IN THIS FEATURE Noble pursuits M is for magnificent Raining? No problem

When 4Car Editor Gavin popped up to Noble just a few months ago to try the company's GTO-3R, he returned gushing about its sensational 352bhp performance, which sees it hit 60mph in 3.7seconds and on to 170mph.

So it's not without trepidation that I arrived at Noble's factory in Barwell, Leicestershire, during one of the wettest Augusts on record to try the even hotter, M400 version of the M12 supercar, which has had its power boosted from an impressive 352bhp to an absolutely monumental 425bhp, which takes three-tenths off its 0-60 time, adds 15mph to its top speed and six-grand to the GTO-3R's £50k price tag.

Lights from first-gen Mondeo don't look out of place

When I arrive, I spend a few minutes with director Stuart Jones touring the small facility, actually a couple of units on an incongruous industrial estate. It's big enough: R&D takes place there, it's the Midlands' sales centre and all cars come through here after their build in South Africa. They arrive nearly complete, with chassis, bodies and interiors done, and only the engine and transmission to drop into place. The 3.0 V6 engine arrives direct from Ford, before being shipped off to race engineers Roush Technologies where its internals are modified to cope with the forces imposed on them by the twin Garrett turbochargers it also gets; they boost at 0.85 bar and help develop 390lb ft of torque at 5,000rpm. That peak power of 425bhp is developed at 6,500rpm, and because the M400 weighs about as much as a tea tray (well, 1080kg), that's enough to power it from 0-100mph in just eight seconds. And it's still a bit damp outside. Gulp.