The successor to the V-8 SHO

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

standonit

New Member
Joined
May 16, 2007
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Location
Florida
2010 Noble M600

The wheels of the 2010 Noble M600 spin as the Michelins do battle with a wet track and 650 horsepower. We're already doing over 100 mph. Now 120 mph and the twin-turbo V8 sounds ever more urgent. At 160 mph, the Noble starts to feel a little light as we crest a brow on this old British airport runway. Into 6th gear and at 180 mph the acceleration starts to tail off a little. The throttle stays buried, the turbos strain and the speedo needle swings past 200 mph.
Now ******* the brakes. The M600 does without ABS and the power assist for the brakes has been kept to a minimum, so the pedal feels solid and demands care. The Noble is not for the molly-coddled; it's a back-to-nature supercar that counters the electronic complication of the Ferrari 458 Italia with elegant simplicity.

The 2010 Noble M600 is defined more by what it doesn't have than what it does. There's no stability control, no ABS, no electronically adjustable damping, no all-wheel drive, no automated manual transmission with shift paddles and no airbags. It does have low-speed traction control, but this can be switched off using a missile launcher button pinched from a Tornado jet fighter. Politically correct this car is not.

The Noble M600's own thrust is delivered by a DOHC 4.4-liter Yamaha V8, an engine originally developed to fit transversely under the hood of the Volvo XC90, which is why it has a 60-degree angle between its cylinder banks. The 4,439cc V8 is manufactured in Japan, then shipped to Motorkraft in the U.S., where a forged crankshaft, forged connecting rods and forged pistons are substituted before bolting on a pair of Garrett turbochargers.

When you fire up this engine from Yamaha (noted for the V6 engine it provided for the original Ford Taurus SHO and its development of overhead-cam technology for Toyota), the twin-turbos muffle the soundtrack, so it doesn't have the bark of a Ferrari V8 or the scream of a Lamborghini V12.

Full story @ http://www.insideline.com/noble/m60...ml?tid=edmunds.h..topfeatures.fdnoblem600.0.*
 

firebat45

SHO Member
Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
869
Reaction score
472
Location
Edmonton
More of a successor to the V6 SHO, with it's Yamaha engine. Cool either way.
 

rick-ng

Rickybobby
Joined
Jul 20, 2006
Messages
110
Reaction score
4
Location
Dallas
huuuummmm...Would be nice to have the 4.4 in the gen 3...........
 

tardboy21

SHO Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Messages
334
Reaction score
97
Location
Woodbridge, NJ
huuuummmm...Would be nice to have the 4.4 in the gen 3...........

everyone always says that, but I don't think it would. The Gen3 is an extremely well balanced and handling car for being FWD. Besides the obvious "how would it fit?" question, it would be even more front heavy and possibly send handling to the crapper.
 

tardboy21

SHO Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Messages
334
Reaction score
97
Location
Woodbridge, NJ
They did (I believe). I think it was only a problem in the XC90's, and was fixed by 2006 when the S80's got it. Although I don't know if an official problem was ever admitted.
 

venom

Rowboat Design
Joined
Feb 9, 2003
Messages
444
Reaction score
42
Location
Toledo, OH
everyone always says that, but I don't think it would. The Gen3 is an extremely well balanced and handling car for being FWD. Besides the obvious "how would it fit?" question, it would be even more front heavy and possibly send handling to the crapper.


Gosh all this would it fit crap is A-N-N-O-Y-I-N-G...

How many times did *I* hear that. It won't fit, the fuse box is in the way of the clutch pedal, What are you going to do for axles, how are you going to shift it blah blah blah....

The motor could fit. The only question is what tranny to mate to it to allow the entire driveline to fit nicely. If I could get a motor cheap and had time I'd take this on too.

Sorry if you are concerned about ruining the G3's handling you need to set the Rose colored glasses down. sure it handles okay for it's weight but it isn't like it is superb as it is out of the box anyway, not to mention it is wrong wheel drive to boot.
 

tardboy21

SHO Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Messages
334
Reaction score
97
Location
Woodbridge, NJ
The motor could fit. The only question is what tranny to mate to it to allow the entire driveline to fit nicely.

A lot of good a motor does without a tranny. So when you answer your own question posted above, then you let me know the answer to "how would it fit?" (I will be at the u-pull-it right in line behind you).
I never said it is impossible, but that is the first major hurdle. Compact FWD trannys that handle 325+ ft-lbs of torque are much harder to come by.

Sorry if you are concerned about ruining the G3's handling you need to set the Rose colored glasses down. sure it handles okay for it's weight but it isn't like it is superb as it is out of the box anyway, not to mention it is wrong wheel drive to boot.

