Noble M600 vs Skoda Fabia super 2000

Kako se Skodas IRC-Winning Fabia suprotstaviti moćnom Noble M600 na asfaltu? Kada pogledate ova dva automobila na kvadrat jedni prema drugima, rame uz rame na istom dijelu ceste, svaka usporedba između njih čini nejasno smiješno. Skoda Fabia super 2000 rally automobil može dobro pohvaliti više od svog poštenog udjela suknje, naljepnice i spojlera, ali je također dvostruko visok i samo pola sve dok je potpuno egzotično proporcionalno u Noble M600. Izgleda, doista, malo kao go-brži kupovinu kolica pored dugog, širokog i delikatnog low-šung, klasični Supercar – obliku M600.
Stvari ne budu puno bolje za Škoda kada se otvore tehničke note i uspoređuju ono što vreba ispod njihove divlje različite kože. Noble ima 450-650bhp na ponudi, ovisno o tome kako hrabri youre osjećaj i gdje se Postavite prekidač koji nagne svoj twin-turbo 4. 4-litreni V8 motor. Fabia, s druge strane, ima 2. 0-litarski motor od četiri cilindra koji proizvodi pristojnu, ali jedva podizanje kose, 265bhp.

A kada je u pitanju moment-obično definirajući element ubrzanja automobila-jadna stara Škoda dobiva hrvao na tlo i udario tamo gdje najviše boli. Ona ima samo 180lb za plemiće nevjerojatnih 604lb ft (od kojih je većina dostupna i spremna za rasturanje bilo vrpce bitumena od jedva iznad tickover).
Ali Skoda teži manje od plemenita, naravno, tako da bilo kakav nedostatak energije može patiti na papiru je odmah negiran u stvarnosti, zar ne? Pogrešno. Vrlo loše. Daj ili uzmi galon benzina ovdje i tamo, oboje su teški oko 1200kg. Što znači da Noble ima ne samo ogromne prednosti snage i zakretnog momenta, već i jednako nepoštenu prednost snage i težine. Ima mnogo šire stražnje gume, mnogo veće kočnice i klasični dizajn šasije u srednjem dijelu koji čini da se Skoda zabrinjavajuće obradivo bavi.
Pa zašto smo uopće izabrali da stavimo Skodu kroz Čistilište takve usporedbe, i na "Snake," kurs za dokazivanje u Chobham terenu koji je mogao biti dizajniran posebno da odgovara plemiću? Jer u stvarnosti to Fabia može podnijeti, a onda neke. Ima jedan ili dva trikova u rukavu, nakon svega, neki od kojih čak i M600 vozač može biti poremećen dodir otkriti.
A najučinkovitiji od njih je njegov četiri kotača-pogon sustava. S mehaničkim diffima na prednjoj strani, na stražnjoj strani i u središtu automobila, od kojih su svi kontrolirani elektronički, Fabia može generirati vuču i stisak da su Noble, masne gume ili na neki drugi način, ne može nadati da se natječu s. Također je usmjeren puno, mnogo kraći od M600 i ima ravni rez sekvencijalni prijenos koji može rezati između omjeri znatno brže od plemića konvencionalne šest brzina priručnik.
Ne trebaš čak ni koristiti kvačilo na jednom putu u Škoda. Sve što Fabia S2000 radi jednom u pokretu je dizajnirano da se dogodi što je brže moguće. Čak i zvuči brzo kada ga zapališ, Starter motor se pretvara u četvrtinu sekunde prije nego što neutišani motor eksplodira u život, potpuno utapajući nježnu žar plemića V8.
U tom trenutku misliš, OK, dovoljno pošteno, hajde da ga donesemo. Da vidimo što ovaj repršav, plamen-pljuvanje, ispušni-iskakanje, ljuti mali žgoljavac automobila stvarno može učiniti.
Pa jesmo, i rezultati su bili malo čudni za početak. To je bila kompletna i potpuna jedna cesta, uz tempo koji je diktirao, a ne od agilnosti i prianjanje Škoda, nego uz čistu brzinu i ubrzanje plemića. Hmm...
Nakon nekoliko testova na leđima, sa mnom u Noble jurnjava radio-podržan vozač Robert bar, u Škoda, bilo je jasno Noble bio brži. Miljama. To bi moglo ubrzati brže u svim ključnim točkama, to je imao više prianjanje u sredini ugla-ne samo kroz brze zavoja gdje se može očekivati da leti, ali i kroz sporije one kao i-i pod kočenjem može uzeti ogromne komade iz Fabia prilično puno svugdje , unatoč tome što nema sustava protiv zaključavanja.
Samo na odlomku za skok koji je oko tri četvrtine puta kroz Snake mogao Fabia izvaditi bilo koju vrstu prednosti, ali samo tada jer sam se povlači u M600 kako bi se izbjeglo brušenje svoje skupe karbonske prednji razdjelnik u Terra firma. Sve to je bilo čudno i uopće nije ono što se očekivalo.
