Plemenito M600 vs Skoda Fabia Super 2000

Kako Skodas IRC-zmagovit Fabia stojijo na mogočni plemenito M600 na asfaltu? Ko pogledaš na teh dveh avtomobilov štirjak do drug drugega, drug ob drugem v isti kos ceste, kakršna koli primerjava med njimi zdi nejasno smešno. Skoda Fabia Super 2000 rally avto lahko tudi pohvali več kot svoj pravičen delež krila, nalepke in spojlerji, vendar svoje tudi dvakrat kot visok in le pol tako dolgo, kot celoti bolj exotically Proporcionalan plemenito M600. Izgleda, res, malo go-faster nakupovalni voziček zraven supercar dolgo, široko in okusno nizkih slung, klasični obliki je M600.
Stvari ne dobijo veliko bolje za Skoda ko romanca tehničnimi odprta in primerjati, kaj skriva pod svoje divje različne kože. Plemeniti je 450-650bhp na voljo, odvisno od tega, kako pogumen vaša občutek in kraj vi lega stikalo, da pasje njegove twin-turbo 4. 4-litrski V8 motor. Fabia, po drugi strani pa je 2. 0-litrski, štirivaljni motor, ki proizvaja dostojno, ampak komaj Jezovit, 265bhp.

In ko gre za navor-ponavadi je sestavina avtomobilov pospešek-dobi slabo stare Skoda borila na tla in brcnil, kjer to najbolj boli. To je zgolj 180lb ft za plemiči, nekaj velikega 604lb ft (najbolj pa je na voljo in pripravljen za shred vsak trak bitumna iz komaj zgoraj tickover).
Vendar je Skoda tehta manj kot plemeniti, seveda, tako da kakršno koli pomanjkanje energije, ki jo lahko utrpi na papirju je takoj izniči v resnici, pravilen? Narobe. Zelo narobe. Izročiti ali zalotiti a galono bencina tu in tam, tako tehtajo približno 1200kg. Kar pomeni plemeniti ponašanje ne le velikansko moč in navor prednosti, vendar enako moč-teža ugodnejšega, preveč. In ima veliko širše zadnje pnevmatike, veliko večji zavore in classic osvojenimi prvenstvenimi šasija modela, ki omogoča prednje motorjem škoda zdi zaskrbljujoče Svakidašnji.
Tako zakaj smo celo odločili, da dajo Skoda skozi vicah takšne primerjave in na The kača ravnanje tečaj na Chobham proving ground, da bi lahko oblikovali posebej ustrezajo plemeniti? Ker v realnost je Fabia lahko to, in nato nekaj. Imajo eno ali dve trikov svoj rokav, po vsem, od katerih so nekatere celo M600 voznik lahko dotik moten odkriti.
In najbolj učinkovito teh je štiri kolesni pogon sistem. Z mehansko razlik spredaj, zadaj in v centru avtomobila, ki so nadzorovane elektronsko, je Fabia lahko ustvarjajo oprijem in oprijem, da Noble, maščoba pnevmatike ali drugače, ne moremo upati konkurirati. Svoj tudi usmerjena veliko, veliko krajši kot v M600 in ponuja ravno odrezane zaporedno pošiljanje, da lahko rezine med deležema bistveno hitreje kot konvencionalne šeststopenjskim ročnim plemiči.
Si sploh ne potrebujete za uporabo sklopke, ko potekajo v Skoda. Vse Fabia S2000 počne, ko je na pohodu je bil zasnovan zgodilo čim prej. To celo zveni hitro, ko boste ogenj gor, zaganjalnika pinjenje za četrt sekunde preden mehanizmu unsilenced eksplodira v življenje, popolnoma utopitev nežno Presti plemiči V8.
Na kateri točki si mislijo, ok, dovolj pošteno, omogoča, da bi na. Omogoča prikaz, kaj lahko ta snarling plamen pljuvanje, izpušni živahen, jezen malo pritlikavec avtomobila res ne.
Tako smo naredili, in rezultati so bili najprej malo čudno. To je bil popoln in iznijet enosmerna ulica, s hitrostjo narek ne agility in grip Skoda ampak čisto hitrost in pospešek plemeniti. Hmm...
