Supercar made by Leicestershire firm Noble. Power comes from a twin-turbocharged version of a Volvo-Yamaha 4.4-litre V8, shared with the XC90 and S80, thus helping the M600 to reach a top speed of 225 mph.
"What's that supercar over there?"
"It's a Noble M600."
The second generation (2006) - related to the Ford S-MAX and Galaxy MPVs and Mondeo family hatch, Land Rover Freelander, JaguarX-Type and Volvo's own XC60 crossover and V70 estate - when launched was available with 2.5-litre turbocharged five-cylinder, 3.2-litre six-cylinder and 4.4-litre eight-cylinder petrol engines and 2.0-litre four-cylinder and 2.4-litre five-cylinder turbocharged diesel engines.
After revisions in 2009, the S80's engine range comprises of 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre turbocharged (Ford EcoBoost) four-cylinder and 3.0-litre turbocharged six-cylinder petrol and 1.6-litre four-cylinder and 2.0-litre five-cylinder turbocharged and 2.4-litre twin-turbocharged diesel engines.
The 3.0-litre turbocharged six-cylinder petrol and 2.0-litre turbocharged and 2.4-litre twin-turbocharged five-cylinder diesel engines are available with Volvo's Geartronic automatic transmission, with the 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine is available with a Ford/Getrag dual-clutch gearbox. All engines bar the 3.0-litre petrol come with a six-speed manual transmission as standard.
The 3.0-litre petrol and 2.4-litre diesel are available with AWD.
"What's that car over there?"
"It's a Volvo S80 4.4."
Invented by a Frenchman just before WW2 and introduced to road cars in 2003 in the Golf R32, this type of transmission is a semi-automatic gearbox - two clutches take care of two sets of gears. One clutch takes care of odd gears (1, 3, 5, 7) and the other clutch deals with the even gears (R, 2, 4, 6).
How it works:
One clutch has 1st gear engaged, with the car moving forwards. Meanwhile, the other clutch has 2nd gear ready to be engaged. Come change-up time, clutch no.1 disengages 1st and clutch no.2 engages 2nd gear and the car keeps going, whilst clutch no.1 prepares 3rd gear for engagement. All of this happens within milliseconds, so power delivery to the road is uninterrupted.
Usually - though not always - dual-clutch gearboxes are more fuel-efficient than an equivalent manual gearbox.
The F01 generation is available with 3.0-litre turbocharged six cylinder (740i), 4.4-litre turbocharged eight cylinder (750i) and 6.0-litre turbocharged twelve cylinder (760Li) petrol engines and a 3.0-litre six cylinder (730d and 740d) diesel engine.
James May on the V12 7-Series:
"This is the 760Li. Or to give it it's other name, the BMW "Move Over Poor Person"".
The S40 is available with 1.6- and 2.0-litre four-cylinder and 2.5-litre (badged T5) five-cylinder petrol engines, 1.6- and 2.0-litre four-cylinder and 2.0- and 2.4-litre (badged D5) five cylinder diesel engines and a 1.8-litre four cylinder FlexiFuel Biofuel engine.
"What's that car over there?"
"It's a Volvo S40 D5."
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