Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) ARP4 "Handbook", and other useful information

no power steering on mine

That sounds like a shocking PDI to me .The dealer should have checked and driven the car,so some blame for the Factory but most down to the dealer for letting you have an untested and properly checked car.
Under the new rules you could reject the car for a full refund.
As the defects were there at the time of purchase.
I had the same problem 2 years ago with my P4 SuperSport ,11 defects and some serious.
That was after PDI and first service.The Dealer was at fault they had obviously never driven the car much the same as yours .

Touch wood. My ARP4 for has been pretty much OK. Much of it is down to Berrybrook doing an excellent PDI. I asked them to drive the car extensively, and they did! About 40 miles.

I popped in to Berrybrook earlier in the week, Tuesday I think, and admired AR04MOG sitting in the prep. bay, waiting to go to its' new home, it looked extremely smart in Proseco with the correct Cuba leather interior. Can't wait for your first impressions, and how your wife feels about it - mine is very positive, and has decided she really likes the matte red paintwork of 'ours', a 'marmite' colour if ever there is one.

By the way ARP owners, I thought I ought to mention that Cosworth recommend an oil change after the first 500 miles - I'm off to Halfords this morning to get 6 litres of 5-50 fully synthetic 'Motorsport' oil. Apparently the filter will be OK until 6000 miles though.

is that at the same time as the first service? Or is it oil change at 500 miles, and 1st service (no oil change) at 1000 miles?

Here we go! First impressions from ARP4 AR04MOG.
Did 200 miles over Dartmoor on Friday with Fossilmog. Great day out and lovely people. Needless to say, the car attracted much interest from the other owners, which was nice. Lots of compliments and best wishes.
The first thing to say is that I am very impressed with the finish. As some of you may know, the car initially came out of the factory with the wrong colour leather. However, with the help of Berrybrook it was taken back and two weeks later returned in the correct trim and looking brilliant.
I have been very careful not to rev over 3000 or labour the engine. As with other owners' comments, the car felt a bit sluggish and lacking in torque. However, as my last Morgan was a 4.0 litre +8 I have to keep reminding myself that this is a very different car with an engine where the torque and power only starts at around 3500 revs!
So, I have to remain patient and put some more miles on the clock at the same time as gradually increasing the rev range. Notwithstanding, I felt the car's engine loosening up a little towards the end of our run and at 3000 revs it definitely felt as if it wanted to go for it!
The steering was very direct with good feel. Having opted not to have powered steering I was pleased with that decision. It is a nicely balanced car and the new rear suspension much more forgiving than my last car. The ride is quite firm, however, and I will wait and see if it settles down after about 1000 miles before adjusting the settings.
There is a little vibration in the steering wheel at 70 mph and I will get the wheels checked for balance in due course.
The biggest issue at the moment is the sound! Lots of popping, spitting and far*ing on overrun and deceleration. For most of the day this was quite entertaining and brought lots of smiles and giggles from my wife as well as the other Morgan owners immediately behind me. However, towards the end of the run I was beginning to wonder whether this might prove to be a little too much, to the point where I might have to consider wearing ear plugs. We also live in a small village where lights out can be quite early and if we are coming home after 10pm we may have to be very careful not to wake up the neighbourhood!
I am going to wait and see what the noise levels are once I start winding her up through the complete rev range. I am hoping that the sheer performance will compensate for this minor irritation. My last car was a Boxster S and one of the greatest thrills for me was hearing the Porsche exhaust howl above 5000 revs.
How is it that the Sierra Cosworth managed to produce mind blowing acceleration and power without breaking any windows through noise?
So, all in all, it is fair to say that I love the car, am looking forward to experiencing the Cosworth performance once properly run in, but am a little worried about my ears!
More to report in due course.

It is one and the same. In reality the first service is an oil change and a spanner and levels check.

Whilst I understood that the engine needed 6 litres of oil, I only managed to get around four and a half in, up to the underside of the top baffle plate, so either the tank isn't big enough or 6 litres is too much. I don't know. In the end I put in Halfords 5 - 40 fully synthetic, knowing it must be good, 'cause it cost £35 for 5 litres. I understand that it is made by Comma.

Now for the next 500. I was thinking of speaking to Cosworth directly to find out why the bottom end torque is so paltry, has anybody else done this yet?

I'm 99% sure the pops and bangs on the overrun are built in when the car is mapped, they don't have to be there, but if anyone wants them removed they will have to find someone who can unlock the ECU first, then remap it. They might even find a few more torques below 3000 revs?

Halfrauds oil? Personally I'd put Fuchs fully synthetic ester Titan race pro oil into it, might cost more but you will get less engine wear and lower running temps. Millers do an equivalent that is also good. But then I have clear views on oil.

Less engine wear Adrian? Does that matter when you change cars on a regular basis?



..................joking!!

Yes but then you need to drive fast and hard enough to work about engine wear first.