Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Fuel economy

The nodometer will be as accurate or inaccurate as the speedo, which by law has to be within -0% to +10%.

In theory mpg ought to be related to vehicle weight and speed of use - with maybe an additional factor for old engines like the Rover V8. You should be able to convert your grams of CO2 per km rating into mpg. But it doesnt seem to work like that.

For example, my last Honda VFR motorcycle struggled to get to 30mpg and I've never had a bike that achieved more than 42 mpg even ridden sensibly. Yet they weigh a quarter of what an already fairly light trad weighs. My little Lotus which weighs much the same as a trad and is driven like a granny ( original front tyres at 17k miles ) does no more than 32 yet the family C class weighing twice as much averages 45. OK thats diesel but it should not be that different.

Having said all that, driving a Morgan is not about fuel economy is it? Or even about the very low depreciation.

Don't forget the effects of aerodynamic drag...

thats the "speed " bit.

...which iirc increases at the square of the speed

Aerodynamically a Morgan is very poor. The widescreen is, in effect, an air brake. As an experiment I have coasted down a hill and seen the speed drop, but this doesn't happen in my Focus, in fact, the Focus gains speed. There is a weight difference so the added weight of the Focus would have an effect, but the slowing of the Morgan is quite dramatic. The engine therefore has to work harder to maintain speed and thus mpg will drop. This is why the megasupercars struggle to top 200mph due to the huge need for power as a result on huge aerodynamic penalties at higher speed. Fold flat screen with aero screens to improve mpg? Highly polished body to reduce drag? Personally I don't worry about mpg for my 4/4 as I accept the reasonable figures I get as a result of enjoying driving.

Here's an example of someone trying to make a Morgan trad cut through the air better than standard...

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C313682

Don't think it's worth spoiling the styling for less drag, in my opinion.
Up to 50mph the drag is not such a big issue anyway as far as fuel economy goes. Most of the time on the road we are not really going much more than that. On the track that's a different story of course.
The real test for on road fuel economy is the engine efficiency at everyday road speeds and how you drive the car, assuming that the vehicle weights of Morgans are pretty similar.
I speak from experience when I say that hill roads also kill fuel economy more than aerodynamics. Pity you can't go down hill everywhere !

[img]http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0043/4522/products/Morg_main_pic_grande.jpg?101136[/img]

In any case there is more fun to be had , and licence preserving fun at that, by thrashing a slower car than a big fast one. Who can really use all the performance of even an Aero on our roads, safely and staying out of jail? So I reckon the nicest trad to drive is the smallest engined one with the lightest body.

Driving really fast on the open road requires stupidity more than aerodynamics IMO of course.

My thoughts exactly. And as for that plus 8....words fail me. Someone has spent a load of cash to make that car less attractive. It takes all sorts.

The traditional light weight no frills Morgan.....dare I say it....typified in the 4/4 Sport....is still the car that brings the most joy to most people most of the time.
It's timeless and a thing of beauty and efficiency.

"A great designer knows (s)he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away". to quote Antoine De Saintexupery.