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MG MGF Technical - phew, got my VVC back

Well, got a call from the dealer this afternoon that my F was after six weeks ready for pickup.

first impressions:

yuk! the invoice!
202.000 LUF, which is about 3,300 UKP :-/
still had to negotiate to get my car back, since they wanted all the money on the spot, but with banks all closed at 4pm and since I don't have the habit carrying 3000 quid in my pocket, I finally persuaded them i'd pay half of it now and the rest next monday (Visa limits you know ;)

the invoice is 2 full pages (very small print!) most of what's listed there is cryptic stuff for me. (my french tech vocabulary isn't that good)

clear indicators ROCK on charcoal black
Pixx soon

with the lowering knuckles the car looks REALLY low (333 rear & 338 front I was told)
pixx soon

Satur brakes: again very impressive
pixx soon

now the car itself: JESUS, that thing runs smooth in low revs, I still remember the first engine was quite a different puppy to drive with

engine sound: I removed the bypass, but now my F sounds very different from my previous cat'ed VVC. It sounds more like my bro's MPi. (but I verified that the new engine is a VVC, you never know ;-)

tech supervisor of dealer told me several times to watch the revs, and he basically told the same thing as Rog did on running in... so a good dealer :-P

Still haven't driven a lot with it, but I am already awaiting my next HGF... but this time it's Rover paying for it! >:-

Icon superchip and all cabling is completely removed, unit will be sent back to SP. But the SP story is for another thread, I don't wanna talk about that now.

dealer replaced one of the internal bulbs FOC, when I told he forgot to fix that one (their fault in 1st place, never worked again since gearbox linkage was replaced).

I did tell the dealer that if this weekend I am halted with a puff of smoke coming out of the engine bay, I will be forced to contact my Iranian terrorist friends who could send Rover a 2 kilo semtex surprise package...

crossing my fingers for the weekend...
d
Dirk Vael

Glad to hear you are back with your *F* Dirk, Take it easy but enjoy.

Ted
Ted Newman

At the occassion of the full VVC engine replacement, Dirk has reinstalled the original cat (thus removed the cat bypass tube). He equally removed anything related to the ICON chip (except his MGF ;-) and intends to send this little 'box of doom' back to SP (with mixed emotions... more details maybe later, because "something's" currently going on).

I asked him whether the removal of the cat bypass tube would not raise again the backpressure problem at high speeds. And hey-hey, guess what he replied: he does not intend to push the VVC-engine to its limits anymore; he will run it in smoothly as Rog indicated and, once run in, when speeding, will keep a more reasonable pace (still fast, but more sensible).

Hm, looks like, the K-1800 taught him a wise - albeit expensive - lesson.

Luc
GHC216
Luc

Well has the two days that has elapsed now rekindled any smile or part of one?

Interesting you mention SP as I have heard some 'whisperings' over the last few days as well!!

Also interesting that you have noted some clear differences between this engine and the original when it was new. I think that there are probably more small changes to the engine specs than are published or that we are aware of. It will be interesting to see how life with this engine develops and may I suggest that if things do go wrong early on then Plutonium rather than Semtex may be more appropriate!!!

Look forward to the updates.

Rog
Roger Parker

ok, I drive again with an exhaust-less Twingo for the rest of the week, this time to remove the bump in the MGF bodywork (cannot be sucked out they say, so another 250 quid gone). Can't be done at dealer (fully booked till end of Dec!), so had to do it with bodywork-only subcontractor of Rover who did already MGFs.

For the rest I did already >1.000kms with new engine. This VVC sounds DEF different from previous one. It's more zest to drive (smoother) but the K&N lag at low revs is much more observable. Clutch responds well, a bit too good when releasing the accel. Didn't cruise much faster than 3.400rpm, rev'ed it a few time to 4.000rpm and even once 5.000rpm in first 2 gears to loosen her up. Noise is great though ;)
Temp didn't get past 115°, but with these freezing temps outside it's not that bizarre.
Sprinklers do not work at all while dealer claims anti-freezer is in reservoirs. Got heated washer jets but still it takes half an hour before my jets will ejaculate ;-)
To be investigated.
Also found 2x 10" parallel scratches on paint behind my softtop. Dealer cannot understand from what it comes (...), but it seems the 1.5" iron clam at rear end of softtop (everyone has that in the middle of his softop rear edge, just close to the boot) was moved over bodywork from left, since the scratches are like tiretracks from left and stop right in front of this iron piece. Also to be continued...

Did some city traffic but 750km was sadly (mandatory) highway. 72 litres for 1.030 km, that's just over 7L/100km, not bad, but once I don't have revlimitations anymore that will go up quickly ;-)

Strange, but now I have to drive so slow I saw twice the cops fly by [with all their blue/yellow xmas tree lights and quite boring loud xmas melody coming out of their sirens ;] on the highway to chase some further ahead speed devils. (once with their Chrysler 'iron' Voyager and once with their powerful Volvo 850T5). Scary!
hmmm, God is playing tricks on me ;)
Dirk Vael


Nice to have you back on the road again with your well-known Black phantom. I think it's time for us to do some tracking in the neighborhood of Lux., it could be the first time we are driving at a higher speed.

I also look forward to see the incredible satur-disks with red painted claws. A fine combination with the black car, if you ask me.

Are you still gonna sell the car in spring 2000 ? Or is that question just a little bit too difficult, when you just received the F (with invoice)?

Cheers,
Erik
Erik Baekelant

Erik,
I think the last question comes to early.

No idea what he really feels ... but I recall a thread of february 1999.
:-/ second HGF ... sell the car as soon as possible :)

See the archive.

Cheers
Dieter
PS. I heard that the fifth Birthday Party is held on 24th of September 2000 <grin>
Dieter

Hi All

But then why would Dirk add a lowering kit??

Stefan
Stefan Gibney

I bought the lowering kit & upgraded brakes 2 weeks before the VVC exploded... Didn't get the chance to fit 'em :-(

and yes, the BMW 328Ci is still my preferred car for next spring, my F nightmare must go, it costed me way toooooo much and caused too much stress & frustration.

I'll feel like a different man once I drive in a new car. No more HGF or other breakdown fears, no more disappointments like experienced Rover support, the awful SP affair, and esp no more MG jokes from my friends! (now even 2 of my superiors (German & American) here in my office told me "COME ON DIRK, THIS IS INSANE, SELL THAT CRAP ASAP, BUY A DECENT CAR"
So I replied "OK, where's my bonus?" ;-)
Dirk Vael

Dirk

As a BMW owner myself I can assure you that BMWs also go wrong! If you don't believe me just go along to their workshops and see what is being done and to what and why.

And as with the MG its the dealer that matters.

Ted
Ted Newman

Sorry, This following is not meaned personally and really only my personal prejudice:

I find that most BMW car owners and special the sales man are conceited apes.
(hope this is not too inpolite) Altavista said this, on typing:
Viele BMW Fahrer und vor allem das Verkaufspersonal sind eingebildete Affen.) ;-)

One more prejudice ? ;-)
If you’ve watched i.e twenty Z3 drivers in Germany, you find fiveteen of them as blonde with dark brown face. (browned not from their last Bahamas Trip but from a plug socket driven UV-lamp. ;-)
Or in german ‚Steckdosen gebraeunte Blondinen‘ (plug socket browned ?)

Cheers
Dieter
Dieter

>PS. I heard that the fifth Birthday Party is held on 24th of September 2000 <grin>

This is also the date that the MGF Cup race will be at Spa Francochamps :-)

Paul
P9 VLS
Paul

This thread was discussed between 12/11/1999 and 17/11/1999

MG MGF Technical index

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