Talk To Me About - MGF's

[alcyonecorporation]

45 mpg? No. Not from an MGF. A 1.6 maybe, if you never went over 60.

[forddeliveryboy]

45 mpg? Bollocks.

You're right, it was nearer 46 but I rounded it down.

[alcyonecorporation]

You're right, it was nearer 46 but I rounded it down.

Still calling bollocks.

[Insideimsmiling]

Always been a bit of an MG fan and the classics have character but the MGF is a great everyday fun sports car that make commuting fun, love country roads and are also great for long trips, being comfortable and economical. The 1.6 is fine for b road driving as you get to play with the gears. BUt the 1.8 and and VVC are the ones to go for, I have one of each at present and you notice the extra urge of the latter model. I have tried a TF but the ride was not as good for these bad roads and my bad back. I tried an MX5 both mk1 & mk2 but they are more cramped, more likely to rust, with a higher purchase price. I would recommend the MGF and you can pick up a good one for very little money, just wait for the right one to show and do all the usual checks to avoid dogs.

They really do put a grin on your face for just a few hundred quid and what else can do that.....other than drugs or hookers, or booze of course.

[Barry Cade]

Try 52 over a tankful or two touring the Ruhr... So much bollocks talked about MGF's and the K series. Stick yer hoity toity multi layer gasket up yer erse. and yer Land Rover ladder rails and all the other shite. Put em back the way Rover made them, assemble them properly, Make sure they are running correctly, the lambda's are switching,the idle control valve is set right,decent plugs and leads and they are smooth,quiet,economical,revvy,light,and powerful.

 

Bodge it and you'll be on the hard shoulder in tears. Again and again. They'll crab and twitch and just generally be horrible and even dangerous..that's on top of being naturally pendulous if mishandled.They are worth so little that few folk maintain them properly which adds to the reputation. Scratch below the surface and they are a very accomplished car,

 

P.S For what its worth, I think an MX5 is a Fisher Price My First Sports Car..  I was going to stay out of this as I get a bit hot under the collar.

[alcyonecorporation]

Try 52 over a tankful or two touring the Ruhr... So much bollocks talked about MGF's and the K series. Stick yer hoity toity multi layer gasket up yer erse. and yer Land Rover ladder rails and all the other shite. Put em back the way Rover made them, assemble them properly, Make sure they are running correctly, the lambda's are switching,the idle control valve is set right,decent plugs and leads and they are smooth,quiet,economical,revvy,light,and powerful.

Right - but Rover cost cut them to fuck and didn't assemble them properly. Ever.

Quite hard to put right something stretched beyond its means and fundamentally bodged from its very beginnings. Ks were never meant to move beyond 1.4-litres.

 

Ks are fun when they work right. They hate being laid up for one thing - the condensation gubs them right up.

And no, I don't check the coolant every time I take mine out. Mainly because it's a 90's car and people stopped having to do that sort of pish in the 50's.

 

Spend £2k on the running gear of an NA MX-5 and it actually turns into the car everyone spoos about. They're way more tuneable from basic specification, as well. You'd also have to fill a BP-ZE with swarf to stop it working. As standard, NA MX-5s are slow, soft, pretty little roadsters for when the sun comes out. Bit like an MGF, really.

 

Drive a Caterham 7 (or if the budget says otherwise, a Westfield, Robin Hood or Locost) and try telling me an MGF or MX-5 are sports cars afterwards.

I'm feeling the faint tickle of foam under the door, so I'll leave it at that.

[trigger]

On a side note there's a early 2200 mile MGF at the Haynes museum, i forgot what a nice looking car they are in red.

 

 

 

[alcyonecorporation]

Needs a dalek. Sitting well low, is that.

[scaryoldcortina]

 

I'm feeling the faint tickle of foam under the door, so I'll leave it at that.

That's the padding on your doorcard turning to powder.

 

FWIW, I don't much like 7s either, and I've driven a few of them. Single use track toys they are, and styled like a pencil box with wheels. The only worse two seater "sports" for me is a Morgan.

 

A sports convertable should be comfortable and effortless at long distance, quick but not stupid. If you want total neck snapping performance you also need a roof, fast convertables are a contradiction.

[Mr A Lawrence]

If the k is so shit why did lotus use it in the elise and only switched to Toyota power when rover went pop??

 

Stick that in yer pipe and smoke it!!

[alcyonecorporation]

If the k is so shit why did lotus use it in the elise and only switched to Toyota power when rover went pop??

 

Stick that in yer pipe and smoke it!!

Federal emissions requirements. The K was never certified for the US and was preventing Lotus from accessing a major market for its cars.

 

And - oil pump and surge issues aside, later corrected (remember Rover refusing to acknowledge there were issues with the K on Watchdog?) - the Toyota lump was a damn sight less fickle and frangible than the K. And Ks are fickle, fragile engines regardless of apologist discourse. Fun when they work but I'd never want to rely on one. Your experiences may vary.

 

At least the K never went into the R50. That would have strangled the BINI from birth.

 

MGFs are marvellous fun for what they are (and the prices they fetch). Alas, people massively over state their abilities and seem blind to their manifold (sorry) failings.

