Welcome to my MGF page dedicated to my dream car.
Firstly it has to be said the steptronic derivative of the MGF has not been universally applauded. For many it is anathema to have an MG automatic but for me its a great liberation for I am disabled and cannot use foot controls. For me to drive a car it has to be:
My previous cars have all been standard saloons the first two a Mini Clubman and a Mini Metro which were very sluggish in performance. Then a variomatic Escort the transmission of which failed before it done 3000 miles. It was consequently off the road for 3 months while awaiting a replacement transmission unit from Germany. The Peugeot 306 auto was a competent car but the lure of an MGF tempted me to change it out.
The MGF Steptronic is a great advance on the conventional automatic allowing manual selection of gears via switches mounted on the stearing wheel. This is a great liberation for me!
For years I had wanted a convertible sports car and toyed with the idea of a TR7 or even a Triumph Stag. Not being a keen mechanic or particularly rich I held off fearing for the reliability of these cars. I guess I also wanted a British sports car. I'd given up the idea until 1) the MGF Steptronic was announced, 2) I got a large redundancy pay off. Before I leapt in with both feet to buy the MGF I had to consider two important factors:
My main hobby in life is playing Spanish Guitar. The boot had to accommodate my guitar, plus my crutches plus miscellaneous things like a music case. The MGF boot can just about cope. So far so good.
There are some who would not approve but I had a towbar fitted! My main recreational activity is sailing. I have a modest glassfibre dinghy which once a year I like to take to the coast. The Rover dealer said they could do it (despite the handbook saying "do not fit a towbar").
You can see from the picture that the towbar consists of a spar that extends along the bottom of the vehicle. Unfortunately this effectively reduces the ground clearance causing the vehicle to scrape on some road humps or badly pot holed surfaces (typically to be found at sailing clubs!). Having scraped the towbar spar a number of times I'm disinclined to tow with it and will now look into having it removed.
When new the car had a couple of minor faults that were sorted out under the guarantee.
A window seal need refitting and a door rattle. The towbar was obviously a mistake and I would absolutely recommend not doing this mod. I imagine this would apply equally to any sports car in this class; Mazda MX5, BMW Z3, Toyota MR3 ect.
The car has a lot of spirit. I especially enjoy the performance when using the sport selection. So far at 22000 miles it's been very reliable. It's great with the hood down and the CD playing. American and Canadian visitors clamour to have a ride in it and wonder why they can't buy the MGF back home. I appreciate the boot space, which has proved sufficient for carrying my guitar and crutches. For me the steptronic is best automatic gearbox system I've had although it feels a little elastic when cold.