Po nekaj back-to-back test teče, z mano v plemeniti rezbarstvo dela podpira voznik Robert Barrable v Skoda, je bilo jasno, plemeniti je bil hitrejši. Milj. Lahko pospeši hitreje v vseh ključnih točk, imel več oprijema sredi kotu – ne samo hitro krivinam, kjer bi lahko pričakovali da letijo, vendar s počasneje, kot dobro- in pri zaviranju lahko traja ogromno koščkih iz je Fabia zal veliko povsod, kljub temu, da noben sistem proti blokiranju.
Samo na odseku skok, ki je približno tri četrtine poti skozi The kača lahko je Fabia izvlecite vse vrste prednost, vendar potem samo zato, ker sem bil podporo off v M600, da bi se izognili brušenje svojo drago carbonfibre sprednji cepilec v terra firma. Vse, kar je čudno dotik in sploh kaj sre pričakovano.
Po eden bolj back-to-back teči, v kateri je M600 ponovno sedel na rep Fabias (kar mi tribune pogled Skoda, drsna vsem cesti), smo se ustavili in klepetal. Barrable računati je Fabia se je trudil za oprijem povsod in trdil, da je imela ne ugriz na prednji sploh skozi večino vogali. Res ne bi mogla uporabite katero koli od avtomobilov moč kot rezultat in predlagali mi zalotiti a gledati pnevmatike.
Takrat je postalo kristalno jasno, zakaj Skoda se je trudil držati. Zadnje pnevmatike izgledala so oblečen plavanje SKP, medtem ko tisti spredaj so nosili skozi na platno. Tako mehanika nastaviti in spremenila vse štiri Michelins, tokrat vgradnjo težje-spojina gume zaradi nenavadno grobe cestišče, ki sestavljajo velik del The kača. In potem smo začeli naš test vsem še enkrat.
Tokrat izid je bil nekoliko drugačen. Od nosu do repa spet, plemeniti še rob, samo, ko zapustijo vrstico. Ampak trenutek, Barrable in je Fabia obrnil prvem ovinku, tretje orodje desni hander, No, to je res. Je izginila, in nikoli ga nisem videla še do konca ko smo se obrnil in mi je dal velik velik zarežal, skupaj z Barry Sheene slogu V znak, da gredo z njim. Lepo eno Robert, hura za to. In tam sem bil misleč plemeniti kralj je kača.
Imeli so bili sandbagging vse skupaj, ali so bile pnevmatike na je Fabia zgolj porabljen, preden smo pobota? Ali res, Barrable igrajo igre v pričeti s čim, vodi me in dragi stari Noble v popolnoma lažni občutek varnosti?
Kakorkoli, to ni važno, ker ko push prišel zabil v Fabia izkazal za tisto, kar smo sum, da bi vse skupaj: da je nepremagljiv, tudi z eno od najhitreje supercars, da lahko denar kupi, in da noben znesek posloviš od M600-ne 450bhp, 550bhp ali poln 650bhp – bi zadoščala za ukvarjajo z grip, agility in dokončno hitrost čez zemlja. Celo na cesti seveda kot je ta.
Nismo nekaj bolj teče nosu do repa, tokrat z me vodi in Barrable v hitrejši Fabia zadaj, samo za prikaz, kjer ležal ključne razlike v rezultatih. Neizogibno je bilo obratov na hitrost Skoda in njegova hitrost izhod iz vsak bend, ki so bili nagrajeni spretnosti. Ne glede na to, kako težko sem poskušal zavežejo plemeniti na vsakem vogalu, imel je Fabia rob. In zelo debel rob obrnjen jasno v obstati.
Ker ko sčasoma dobil štoparice in jih posamezno časovno na vožnjo, samo da bi videli popolnoma, ki je bil najhitrejši, Barrable in na Fabia porušili me in plemeniti popolnoma. Peljal sem se M600 tako hitro, kot sem lahko, sam neumen v nekaj krajev in upravljane odganjanje čas 33. 2 sek. In potem Barrable in Fabia S2000 takoj šel 2. 1sec hitreje. Na razdalji precej manj kot 2 km.
Točke je nedvoumno dokazano. Skoda Fabia S2000 je hitrejši kot plemenito M600 – in pribitek, ki niti dobri ljudje iz Skoda bi čisto verjamem. Šla sem domov občutek bit shell šokirana, iskren, ob bil popolnoma odpihnil ta izredno majhen avto.

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.