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MG MGF Technical - FELISE

The MGF is a real heavy weight compared to its Elise brother.

Does anyone know which parts of the F can be removed in order to lose excess weight?

E.g.
Can you fit light weight elise alloys to an F?
Can you fit an elise exhaust to an F?

I just want to easily release the power to weight potential of my F...
hybrid Elise MGF, best of both worlds!?

Ian
R925 BWU
Ian

Ian, you are quite right regarding weight - you can dramatically increase the acceleration just by shedding 40 or more Kg... however, this is easier said than done.

To your specific questions regarding fitting Elise wheels and the Elise exhaust to an F, the answer to both is no (although, if you modified the rear bumper to get rid of the central spar, you could fit it - but frankly there is no benefit in doing so).

Okay, serious weight loss. To achieve this you need to be ruthless with the interior trim. Ditch as much as you can. Carpets and especially sound deadening material. The rear 'T-bar' trim. The central cubby boxes. Biggest weight 'gain' (or loss!) can be achieved by ditching the heavy standard seats. The can be replaced in favour of carbon fibre light weight racing seats. If you are planning alot of track action, you might also want to ditch the heavy soft top mechanism in favour of a light weight racing hard top (available from B&G). Boot trim is all surplus to requirement, so this can be dumped too.

Well, that's a start... ;o)Not sure exactly how much weight you'll have saved by doing that lot - but may be close to that 40kg figure I mentioned :o)
Rob Bell

Also, invest in a can of IMS and dump the spare wheel.

IIRC MG Rover now do some Magnesium alloys for the TF, these will fit an F so there is (some) weight to be saved here.

As Rob said, the MGF exhaust is very similar in design to the Elise one and despite the bodywork issues, i doubt fitting one to an F would save any weight.

SF
Scarlet Fever

Rob, thanks for your help.

How about losing...
the spare tyre (carry a tyre weld kit)
tool kit (except locking wheel nut key)
Will this adversely affect the handling?

Fitting elise seats :) (easy?)

I am real cheapskate when it comes to performance add ons, so will condider stripping out the interior as you suggest.
I only worry whether it will look really bare - exposed sharp metal. Has anyone else done this?

So, are the elise wheels definately a different fitment?
I will need new tyres within a month and so fitting a second hand lightweight set of wheels would be ideal.

Thanks

Ian
Ian

SF, thanks for your suggestion, as I was replying your message arrived.

I know of a written off Elise and would like all its goodies put in my F. Hence exhaust etc and suggestion of FELISE...
Bit to close to Felicia for my liking :)
Ian

Ian, i tried dumping the spare wheel to try and save weight etc. and yes, it did seem to have an adverse affect on the handling. The front end felt rather light, this in turn threw the roll in corners a bit aswell. Didnd just get a few punctures in the middle of nowhere anyway! Davey.
Davey

Those metal body panels are quite heavy! Does anyone produce GRP replacement panels? Fitting fibreglass panels would make the F significantly lighter.

Ralph
Ralph

I don't find that removing the spare makes that much of a difference to handling: I do sprints, hillclimbs and track days with it removed, and never really had much of a problem...

I don't know of a completely stripped interior, but a bit of vinyl (the material that comes in sheets) should make for a respectible, if sparse, appearance.
Rob Bell

Front tyre has now gone, convinced it must go faster :)

Just removed the passenger seat - weighs loads...

Must get a pair of secondhand elise seats.

Has anyone else done this to an F?

Is there a special seat adapter kit I need?

Ian
R925 BWU
Ian

Rob, has your car been lowered? does it have a splitter? Maybe thats where my problem lies. My car definetly handles better with the wheel in (bizzarly) iam wanting it lowered soon anyway, so ill try with the wheel out again then. Davey.
Davey

>> I only worry whether it will look really bare - exposed sharp metal. Has anyone else done this? <<

Only MGF Cup cars to my knowledge. They use carbon fibre panel replicas.

On the subject of GRP body panels, again only the MGF Cup cars have these. I am sure they are available, but the fit and finish leave a lot to be desired - after all, they are meant for racing.

People have looked into bucket seats as a replacement for the standard MG ones, TTBOMK only one person has succeeded in this regard - Paul Sharpe. Hopefully he will spot this thread and post as he has a lot of experience in this area.

No one has fitted the Elise seats AFAIK, lightweight? yes, comfortable? no. They serve a purpose in the Elise and fit in with the car's character. The F is a different animal and is more daily driver than weekend racer. This fact was illustrated to me at one of the Essex Roadster meetings last year. I was approached by an Elise owner who was less than impressed with the full leather trim, burr walnut dash and alloy items in my F's cabin. "I thought it was all about saving weight?" was his remark, "I thought it was all about driver comfort!" was my reply. We obviously had very different views on what makes for an enjoyable driving experience! But i'll wager he doesn't go touring in his car - MGF Treffen 31st August through to September 9th 2002 - 1000miles plus in 10 days on the Treffen (4th year running!) :-)

SF
Scarlet Fever

Hmm, regarding the seats, I was looking into this, but in the end decided against it, as my car tends to get used for touring holidays (such as the Treffen) and a moulded seat is not the best for comfort (and that's not to mention the difficulty of getting into and out of buckets). I was investigating Cobra seats (see archive) - which were reasonably priced, and are known to fit.

Elise seats are probably better than most in these respects. Yes, you will need to have a special subframe made up to fit it to an MGF. The limiting factor regarding sports seats is the available width. The MGF seats, although they don't look it, are quite narrow. This, many on this board have found, has severly limited the range of choice - but you have one aspect in your favour: you are ditching quite alot of interior trim, so you have more room to play with. Measure up the seats and the available space to ensure that the Lotus items do not interfere with the transmission tunnel or the doors when inserted into the car.
Rob Bell

Talking about seats!! I´ve seen those on the Rover 214 convertible. IMHO these leather ones look far better than the standard MGF ones. Moreover, I think they provide a lot more side support. Does anyone know if the fit the *F*?

Errr,..., having a completely stripped car (interior) -not for long anymore MS?- I can assure you, it goes faster. Mind you, better tape up all wires, nuts and bolds and specifically door pins before you start rattling as the rest of the cars an go nuts,

cheers,
David.
David

Some R200 seats weren't all that supportive: they looked better than they felt. Try before you buy.

But I know what you mean - and oddly, Richard "LED" Eaton had the same idea (have a look through the archives)
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed between 18/08/2002 and 19/08/2002

MG MGF Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGF Technical BBS is active now.