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Talk To Me About - MGF's


BorniteIdentity

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That driving position, though. Urgh.

 

 

I've only ever been in an early F as a passenger. Did they never fix the 'sat a dining chair' position & make it a car you sat in not on?

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There are still well over 10,000 of them in the UK, about a third of the max back in the early 2000s. As a guess I say prices will stay sensible for a while yet, just rise out of the loose change territory as more discover what a gem they can be when maintained correctly. Maybe when numbers fall below 3,000 they'll start to gain some deserved value?

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I've only ever been in an early F as a passenger. Did they never fix the 'sat a dining chair' position & make it a car you sat in not on?

 

I dunno, mate. I have only ever drove the one Wilsonwilson had. That is exactly how it felt to me, though. A crime for a roadster.

 

eGVvZm42MTI_o_mr-bean-driving-on-roof-of

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I'd hope so. Mind you at the time I drove a Midget daily & most things felt high after that.

 

I know what you mean.I had just stepped out of my mk2 MR2, so that never helps, but I do hope they improved the later cars, as there was still something very wrong, imo!

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It's a mistake they make in about 90% of cars tbh. How simple is it to put the seats low enough to drive the things? Height adjusters are no good when they go from 'too high' to 'OMG it's so high I've got altitude sickness'!

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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.

 

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

Careful. You'll be on the AROnline Facebook group next, dishing out death threats to people who say the 800's ride is crap, and telling us all how your MG "smoked" a BMW M3 from the traffic lights. It's a slippery slope to foamdom.

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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.

 

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

Careful. You'll be on the AROnline Facebook group next, dishing out death threats to people who say the 800's ride is crap, and telling us all how your MG "smoked" a BMW M3 from the traffic lights. It's a slippery slope to foamdom.

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Which one?

 

For the Elise I imagine Lotus tried to get the 1.8 through. 

'Fs were hot weather tested in Arizona. If you want even more conspiracy theory foam Rover was kept out of the US because BMW didn't want the F to compete with the Z3. 

 

Or Rover had no money to finish the K Series emissions certification (or were stopped from doing so by vested interests).

 

Whatever - the K didn't get certified, which was one of the reasons Lotus switched to Toyota engines. There was still a healthy supply of Ks because Powertrain Cofton was still standing then. 

 

A few 'specialty manufacturer' Caterham 7s went to the US with K Series engines - but the Fed/ EPA requirements didn't apply. 

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I dunno, mate. I have only ever drove the one Wilsonwilson had. That is exactly how it felt to me, though. A crime for a roadster.

 

eGVvZm42MTI_o_mr-bean-driving-on-roof-of

Perhaps it was customer feedback? Even though it was a sports car people could have whinged the old MGs (or even contemporary sports cars) were too low? Sports cars aren't always bought by sprightly athletic people from new.

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For the Elise I imagine Lotus tried to get the 1.8 through. 

'Fs were hot weather tested in Arizona. If you want even more conspiracy theory foam Rover was kept out of the US because BMW didn't want the F to compete with the Z3. 

 

Or Rover had no money to finish the K Series emissions certification (or were stopped from doing so by vested interests).

 

Whatever - the K didn't get certified, which was one of the reasons Lotus switched to Toyota engines. There was still a healthy supply of Ks because Powertrain Cofton was still standing then. 

 

A few 'specialty manufacturer' Caterham 7s went to the US with K Series engines - but the Fed/ EPA requirements didn't apply. 

 

There was no North America Spec MGF. The Arizona test cars were European and Rest of World spec. The testing was hot weather endurance work. It should be noted that they were also testing R3 Rover 200's on the same trip.

 

Lotus however did intend to sell the Elise in North America. Lotus MD Terry Playle made a high level presentation to Rover proposing that they (Lotus) would Federalise the K for use in the Elise at their own cost, but would retain the Intellectual Property Rights to the spec. For undisclosed reasons an agreement could not be reached and Lotus went the Toyota route.

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There was no North America Spec MGF. The Arizona test cars were European and Rest of World spec. The testing was hot weather endurance work. It should be noted that they were also testing R3 Rover 200's on the same trip.

 

Lotus however did intend to sell the Elise in North America. Lotus MD Terry Playle made a high level presentation to Rover proposing that they (Lotus) would Federalise the K for use in the Elise at their own cost, but would retain the Intellectual Property Rights to the spec. For undisclosed reasons an agreement could not be reached and Lotus went the Toyota route.

 

Why are you repeating what I already knew (and have posted)?

 

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Perhaps it was customer feedback? Even though it was a sports car people could have whinged the old MGs (or even contemporary sports cars) were too low? Sports cars aren't always bought by sprightly athletic people from new.

 

Indeed. My Grandad bought his '72 B roadster when he retired. My Dad still has it. The seating position is rather low, more so given the foam in the seats has collapsed!

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K series is a great engine and I won't hear a word against it. Much better than the Honda shite foisted on small Rovers (if you don't mind keeping an eye on the cooling system which I agree is ridiculous for a modern engine)

 

 

They're too tempramental for me to agree with that.

 

Putting an effectively detuned race engine with a tiny coolant circuit in pensioner's runabouts was going to end in disaster - and it did. 

It was a classic case of Rover being massively ambitious where there was no need to be. The K might have been reliable had it stayed within its original design parameters and hadn't been cost cut to oblivion. Remember, it was an A Series replacement originally, spanning 1.1 to 1.4-litres. No 1.6 or 1.8 was ever in the original game plan. 

 

The average R8/R3 buyer didn't give a toss about 16 valves and a 7000rpm redline; all they knew was that their old Escorts and Astras went and stopped with regular fill ups and the odd bit of servicing maintenance. Nine times out of ten you stuck the key in and they started. There's only so far sweet smelling upholstery and plastic wood can go in distracting you from a car's true purpose in life. 

 

The K Series is one of those debates where I start losing the will to live with enthusiasts who can't see past the fact they've taken Rover's demise personally for some reason (not a dig at you per se) and can't understand why everyone else regarded it as a bit of a joke towards the end.

 

I found the loss and carving up of the last home team volume manufacturer a depressing spectacle for all concerned, especially those who suddenly found themselves out of work with bills still rolling in. On the other hand, I'm stunned it lasted as long as it did. The K played a small role turning the garage and dealer trades against Rover. Rightly or wrongly, there's no smoke without fire. 

 

Small 'Nineties Rovers (including the MGF) are a joy to drive when they work properly and truly are a triumph of engineering pluck over penniless pot pissing - but I can't ignore their considerable weaknesses and limitations. 

 

The only small Rover I'd trust to get me around without constant daily driver misery would be an XUD or L Series engined R8 or R3.

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

 

I'd have a TF one over an mx5

Really? try a half decent one next time. Apart from the usual rusty sills I've found them mechanically faultless and a nice drive. Also feel im sitting on the car not in it with the mg.

 

 

Last TF I was behind had steam spewing from the engine, one before that was dead side of road

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