Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Missed opportunities

I had a chance to actually see and sit in my first M3W today at my local dealer, couldn't go for a drive as apparently dealers have been told that they should not go out in their demo cars, even on trade plates, until the car has been homologated, which it still hasn't apparently.

My first impression was very positive, and as has been noted elsewhere, it is slightly bigger than you would think, but looks nicely made and as nice as it looks in the pictures. Getting in and out of it was easy, at least for me at 5'8" and with only size 8 feet the pedals, although close were right where I would expect them. The scuttle was high, and I would probably heighten the seat squab an inch or two. Fit and finish looked good, as with all Morgans. The nice fly-off handbrake looked good, switchgear looked classy. The Momo steering wheel, on the other hand looked a little large, although I know large wheels are traditional, I fancy it is not necesary as the steering should be quite light.

Luggage area and stowage room in the cockpit is non existant............. but.......... there is stacks of room for a parcel shelf above the tunnel and even a small oddments bin and maybe a small glove locker, if they had wanted to put them in at the design stage. Shame they didn't consider storeage important.

I was interested to see what is under the 'bonnet', as I'd only seen one picture, showing a battery and what I assume is an oil tank mounted centraly. Again, there is quite a lot of room, but because of the central position of the oil tank and battery, a lot of the room was relegated to a smallish space either side of the battery. Again a wasted opportunity to position the tank and battery in better places, or use a smaller battery, would have released some space for carrying stuff. Whilst on the subject of poor design, I was appalled at the weight of the lift-off 'bonnet' especially at the front, the salesman and I lifted it off and I nearly dropped it, not expecting the weight in the front where the cowling is attached.

If they have been so cavalier with other aspects of the design, it is not surprising the thing weighs so much. I bet we will see a M3W Lightweight coming in closer to 400kgs, announced in a couple of years time when they have fulfilled the existing order list. It doesn't seem too difficult to lose a quite a lot of that flab by the look of it.

However, that aside, I'm still excited and will wait in anticipation for my order to reach the top of the list, I just know that I will not be able to resist changing a few things on my car.

nice, we'll wait impatiently for the pictures!!!

Paul
Look forward to that, because the very essence of Morgan is the scope for DIY tweaking. If you raise the seat though, just be mindful of the rollover hoop height!!!

Hmm, good point Dave, given that any three wheeler is more likely to go over than a 4 wheeler, that could be a serious point to consider. I wonder if a 5 point harness would be a better option too? It would be awfully easy to slip out of the normal 3 point one if inverted. Oh hell.........I shouldn't be thinking like this should I?

No - think positive and get a hard hat.........

I think I will wear a helmet when driving mine.

If I was able to get one, I think it would depend a lot in the type of driving that I would be doing in what I would wear. At the very least I would think glasses would be smart as bugs, pebbles, etc. may as well be shot from a BB gun at any speed. I can handle the occasional ping to my face, but I would not consider going without eye protection. In heavier traffic I would most certainly at least have a half helmet on if not a full face helmet. A leather helmet may be a good thing if I was sure that a role over wouldn't result in my head being a high point on the roll. The ruler test is a good way to find out if this is the case.

Looking at all the pictures on the net, virtually everyone's head is above the roll hoops, even with the standard seat squab, is this a little worrying? Maybe the roll hoops are purely cosmetic?

The way that they are built into the frame, I doubt that they are purely cosmetic. Ill agree though, considering how low the roll hoops are compared to the drivers head, they arent going to provide much safety to the driver in the case of a rollover. Can anyone that has sat in one of these confirm how high or low they felt the roll hoops were?

Surely without a full race harness to hold you in, the roll hoops are irrelevant? With the standard seat belt, on a rollover you head is bound to hit the deck

The car looks pretty stable with its wide front track but my dealer reckons a fast turn in reverse gear may topple it!