Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Morgan Roadster 3.0 vs 3.7 V6

I'm sorry if this topic has been discussed already but I would be grateful to hear from those who favour one engine over the other.

I know the larger engine is more powerful (esp. in its latest guise) but are there any advantages to the original 3ltr?

The early ones before I think 2006 pay less road tax. Mine is a 2006 S1 and costs £485 p.a.

At some stage the power was reduced from the 232 bhp mine has to 205 bhp & now it is back up.

The S1 has a nice gearbox some 3.7l drivers say their box is more difficult as it comes off a transit I believe.

Tax - I pay £280 for 2010 3.0ltr Roadster

Mine has the naff truck gbox

3.7 has six speed as opposed to 5 speed

S1 3.0L has a 232 bhp version, from a European Fords
S2 3.0L has 205 bhp version from a Ford Escape Truck in the USA
S3 is the 3.7, not sure where it is from...

S1 gearbox is faster than the S2, which is a bit slow and ponderous. The S3 is a Mazda box and it is fast and short movement.

The S1 engine is possible the best of the older cars. The S3 is great, but some report a slow engine response, sometimes described as a "hanging throttle". It is an engine management issue and at the moment there is no easy answer.

Availability: the S3 is new, so you can have what you want. The older S1 and S2 are not that common and it can take time to find a good one.

Possibly not the most helpful reply...

mpg with grin factor = 3rd gear and iover 3,500 rpm =26 - 27
mpg driving sensibly is up to 43 mpg
Running average is current 27.8 mpg. I like to grin!

I thought the 3.7 litre engine came from the Ford Mustang.
If it does there are some USA tuners that claim to have cracked the hanging rev issue. SCT being one of them.
Perhaps our American friends can help.

I thought it was from the Mustang also

Can't say I find any problems with my S2 gearbox...it's a huge improvement from my 4/4 Sports.
The gearbox on the 3.7 litre car is a Getrag 6 speeder and not from a truck, although for the life of me I can't see what's wrong with a truck gearbox if the ratios are ok and the gear change quality ok too.

John I can't comment on the box having driven only the S1.
As I said some people have raised the issue, glad you are happy with yours

I've now driven 2 S2s, including mine and an S3

The Getrag (thanks John, I stand corrected) unit on the 3.7 S3 is a delight.

I was told the box used on the S2 is also used on the Transit.
On my car if the change is rushed it baulks, but the lever is easy to move. Quite similar to a manual transmission I had on an old Mercedes. On the other one I drove the lever needs a much firmer push, but it changes more easily.

I wonder if mine could use an oil change, it has run 25,000 miles..