MG TF views please

[lotustuart]

Hi all, My missus is increasingly jealous of my car (Lotus Elise) and decided that she wants a convertable as her second car. She has set her heart on an MG TF,
Anyone had any good or bad experience of one.
which one should she get 135 or 160. told her not to bother with the 1.6!
views + and - please
ta
Stuart

[petros]

Was speaking to a reliable independant MG service tech. and he reckons they can be very hard to work on and expensive to boot.

[mustard]

MX-5 everytime!

better made, better driving, much more reliable... oh and no pending 'issues'!

[Newromancer]

lotustuart said:

Hi all, My missus is increasingly jealous of my car (Lotus Elise) and decided that she wants a convertable as her second car. She has set her heart on an MG TF, Anyone had any good or bad experience of one. which one should she get 135 or 160. told her not to bother with the 1.6! views + and - please

Personally I belive the F/TF is one of the most underestemated cars there are. As every British Sprotsacar it has it's little faults, you will not find a single one where nothing rathles or leaks or any other minor problems. (It is sort of part of the package.)

Bigger problems, there are a few, but most of them have been solved with the 'F MKII ... over all it turned out to be a relativ reliable car. (If you tread it right.)

As you mentioned the 1.6 is a joke, when everybody begged them to provide a bigger engine, they came up with a smaller one. You allready own an Elise, so you know about the problems of the K-Series Engine ... allways run it over 90° before revving over 3000rpm and allways run it cool (at least under 120°) before turning it off ... otherwise your headgasket will hate you.

The main 'problems' with the driving is the rubbisch set-up ... like the Elise MKII it is setup zo understeer. (This can be fixed by simply changinge the setup from: front -0°05' Nachspur and back +0°05' Vorspur to front +0°05' Vorspur and back +0°10' Vorspur . (Google will provide you with all the information you need - there are some recomended settings, and such that aren't ... you really can personalize the car's behavior to what you like.)
The next problem ist the steering ... it feels a bit like it swims. This is because of the softish rubbers in the suspension. www.4mgf.de/shop/showitem.php?id=136
exchange them.


Overall the question is, what does your girlfriend really want? If all she want to have is a convertible for sunny days ... she is better of with a reliable MX5.

If she fancys to drive your Elise for driving it, but wants something a bit more practical, she should take a look at the MG/TF.

[mgsteve]

petros said:

Was speaking to a reliable independant MG service tech. and he reckons they can be very hard to work on and expensive to boot.

I'm on my 3rd MGTF now and can say both of those comments are untrue. The TF uses the same enigne and running gear as loads of other cars (inc the Elise) so parts are readily avaialbe and relativly cheaply. They are more difficult to work on than a normal front engine car, but that is the price you pay for having the superior mid engine layout. Tf are certainly easier to work on than an Elise. Personally I would recomend the TF160, as it has a higher standard spec so you will get more for money (inc a nice pair of AP 4 pot brakes).