0-60 Magazine

2. PRICE$103,000
POWER450hp, 390lb.-ft.
ENGINE3.0Ltwin-turbo V6
DRIVETRAIN Rear-wheel drive,
six-speed manual
0-603.1seconds
TOP SPEED185mph(est.)
CURB WEIGHT 2,417lbs.
POWEHTOWEIGHT 5.37lbs./hp
REDLINE7,200rprn
BRAKING13-in. front, 13-in.rear
2010
Rossion01
SUPERCAR HEADQUARTERS TEND toresemble
theproducts theycreate: elegant, architecture with
military-grade infrastructure andmuseum-quality
displays ofgenealogy decorating thewalls. Rossion
Automotive though,isbased outofaretired home-en-
tertainment-supply showroom insouthern Florida. Its
near-ia.ooo-square- footfacility isatestament tothis
company's obvious philosophy-maintaining appear-
ances andbragging about pedigree isn'tasimportant
asbuilding excellent machines.
That'snottosaythatRossionisn'ttapped intoa
richbloodline. While notyetahousehold name,
theU.S.-based company shares DNAwiththeUK's
88IWINTER2010I0-60mag.com -PHOTOGRAPHY ~

3. IWINTER 2010 I890-60mag.com

4. It'snotjustthe
speedthat's
satisfying-it's the
clarityofbeingin
totalcommand.
ofeverything.
better-known Noble
Automotive. The
Q1isbasedontheir
erstwhileM400track-
daymachine,which
wasbuiltonthesameassembly lineinSouth
AfricaastheQ1istoday.Rossion founders
DeanRosenandIanGrunes began importing
thepotentNobles statesideunder thename 1G
Racingsixyearsago,butquickly sawthatthe
kit-carfitandfinish washoldingitback.Thus
cametheQ1,adding amenities suchassatellite
navigation, powerwindows, airconditioning
andacompletely refinedinterior.
Thespecsheetremains rifewithrawracecar
tech:forgedmonobloc wheels,custom-valved
Konicoilovers, carbon fiberintakescoops,
afullyintegrated rollcageandanoptional
fireextinguishing system. It'sallcarried
likeabootknifeintheQ1'SGRPfiberglass
sheathed body-which, withafreshredesign
todistinguish itfromtheshowyM400,loses
theprotruding wingsandawkward anglesthat
callouttheNoble'sintentasatrack-focused
tool.Newvents andchannels hintatexotica,
butwithout thegrandstanding. TheQ1exudes
understated cool.
Performance,however, isanything but
reserved. Planting thealuminum, long-travel
gaspedal, there'snotimetothinkaboutthe
absentlagofthetwinturbine Fordmill,which
sends youvaultingoverthreegearsandplung-
ingaheadinfourth.Anapproaching exitramp
signals acalltotheQ1'Sij-inchAPRacing
derived brakes,causing abitoftirechirpfrom
massiveABS-free stopping force.Thanks toan
adjustable pedalbox,theobligatory heel-toe
owntothirdisasimple task,inducing satanic
emissions fromthetrapezoidal tailpipes. Mer
slicing throughadecreasing radiusturnit's
backonthestraight andintotripledigitsagain.
Theacceleration issavage,reaching 60
mphinj.iseconds andpulling thequarter
mileoffin11.4.Thesearefigures thatshould
earntheQ1hypercar status.Andit'snotjust
thespeedthat'ssatisfying-it's theclarity
ofbeingintotalcommand ofeverything. No
anti-locks, notraction control andaprop-
erlyweighted, gated manual box,withrock-
solidsteering thatsimply knowswhatneeds
tobedone.Butperhaps thebiggestsurprise
ofitallistheQ1'Scomposure indailyuse.
Thereisnotramlining orskipping around,
therideisgenerously comfortable andthe
90IWINTER2010I0-60magcom
RORD TESTED
nosedoesn't scrape speedbumps.
It'sasmildmannered asagirl
scoutwhen youneedittobe.
Ofcourse, therearesomethings
togetusedto.Theshort, grabby
clutch pedalmayrequiresome
practice beforesetting outinpub-
lic,andthefixed-back carbonfiber
seatstakeabitofarticulation toget
into.Theinteriorisnottheleather-electronica
playpen ofsomeoftheItalian marques. And
whilethereareoptions foreither aquieter
sportexhaust orraspier raceunit,
LRunCH DRIVEn there'snoescapingthesoundofthe
nvrm numBERS airhuffing turbochargers. However,
V-BDX FIGURES recalling thattheQ1covers ground
atthesamerateasaCarrera GTand
hasapower-to-weight ratiorivaling
certain ''hardcore''trackcars,you
getthefeelingthatthefolksatRos-
sionareputtingtheirdevelopment
Imoney whereitcounts-in whatneurologists
callthenucleus accumbens, a.k.a.the"plea-
surecenter." RONZARAS
TRACK TESTED
CHAPERonED
HoonED
DAmAGED
TOTALLED