Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Photo Gallery 3.7 Roadster, first impressions.

OK, here they are.
As you sit in the car, the depth of the dash strikes you. The hand brake looks as if it will be a problem as it's hidden away below the dash, but in practice, it's no worse than the Mk1 Roadster. The footwell is rather cramped. There's a metal channel covered with carpet covering the steering column & I found my foot fouling this when operating the clutch. You either have to use your toe or the side of your foot. I think it's something I will get used to.
The gears are very close together. The total side to side travel of the gear knob is about 1.12 inches (about 28mm to our continental friends) with about .35 inches (9mm) from centre to the left. The change felt fine & after 1/2 hour or so I found where the gears are!
The steering feels rather tight ( not heavy, just tight) as does the engine.
There's no need to worry about the dashboard display, it's so dim you can't see it!
The handbook is for the old model, so using the controls is largely guesswork. I still haven't found the heater control...
The underside of the dash is a lot tidier than the Mk1 roadster, which means I can't see what's rattling :-)
After doing 30,000 or so miles in the old Roadster, I expected to feel quite at home in this one, but it is a very different animal. But I think we will be friends!
Ian

I like red!
Tony

Congratulations. Looks great.

I am not a fan of the dash dials but if everything else is great then I could certainly live with that. Is it torquey? How does it feel to drive compared to the old Roadster ?

Fantastic! And just in time for the lovely weather too. It looks lovely.....

I'm still on the path to getting my first Morgan, so I'm hugely envious.

Drive safely.

just gorgeous

leather sun visors are a lovely touch

alloys set off the red paint beautifully

is that a cost option interior? doesn't look like saddle brown ..

what are the 3 buttons under the dials set in the middle of the dash for please? looks really neat BTW.

Just to add a comment I forgot & respond to some comments.
The steering wheel is not what I ordered (it's standard). Presumably the car went through the factory so fast, there wasn't time to get the Moto-Lita wheel with leather rim in in time
I agree with DaveW's & others comments about the dials. The speedo in particular is not good. You are lookint at it from such an angle that parallax makes it almost unreadable. The three buttons at the bottom control the digital display. Without instructions, it's guesswork, but it does things like showing trip mile, fuel consumption, trip time etc. On the subject of fuel consumption, I wonder how it's calculated. Is it from a measured fuel flow or from fuel tank readings? At the moment, it's showing about 18mpg.
The sunvisors are a cost extra.
As to the driving experience, it feels heavier than the mk1 Roadster, but I think that's mainly down to everything being tight. The engine feels to have plenty of torque & I found myself at the speed limit (not over it, Officer, honest!) remarkably quickly. But of course with a new engine I'm taking it very easy. I found the mk1 didn't really start freeing up until 10,000 miles or more, so I'd better start getting some miles in
With the mk1, I always got the impression that the wheels were flailing about on corners due to the weight & that's why I went for alloys on this one ( although wires win hands down in the looks stake!)
The down side is that my traction engine is booked in at a local school fete, so instead of getting a ride in the Mog, I'll be giving rides to the kiddybrats . Oh well, the sun should still be out tomorrow...
Ian

Well done. You have perfect weather to get the feel off her and who wouldn't want a feel.

Must be a great relief to finally have her under your own control

The alloys for sure looks good and are probably slightly easier to keep clean than the wires. Will an alloy equipped Roadster have more narrow fenders than one with the "original" wires?

When washing my Plus 4 for the first time yesterday I noticed the small plastic/rubber endcaps on the wiper blades...and that they flew of at the lightest touch. Are they just "transport protection" and supposed to be removed (I can not see them on yours). If they are supposed to be there they need some glue...because soon I will start to do serious cornering

Hope you will find some time later today for a longer trip, and thanks for the energy spent in keeping the younger generation interested in technical stuff - clever engineers will be useful even in the future.

I compared my car with a +8 with wires at the dealer's & I reckon mine is about 2 inches (50mm) narrower, although it's not easy to spot the difference.
I'm looking forward to the steering freeing up a bit so I can enjoy a bit of cornering.
Now I've got the engine loaded & ready to go so I'm going to sneak in a quick (not that quick, Officer!) run.
Ian

Very nice