Nakon što je još jedan back-to-back trčanje, tijekom kojeg je M600 još jednom sjedio na Fabias rep (omogućujući mi Grandstand pogled na Skoda klizanja po cijeloj cesti), stali smo i razgovarali. Barje računao da se Fabia bori za držanje svugdje i tvrdio je da nema ugriza na prednjem kraju u većini uglova. On stvarno nije mogao koristiti bilo koji od automobila snage kao rezultat i predložio smo pogledati na gumama.
U tom trenutku je postalo kristalno jasno zašto se Skoda borila da nastavi. Stražnje gume izgledali su kao da nose kapu za plivanje, dok su oni na prednjoj strani bili istrošeni do platna. Tako je mehanika postavljena na i promijenila sve četiri Michelina, ovaj put odgovara teže-složena guma na račun neuobičajeno grube ceste površine koja čini puno od zmija. I onda smo opet započeli test.
Ovaj put ishod je bio ponešto drukčiji. Počevši od nosa do repa opet, Noble još uvijek imao rub, samo, kada napušta liniju. Ali trenutak kada su se Barje i Fabia okrenuli prema prvom uglu, desna glava trećeg stupnja, to je bilo to, stvarno. On je samo nestao, i nikad ga nisam vidio do kraja kad smo se okrenuli i on mi je dao veliki osmijeh, zajedno s Barry Sheene-Style V znak da ide s njom. Lijepo, Roberte. A ja sam mislio da je Noble bio kralj zmije.
Da li su bili u pijesku cijelo vrijeme, ili su gume na Fabia samo proveo prije nego što smo išli? Ili, zaista, da li je Barje igrao igre za početak, vodeći mene i dragog starog plemića u potpuno lažni osjećaj sigurnosti?
Bilo kako bilo, to nije bilo važno, jer kada je došlo do guranje Fabia dokazao ono što smo sumnjali da će sve zajedno: da je nepobjediv, čak i jedan od najbržih Lamborghinija koji novac može kupiti, i da nema količine gurnuti iz M600-ne 450bhp , 550bhp ili puni 650bhp – bio bi dovoljan za rješavanje njegovog držanja, agilnosti i izravne brzine preko tla. Čak i na cestovnom tečaju kao što je ovaj.
Napravili smo još nekoliko nos-to-rep trčanje, ovaj put sa mnom vodeći i Barje u brže Fabia iza sebe, samo vidjeti gdje su ključne razlike u njihovom izvedbi ležao. Neizbježno je bila brzina okretaja Škoda i njegova izlazna brzina iz svakog zavoja koji su pobjedničke vještine. Bez obzira koliko sam se trudila počiniti Noble na svakom uglu, Fabia je imala prednost. I vrlo gusta Ivica je ispala.
Jer kad smo na kraju dobili štoperke i mjerili ih pojedinačno u bijegu, samo da vidimo što je najbrži, bar, i Fabia su potpuno srušili mene i plemića. Vozio sam M600 najbrže što sam mogao, plašeći se glupog na nekoliko mjesta, i vodio vrijeme od 33. u 2 sec. A onda Barje i Fabia S2000 odmah otišao 2. 1sek brže. Na udaljenosti od znatno manje od jedne milje.
Poanta je dokazana izvan svih sumnji. Skoda Fabia S2000 je brži od plemenita M600-i marginom koja čak ni dobri ljudi iz Škoda nisu mogli vjerovati. Otišao sam kući osjećajući se malo šokiran, da budem iskren, kad sam bio potpuno zapanjen ovim izvanrednim malim autom.

How does Skodas IRC-winning Fabia stand up to the mighty Noble M600 on asphalt?When you look at these two cars squared up to each other, side by side on the same piece of road, any comparison between them seems vaguely ridiculous. The Skoda Fabia Super 2000 rally car may well boast more than its fair share of skirts, stickers and spoilers, but its also twice as tall and only half as long as the altogether more exotically proportioned Noble M600. It looks, indeed, a bit like a go-faster shopping trolley beside the long, wide and deliciously low-slung, classic supercar form of the M600.
Things dont get much better for the Skoda when you fling the technical notes open and compare what lurks beneath their wildly differing skins. The Noble has 450-650bhp on offer, depending how brave youre feeling and where you position the switch that leashes its twin-turbo 4. 4-litre V8 engine. The Fabia, on the other hand, has a 2. 0-litre, four-cylinder motor that produces a decent, but hardly hair-raising, 265bhp.

And when it comes to torque – usually the defining element of a cars acceleration – the poor old Skoda gets wrestled to the ground and kicked where it hurts most. It has a mere 180lb ft to the Nobles whopping 604lb ft (most of which is available and ready to shred any ribbon of bitumen from barely above tickover).
