cork tightly into the radiator, but to do so without doing damage to the radiator by applying too much uncushioned force.

Unfortunately, we had no rags.

Then my mother says, “Hey, no problem, I saw some rags ground down into the road a couple hundred yards back. I’ll go pull them out.”

Now, I’m thinking “WTF?” You see, when the radiator cap blew off, my mother was driving the vehicle. So you have to imagine that we’re pounding along this hellish single track – which in itself requires intense concentration so as to avoid pitching into a gaping pothole or careening off into the bush – the view is 90% obscured by the thick clouds of dust the rovers are kicking up, and the remaining 10% of visibility is ruined by the muddy smear of dirt you create trying to clean the dust off the windshield with your wiper fluid. Now, at the time she saw, identified, and registered the presence and location of a few tattered bits of dirty cloth embedded in the dried mud of the road, she was pounding along at 40 kph and there was radiator fluid and steam spewing out of the car.

To boot, my mom is in those years where she receives Social Security, she wears trifocals, and was relatively recently hospitalized to have surgery on her failing ocular nerves. She has no peripheral vision.

Now, this of course begs the question, “Why the hell was this woman driving the vehicle?” Yes… well, when you live in a country where every mosquito bite is a potential grisly death by malaria, building codes are non-existent, car inspections leave vehicles in a state where they not-unseldomly burst into flame for little or no reason, and genocidal wars in neighboring nations is de rigueur, you get a bit lax about doing your risk-benefit analyses… I don’t know. My mom was holding the car keys when we walked out the front door… so she was driving.

Anyway, so while she didn’t notice that the temperature gauge had climbed into the DANGER zone, and bright red warning lights had turned on, she did notice that a bit of rag was embedded in the road two hundred yards back from where the rover had ground to a halt.

Women are truly amazing. It must have to do with some latent gatherer instinct that’s been unused for thousands of years except when a husband/boyfriend says, “Hun, where are my car keys?” And she’s like, “In the right breast pocket of your suede jacket under the newspaper on top of the large coffee table in the downstairs TV room. Where you left them.” Stunning. I’m truly impressed.

What I hate though, is that I’ve never had a girlfriend who could give such a response without an eye-roll, as if that location of my keys should be obvious to anyone with eyes.

I’m sorry. Women are just built differently. If my half-blind, pensioner mother can pick up the location of a bit of rag ground into the mud while navigating a fuming 4×4 skidding to a halt on a single-track, then my girlfriend can certainly donate the .0000001% of her mental processing power it requires of her to focus her instinct on remembering where each and every one of my possessions are at any given moment. And to do it without the eye-roll, thank you very much.

Anyway, it was grand that my mother registered that bit of cloth. She’s the best. A saint. I’m not sure how the rest of you survive without her as your mom.

So my saint of a mother walked back the road, dug the rag out, came back, and we constructed our composite material stopper. We filled the radiator with our bottled water (a pampered vehicle, to be sure), positioned the cork, slammed the hood and the committee decided that I was going to drive.

My niece was buoyed by the apparent success of the repair and back in good spirits. We all got in the car, I turned the key and… nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. A pitiful, quiet whine from some warning thing, and a risibly weak chug from the engine and the battery was dead.

No problem, we have two vehicles – one working. We’ll just jump it.

Wrong, no cables. Again, another opportunity for my niece to slip into despair and to notice that she was now very hungry. The Midwesterners all seemed to be enjoying this, since it somehow reminded them of their hardscrabble, working-class upbringings in Indiana or Minnesota or wherever and old Model T’s and such tripe.

We were on a slight grade, so it was decided that everyone would push, and we would roll-start the car. Now at the decision of the committee, the one person past puberty and not qualified to receive Medicare – i.e., me – is chosen to sit in the driver’s seat, while the crew of retirees and their cast of physical ailments, and a little girl get behind the rover to push it. I, strapping young man, decades from the onset of senility, doubt the wisdom of this committee decision, but who am I to questions such a large mass of aged wisdom? I get behind the wheel, and they start to push.

Now, I’ve roll-started this vehicle in our 40-foot long driveway – in reverse. The slope of our driveway is about that of a handicap access ramp at a convalescent home. You don’t need much speed to start this car.

