Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) Dutch newspaper 28 Jan 2020

It is essential when vigorously driving a car with a powerful turbocharged petrol engine, especially one driving the rear wheels and without electronic aids, to keep the engine high up in the rev range, to avoid a sudden torque spike.

I am absolutely with Ray.
As a former accident researcher I can tell that some pics don`t tell you very much about an accident but the outcome;)

So I won`t step into reasoning...

Just a comment on crumpling: The engine compartment seems pretty packed with the in line 6cylinder.
I would not see room for much crumpling...
All the rest does not look too bad for hitting a tree with reasonable speed.

I have been surprised by the absence of an Airbag as the steering wheel center cap is really bulky...

I think we have to distinguish two things here. The historical turbos like a Porsche 930 or a BMW 2002 Tii were extremely aggressive at the moment the turbo started. At that time a good driver knew how to adapt to that. But there were very few such cars and very few good drivers correponding.
Today the turbos, which are the mainstream petrol engines for allegedly reasons of better emissions and lower consumption, are becoming more and more responsive. In other words, today the problem for the inexperienced driver is not the time delay but the incredible torque and power.

The Plus Six is a marriage between an ultra-modern engine with a lot of power and a Plus Six that has a relatively modern chassis on the one hand but on the other hand she is extremely overstraining for the average driver due to the power-to-weight ratio and the enormous torque. MMC has to build in some kind of automatic safety because the so called new generation of customers mainly consists of much worse drivers than we would imagine. All of them younger people who rely on assistants that the Plus 6 does not have.
To compensate for this, MMC could offer driving courses to compensate for the missing assistants. Otherwise it could go wrong when the first five Plus six have turned into scrap and the drivers might get injured or worse.

Yes, the turbos have been greatly developed but lag remains a factor that can catch out the incautious.

Virtually all other sports cars with similar power outputs and indeed less, have driving aids to control the rear end. Perhaps Morgan really needs to have a rethink here before someone kills themselves? The car in my view is over powered for its weight. Unless you are driving it on a track you just don’t need power that you can’t realistically use legally. The forthcoming Plus4 will be a far better balanced sports car.

+1 - 100%

Well put, Jays.

My BMW has that engine, it has no discernable lag. I reckon it would be a right handful for the unwary in a car like the Plus 6 though.

Could you say the same about when the original Trad V8 was released with all it's power? I bet a few people had brown leather. You have to learn to drive it. I had a Renault 5GTturbo in the 80's and torque steer, wheel spin and lag were mental. I had to learn how to drive around them all and it was one of the most fun cars I have owned.

I don't think it is a lag issue. As I understand it lag is a gap time from pressing the pedal to the power deploying. If anything it is a lack of lag making it a hair trigger effect. I had a boost gauge in the Skyline and it was really funny as it showed you when things were going to get lively. There was still a requirement to have revs to drive the turbo so low revs were safe. Open the throttle at 1000rpm and the lag was monumental but at 4000 and above it had your full attention. Your mind drives around the lag quite quickly as you acclimatise to it.

I think the issue is that those engines needed revs as they did not fully electronic management like new cars do. By fully managing all aspects the power is bought in as a lump from very low revs in order to gain the best CO2 figures on the road tests. You get one big lump arriving between 1200-1800rpm and then a flat maximum until 4000-5000. The rise time to full torque is very small, only a few more revs will result in a big lump of torque and it's torque that spins wheels. This hair trigger means that what feels like a docile car as you pull off changes very quickly into an excess of torque. This is made more difficult if there is not a lot of weight for it to overcome. Most companies hide this with excess weight and a busy traction control system.

I am guessing that if Morgan change the engine map then it kills the engines certification and so makes things a lot more expensive. This is why I love the Aero and won't be giving ours up. The twin vario-cam BMW V8 is a beautiful engine to sit behind. I am guessing the more highly tuned IL-4 in recent Trads has a nice power band.

You drive a new power source car sensibley till you get the feel of it. Had the pleasure of driving a mid engine Renault Cleo. Give it a few miles and it became a joy to drive at any speed.