I had the pleasure of attending Brands Hatch Morgans Goodwood trackday today and the icing on the cake was being able to take the Plus 4 SuperSport out on the local roads, unsupervised
I did offer Boshly the co-pilot seat but this was refused; I'm still trying to work out whether it was my driving style (or lack of!) or the thought of having to climb in and out of another Morgan.
I'll write more once I've had the chance to spend longer behind the wheel but as Andy said, the smile on my face when I returned to the circuit was a pretty strong indication of how good this Morgan actually is. The power (30% more torque than the standard Plus 4 from 2,000rpm), and poise were simply astounding. In conversations with Tim (Aero Racing) after my drive, we both agreed that the car induces a desire to push it harder and harder because the handling instils so much confidence. (When I drove it the suspension had been adjusted for Goodwood circuit and was riding quite hard, although interestingly, I found it more than acceptable for road use because it soaked up the uneven surface with ease and wasn't skittish.)
The engine doesn't make resisting this urge to exceed legal limits any easier because it is so happy to rev and pulls from 2,000 rpm all the way to redline; again, it was easy to push it past 7,500rpm because it was still pulling with such urgency. The exhaust note was a wonderful waffle without being shrill and had retained the growl when pushing on with speed. Gearing was excellent, although I believe this particular car may be getting a lower ratio because it is going to spend most of the time on track.
The MMC car is the development car and as it is being raced extensively (I look forward to hearing the results of the race over the bank holiday) they have not trimmed the interior; however, what is present has been implemented nicely and I imagine the customer cars will feel quite special.
While I didn't get to speak with him myself, it seems Billy Bellinger had been doing some laps in the car in preparation for the racing this weekend. Boshly and I heard from a few sources how impressed with the development of the car he was and just how good it was 'out of the box'; with this in mind and knowing that they are tweaking aspects of the car before they start delivering the 60 to customers, I look forward to my next time behind the wheel of this special Morgan.
I've snapped a few photos, which I hope people will enjoy.
Thanks to MMC for inviting me to drive the Plus 4 SS, to BHM for organising such a brilliant day out and to the British weather for showing us how their is no better countryside in the world when the sun is shining.