I have no rose colored glasses. It is not a race car, I don't treat mine like one, but weighting down the front with an even larger engine and tranny is likely going to send handling to the crapper. For a FWD car, the handling is pretty darn good. As a daily-driver, I appreciate the fact that (handling-wise) my car has been able to do everything I need it to, and personally I would not want to change that. But then again, I don't send it into a 25mph turn at 80.


I apologize if I offended you with my negativity. Use it as motivation. :evilgrin:
 

venom

Rowboat Design
Joined
Feb 9, 2003
Messages
444
Reaction score
42
Location
Toledo, OH
I apologize if I offended you with my negativity. Use it as motivation. :evilgrin:

Ahh at least you recognized the negatvity. Negativity is what annoys me about being able to do something. With any negativity would we have put people on the moon? I agree you msut remain grounded and not look to defy the laws of science but in mechanical things all it takes is cubic dollars.

I don't have the money and time as it took me 2.5 years to finish the MTX swap or I would take either this or the 4.6 Intec on, but the 4.6 Intec has already been proven to fit no matter who said it wouldn't, so I guess that leaves the 4.4.

I thought at one point in time if I wanted another challenge the remote turbo would be my card to add to the 96 MTX, alas that has been worked out as I understand too. I think that leaves the grown up 3.4 (Volvo 4.4) for someone to play with integrating. Weight wise I don't think it is much of an issue as the AX4N is a heavy POS anyway. I shed over 100 Lbs just by dumping that thing for a replacement.

Time and money are the only factors - money is at the mercy of the market and my 4 ever hungry kids. I'd love to show that this could be done but I am out, but it isn't supposed to be "why" or "it can't be done" or any of that negative crap, or we won't accomplish anything.
 

SuperHO

Mental Patient
Joined
Sep 8, 2002
Messages
5,696
Reaction score
1,370
Location
St. Joe, MI
I guess I'll be the first to say it....what's the point? If you're gonna invest that sort of time and money into swapping a non-native V8 under the hood, I'd personally go with the 4.6. Not as much initial horsepower, but there's a helluva lot of things you can do to that engine that'll make it's output match and exceed that of the exclusive volvo mill. Combine that and ease of finding parts, and it becomes a no-brainer.
 

venom

Rowboat Design
Joined
Feb 9, 2003
Messages
444
Reaction score
42
Location
Toledo, OH
I guess I'll be the first to say it....what's the point? If you're gonna invest that sort of time and money into swapping a non-native V8 under the hood, I'd personally go with the 4.6. Not as much initial horsepower, but there's a helluva lot of things you can do to that engine that'll make it's output match and exceed that of the exclusive volvo mill. Combine that and ease of finding parts, and it becomes a no-brainer.

Well that (the 4.6 swap) has already been done. I can't find the numbers right now (I was looking for them earlier) but the 4.4 is indeed lighter than the Intec and has VCT outta the box.

And did I mention it hasn't been done? That combined with the apparent (to us) but unacknowledged lineage of where the 4.4 came from makes it intriguing for certain to me at least.
 

tardboy21

SHO Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Messages
334
Reaction score
97
Location
Woodbridge, NJ
In looking further at transmissions, it looks like the AWTF-80 SC is pretty compact. 14.1 inches long? How long is the AX4N?
This AISIN is actually used in several Volvo's (not sure about the s80), Ford Five Hundred (non-CVT), Fusion, Mazda6, etc. One would assume it wouldn't be too expensive to snag one.

The only issue then becomes programming. I am not sure if (since they were select-shift) the programming is different than the AX4N/3.4L ECU programming is for shift points. Perhaps at the least you could disable automatic shift and use select-shift only (although that would be kinda weird). If installing at Gen3, perhaps make it a bump shift on the floor.
I would also assume that internals may be different. The transmission is said to be rated to handle 325ft-lbs of torque, but similar to the AX line, all may not have the same internals.

Venom, do you know what the 5-speed Mazda6 tranny is rated for? For some reason it was in my head that 325ft-lbs would probably be too much for it, but that may have been because of what the 3.0L in the Mazda was rated at.
Also, I am not sure if the 6-spd in the Mazdaspeed 6 is the same bolt pattern, but would likely pull a higher dollar.


For an easier conversion, the Five Hundred (05-07) and 08/09 Taurus are on the same platform as the S80. Not sure how expensive one with a blow motor is.
 

roland

Volvo fanatic
Joined
Jan 4, 2006
Messages
755
Reaction score
349
Location
Chengdu
volvo just canned the S80 V8 and the XC90 is overdue for a redesign so i'd say Volvo's V8 will not be around much longer. I'd rather have the twin turbo V8 in a new SHO than a gen3 (or just twin turbo the S80 V8) - either way i'd love to watch the transmission explode.
 
Back
Top