Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) 1000 Mile Report

I'm not for a moment suggesting that a Lotus is the answer to everyone's prayer - simply expressing surprise that in a debate on a car enthusiasts forum, it isnt even mentioned.

One minor correction. The Lotus with the Toyota engine ( emphasis on that) is reliable - in the 7 years that I have owned my car I have had one breakdown with a plug falling out of a socket. Thats better than the family Merc or the Volvo that went beofre the Merc. And as for comfort, and admittedly to my surprise, the Probax leather seats are goog for long journeys with no back ache. SWMBO reckons they are better than the Merc ones. As for soft tops, then hard tops and coupes are available too.

I had my first Morgan when I was 19.
It was my only vehicle until family and no garage forced me into 'sensible' cars.
At first opportunity a 4/4 was purchased as a write off and 3 Morgans later I have the 4 seater.
This summer it has been the main vehicle despite the presence of the other vehicles.
It is a surprisingly practical vehicle, but now the weather has changed it is slipping down the order.

I've been reading this thread with interest and had decided to keep out of it but hey ho here goes. My son observed this morning that I love cars but actually, I don't. In recent years the only two cars that have caught my imagination were the Eagle Speedster and the morgan. I flirted with the idea once of a Caterham and even got a catalogue but no, after thirty years and driving all sorts of sheds I am not moved by anything else. Must have a defect but I'll live with it.

I wish I could use mine as my No.1 car.

Me too but who would then purchase a 100k miles Aeromax

I would . . .

Cheers,

You raise some very valid points Howard and if it had been a replacement "sports car" for myself then I may well have looked at other "enthusiast" alternatives. I've not had a modern Lotus, but they do appeal in some ways as a pure driving machine and in that respect I agree that they are perhaps more of direct, modern competitor to the Plus 4. However, I have another "fine days only" harder edged driving machine that competes for the all too rare dry, sunny days in NW England, and the car is for my wife. So, we both felt that something more civilised, more comfortable, with greater usability was the correct option for us at this stage. I agree that the SLK isn't a true sports car, it's a softer, cruising roadster with higher levels of practicality and safety, and we like it so far.

Also, as I've discussed a couple of times recently with other TM'ers, this years Le Mans Classic trip was a turning point in our Morgan ownership. In truth, the return journey was hard work. Biblical rain through Northern France in 22C temperatures meant that the hood was "up and down like a brides nighty"; too hot and humid with the hood up, too wet to run with it down. So not easy, or pleasant, and the 300 mile journey home from Portsmouth on our deteriorating British motorways was just draining. We enjoyed the Morgan for 50 or 60 mile blasts in this country, but as I've said before, that was getting a little repetitive and the romantic vision of further continental road trips was knocked firmly on the head after Le Mans trip.

Finally, I'll just add a little more feedback now that we've done 1,650 miles in the SLK. The engine is run in now and is just starting to free up a little. It's burned virtually no oil to date, about 1-2mm drop on a 25mm max-min range on the dip stick (whereas I usually find that a new engine will use ~0.5 to 1.0 lt in the bedding in process). There are still no creaks or rattles despite having had the hood up and down numerous times in France. Overall it is still averaging 51.3mpg on the OBC and we're seeing mid 50's on a long motorway run and mid 40's on the shorter mixed town/country trips. The only negative so far is the prodigious amount of brake dust (which is of a rather oily consistency and so hard to wipe off) on the front wheels. The disc rotors are large, ventilated and cross drilled items, much larger than the rears so with a significant amount of the overall braking effort on the front axle. Initially I thought that the excessive dust was resulting from the surface machining marks on the discs, but these have gone now and the swept area is smooth and more polished. I guess it's something we'll just have to live with.