But the Skoda weighs less than the Noble, of course, so any kind of energy deficiency it may suffer on paper is instantly negated in reality, right? Wrong. Very wrong. Give or take a gallon of petrol here and there, they both weigh about 1200kg. Which means the Noble boasts not only gigantic power and torque advantages, but an equally unfair power-to-weight advantage, too. And it has much wider rear tyres, much bigger brakes and a classic mid-engined chassis design that makes the front-engined Skoda seem worryingly workaday.
So why did we even choose to put the Skoda through the purgatory of such a comparison, and on The Snake handling course at Chobham proving ground that could have been designed specifically to suit the Noble? Because in reality the Fabia can take it, and then some. It does have one or two tricks up its sleeve, after all, some of which even an M600 driver might be a touch disturbed to discover.
And the most effective of these is its four wheel-drive system. With mechanical diffs at the front, at the back and in the centre of the car, all of which are controlled electronically, the Fabia can generate traction and grip that the Noble, fat tyres or otherwise, cant hope to compete with. Its also geared much, much shorter than the M600 and features a straight-cut sequential transmission that can slice between ratios significantly quicker than the Nobles conventional six-speed manual.
You dont even need to use the clutch once under way in the Skoda. Everything the Fabia S2000 does once on the move has been designed to happen as quickly as possible. It even sounds rapid when you fire it up, the starter motor churning for a quarter of a second before the unsilenced engine explodes into life, completely drowning out the gentle purr of the Nobles V8.
At which point you do think, Okay, fair enough, lets bring it on. Lets see what this snarling, flame-spitting, exhaust-popping, angry little runt of a car can really do.
So we did, and the results were a little bit weird to begin with. It was a complete and utter one-way street, with the pace being dictated not by the agility and grip of the Skoda but by the sheer speed and acceleration of the Noble. Hmm…
After a couple of back-to-back test runs, with me in the Noble chasing works-supported driver Robert Barrable in the Skoda, it was clear the Noble was quicker. By miles. It could accelerate faster in all the key spots, it had more grip mid-corner – not just through the fast bends where one might expect it to fly, but through the slower ones as well – and under braking it could take huge chunks out of the Fabia pretty much everywhere, despite having no anti-lock system.
Only on the jump section thats about three-quarters of the way through The Snake could the Fabia pull out any kind of an advantage, but only then because I was backing off in the M600 to avoid grinding its expensive carbonfibre front splitter into terra firma. All of which was a touch strange and not at all what wed expected.
After one more back-to-back run, during which the M600 once again sat on the Fabias tail (allowing me a grandstand view of the Skoda sliding all over the road), we stopped and chatted. Barrable reckoned the Fabia was struggling for grip everywhere and claimed it had no bite at the front end at all through most corners. He couldnt really use any of the cars power as a result and suggested we take a look at the tyres.
At that point it became crystal clear why the Skoda was struggling to keep up. Its rear tyres looked like they were wearing a swimming cap, while those at the front were worn through to the canvas. So the mechanics set to and changed all four Michelins, this time fitting a harder-compound rubber on account of the unusually coarse road surface that makes up much of The Snake. And then we started our test all over again.
This time the outcome was somewhat different. Starting nose to tail again, the Noble still had the edge, just, when leaving the line. But the moment Barrable and the Fabia turned in to the first corner, a third-gear right-hander, well, that was that, really. He just disappeared, and I never saw him again until the end when we turned around and he gave me a great big grin, along with a Barry Sheene-style V sign to go with it. Nice one Robert, cheers for that. And there was I thinking the Noble was king of The Snake.
Had they been sandbagging all along, or were the tyres on the Fabia merely spent before we set off? Or, indeed, had Barrable been playing games to begin with, leading me and the dear old Noble into a completely false sense of security?
Either way, it didnt matter, because when push came to shove the Fabia proved what we suspected it would all along: that it is unbeatable, even by one of the fastest supercars that money can buy, and that no amount of shove from the M600 – not 450bhp, 550bhp or the full 650bhp – would be sufficient to deal with its grip, agility and outright speed across the ground. Even on a road course such as this one.
We did a few more nose-to-tail runs, this time with me leading and Barrable in the quicker Fabia behind, just to see where the key differences in their performance lay. Inevitably it was the turn-in speed of the Skoda and its exit speed from each bend that were the winning skills. No matter how hard I tried to commit the Noble to each corner, the Fabia had the edge. And a very thick edge it turned out to be.
Because when eventually we got the stopwatch out and timed them individually on a run, just to see absolutely which was quickest, Barrable and the Fabia demolished me and the Noble completely. I drove the M600 as fast as I could, scaring myself stupid in a couple of places, and managed a time of 33. 2sec. And then Barrable and the Fabia S2000 promptly went 2. 1sec quicker. Over a distance of considerably less than one mile.
The point had been proven beyond all doubt. The Skoda Fabia S2000 is faster than a Noble M600 – and by a margin that not even the good people from Skoda could quite believe. I went home feeling a bit shell shocked, to be honest, having been completely blown away by this extraordinary little car.