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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.

I have just been photographing +4SS number one at Prescott.
The new owner has sworn me to secrecy, so I will respect that with. The car isn't complete yet - there are some small things still to do, but despite that, it was on display on the Morgan 'stand' at Prescott and I hope will be there tomorrow.

You'll have to wait for my photos though, films wont be developed until after I return from LeJoG...

Cheers,

I'll let you into a little secret here Gerwyn (fresh from the factory) - it's not a tweaked Ford powerplant. It's the 2 ltr lump and gearbox from the later MX-5. In bog standard form. Blow it up and the Mazda engine is available off the shelf, for sensible money. Greg D-S commented that it made a lot more sense than trying to sort out tweaking a Ford lump, particularly for reliability with the increased engine output.

Now I want a chance to view the car's heart!

Cheers,

graham,
That would make sense because my info ( which is quite good inside track) tells me that Mazda are rushing their pants off to distance themselves from Ford after the deal to reclaim the Ford investment.
There are figures available which show that circa 60% of all Mazda warranty claims in the last two years relate to the Ford 'bits'
So if MMC are willing to take Ford/Mazda engines off the shelf and out of stock that wouldn't be a surprise
My nephew is currently an engine develoment engineer with Mazda, so I would really like himn to have a look at the SS lump and see what it really is
G

Hi Graham,
I did a quick check on the web, but I dont find the 200Plus claimed BHP in a stock Mazda 2L MX5. I must be missing something?
Cheers J

J,
AS the two litre 'lump' has previous form in the Mazda 6, I had a look to see what sort of figures were being claimed for it. In statdard form, at least a couple of tests show:

(1,999cc) in-line 4-cylinder, DOHC 16-valve, EFI & S-VT variable valve timing – 149PS at 6,500rpm and 187Nm of Torque at 4,000rpm

I'm guessing here, but that could increase quite usefully if work was then done to the exhaust/ induction systems and we would, in one sense at least, still be talking about a 'bog standard' engine using standard block, head cams pistons etc?
G

Hi G,
That is probably it.
Stock 2L duratec and stock Mazda S-VT have similar figures.
(Duratec 145BHP at 5800rpm and 183Nm at 4000 rpm)
A set of TB's, an exhaust manifold and an Omex ECU take the stock Duratec from 145 to 190BHP. So similar treatement might well result in 200plus(just) BHP on the Mazda engine. I would love the see power and torque curves of the tuned Mazda.
Cheers J

I had a good look yesterday and took some photos......I'll be good to you Graham and not post mine first!!

You carry on Jay.
I'm sorting out a week and a bit end to end trek. Won't even get the films I took yesterday developed until next week (together with the ones I use during the trip), so folks could be waiting some time!

G - not privy to the details and no time today to get a closer look at the +4SS, so someone else will need to follow this up - I'm pretty much out of circulation for a week plus (unless I can find wi-fi somewhere).

Cheers,

+4 SS uses std block but internals are upgraded to handle 7500 rpm, ie different rods, crank, cams, there was an engine on display at Donington today, the pale blue +4 SS won today after a restart despite being shunted up n/s/r. The RAF blue car was there also but not racing, the colour looks superb in the metal