As much as I dislike the rabid purple 'true driving enthusiast' foam surrounding the MX-5, it's a more rounded car than the 'F and is objectively better in almost every area bar rust resistance.

 

I still don't want one, though. That's why I have an MGF VVC and not an MX-5 1.8.

[Sir Snipes]

I've never driven a bad mk1 or 2 mx5. They've always that certain something that makes me like driving them despite myself, same as Minis.

 

I've never driven an 'F at all. They never measured straight on our chassis rig, but then the owners rarely had any complaints.

[michael1703]

Rust,tappety,stiff gearchange,stiff throttle,shit balljoints,weird tyrewear,rotten silencers etc

 

I'd have a TF one over an mx5

[michael1703]

Also available in Kermit green

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-F-Convertible-1-8i-Steptronic-2dr-Auto-2000-GREEN-/262837961394?hash=item3d325d02b2:g:bDgAAOSwo4pYlfr1

[Honey Badger]

Save up for an S2000 and enjoy a 2 seater thats fast, reliable and handles well. You can also drive them all day without any issues, obviously they are a magnitude more expensive but really are worth every penny.

 

This isnt a shiters option obviously but sometimes you have to pay more to get a much better car.

[SiC]

Save up for an S2000 and enjoy a 2 seater thats fast, reliable and handles well. You can also drive them all day without any issues, obviously they are a magnitude more expensive but really are worth every penny.

 

This isnt a shiters option obviously but sometimes you have to pay more to get a much better car.

Until it invariably looses the back end on a mildly moist day on a roundabout, unable to recover the snap movement and end up in a hedge.

 

They are great cars though if respected. Their value is going up a lot now too.

[purplebargeken]

MGF! Love them and would have another in a heat beat. I loved my green one and it was bloody good fun. 

 

I found it to be bloody nippy as fuck and it drove well. The only thing that prevents me from having one apart from no space and spare money...... is my fucked back.

 

Even then I might be tempted to say 'fuck it' and just get one.

 

Just get one. If you don't like it then punt it on here.

[Mr A Lawrence]

[BorniteIdentity]

http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/mg/mgf/209943

 

This looks excellent value.

 

Advert may have been put up in 2011 for all I know because that website doesn't have fucking dates on it.

[alcyonecorporation]

Still love mine but I'm in no doubt as to what it is and what it can and can't do.

 

If I was into high four or low five figures an S2000 on TVR Chimaera 4.0 would be on my list.

[The_Equalizer]

A previous girlfriend had a MGF Abingdon VVC. Despite having to fix the head gasket it was a lovely little car. I have a soft spot for convertibles anyway. I'd certainly have another one save for the fact that I've too many cars, two kids and already have a Merc CLK convertible. I'd certainly go for an Abingdon - I loved the colour and 16" Abingdon alloys - or a 75th. Given the price of MGF/TFs you're daft not to go for the quickest version and/or limited editions. How long can they stay this cheap? My impression is that recently it was the close to the point that you couldn't give them away. Madness.

[alcyonecorporation]

How long can they stay this cheap? My impression is that recently it was the close to the point that you couldn't give them away. Madness.

They're still in no man's land between 'old snotter' and 'classic car' status.

And people still remember Rover and its reputation.

 

And it isn't an MX-5.

 

That's why they're still cheap.

[DVee8]

Has anyone had a steptronic auto MGF?

 

What are they like?

[DVee8]

Another from classic cars for sale

 

http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/mg/mgf/179995

[purplebargeken]

I think the Steppies are a bit fragile. I wouldn't. 

[scaryoldcortina]

One of my customers has a steptronic MGF, it drives fine and so far the gearbox hasn't caused any issues (he's had it just over a year now). To be honest, I see his P38 range rover far more frequently!

[Barry Cade]

Of the few Steptronics I've driven, they are more OK than you'd think and quite suit the car, never had any major issues with the boxes or electrics either, so if cheap enough- wood.

[HMC]

BOOOOM ( was that the head gasket going pop?)

 

Can haz MGF

1998 VVC jobbie, should be with me by Friday!

[overrun]

 

Ragging it to death and barely moving!

They are alright to knock about in I guess, but I don't see the fun factor in them. That vid just reinforces the point even further.

[Vince70]

I'm amazed that the MGF is so cheap as the early ones are now over 20 years old so surely must be classed as classic cars by now.

When I bought my Sherpa Coupe back in the 80s that was classed as a classic car and younger than most of the MGF range is now and by the time I bought mine it was already like triggers broom and it cost me £1800 back then which was really cheap for a tidy example but looking at the pic it looks like it leaked a bit of 20/50 lol..

So the MGF must be the bargain of the century when it comes to a 2 seater sports car..

 

If it was a Z3 you would be lucky to get one with wheels for under a grand.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322346888620

I nearly bought a racing green 1995 MGF which had only done 50k a couple of years ago which was very tidy and the seller only wanted £525 for it the only thing that put me off was the head gasket had only been done about a couple of hundred miles previous so I wondered if the liners had dropped to sell it that cheap.

 

But A friend of mine was an MG nut and he saw one at the NEC and ordered one there and then it was one of the very first VVC ones available and he kept it 5 years and never had a bit of trouble with it.