The team of seven gets pushing and we’re going about as fast as you do in the drive-thru line at Taco Bell at lunch hour. We’re very slowly using up the bit of downward grade we’ve got left, approaching the bottom and end of our opportunity. I’m thinking, “We gotta go faster”. But how do I, 30-something guy, sitting at the wheel of a rover being pushed along a dirt track in the middle of the African bush by a group of retirees find the gall to stick my head out the window and yell. “Faster, you guys!”? Answer? I don’t.

One by one, they drop off and from their various wheezing stopping points yell some suggestions about why don’t I start the damn car… by this time, I’m going maybe 3 miles per hour and the last retiree, a healthy 65 year-old former judge from that vigorous, outdoorsy state of Washington begins to very slowly distance himself in my rearview mirror, yelling his starting suggestions. I pop the clutch, the wheels stop dead, and the rover skids to a halt in yet another cloud of dust.

Now I’m 100 yards down the road, it’s uphill in both directions, we have no jumper cables, no tow rope, and we’re in the middle of the freaking African bush. I get out of the car, and walk back up toward the reconvened committee meeting which has already started.

Still, I’m in good spirits. I’m thinking, “This is a great experience for my niece! Maybe we’ll get stuck out here and she’ll have a real Africa experience, like that time when I was a kid and the drunk soldiers in Liberia were going to execute me at that checkpoint!” I think things like that at an early age do wonders for character development. I’m completely convinced that it’s those types of mildly traumatic experiences at an age where you have no sense of mortality that give you the perspective and attitude necessary to truly enjoy the rest of life. I credit all those somewhat unpleasant experiences in my youth that I survived by the skin of my teeth with being the reasons why I am such a smashing human being.

So I’m walking back to the committee meeting with visions of toughing it out, teaching my niece how to purify water with a bit of cloth, a plastic bottle, and six hours of sunshine, or perhaps a really dangerous ride hanging onto the back of a lumber truck, or something of the sort. Something to get her to think about something other than what kind of dolphin-motif curtain she’s going to get for her bedroom when she gets back to States in the fall. Something to toughen her up inoculate her against becoming an airhead mall rat.

Then, out of the blue, a sparkling-new Land Cruiser roars by me and slides to a halt at the committee meeting. The doors spring open and out jump two tanned, sexagenarian Great White Hunter guys decked out in pith helmets and khaki short shorts. I can’t believe my freaking eyes.

The short shorts safari gents turn out to be old colonialists who came from Great Britain as children 50 years ago and still live up amongst the old colonial tea plantations, studying exotic butterflies. I’m stunned. It’s like Halloween in Chelsea.

One is a tall, still-brutally-handsome Sir Anthony Quayle type with the accent and mannerisms that make you not want him anywhere near your girlfriend. And he can probably cook, too.

His long-time companion is a petite man with a bitchy expression who makes catty comments about his partner’s fading hearing.

The safari lepiologists announce gallantly that they are returning to their estate to fetch jumper cables and a tow rope, and that they will be back forthwith! They roar back off in a cloud of dust. The womenfolk swoon. We menfolk try to change the subject to something about backcountry road construction techniques.

In a half an hour, the short short safari men are back with jumper cables, their Land Cruiser humming virilely, our rover reanimates with this automotive Kiss of Life, they give us their tow-rope just in case, and we all drive off towards our destinations.

The rest of the weekend passed affably except for an evening when we watched this awful flick, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”, in which Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner take two hours proving that a Hemmingway story can really suck. Not only was the acting unbearable, and the story painfully boring, self-indulgent, and astoundingly stupid; the oblivious racism was stunning even for its time and the Swahili they had the “natives” speak more often than not laughably and unforgivably had nothing to do with the rest of the script.

Gregory Peck (lying on a chaise lounge at the base of Kilimanjaro, in a safari camp, dying of gangrene from a cut on his leg): Mke wapi?! (Translation: “Wife where?!”)

Dark Servant Guy Incomprehensibly Wearing Fez: Alikwenda kupika nyama, bwana (Translation: “She went to cook meat, sir.”)

Gregory Peck: So, she went hunting impala…

AAAAAAAGH!!!

DIE GREGORY! DIE!

After that scene I drank a bunch of beer and went to play snooker with the retired judge who also didn’t have the fortitude to stand any more of the movie. I’m impressed that the rest of the crew was able to watch to the end – but then, their hearing is going and they don’t see so well at night, so perhaps it wasn’t as painful for them.

My niece said the movie stunk. I’m thrilled she showed some character growth this weekend.