Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Extra ground clearance on a Mazda boxed +4

Watch this space….

Hi Rog,

Since the last update I've been continuing the good work of Techniques, Monty was certainly transformed by the new tyres, anti-tramp rear springs, rear Bilsteins, Panhard rod and all that excessive toe in wound out. We're now running a gnats todger off parallel and the Mulfaf front wishbone setup is really starting to shine, but it's still a weighty lump so when taken to the ragged edge I've found Monty is prone to on the limit understeer, this is only noticeable when I'm properly pressing on but it is there.

To try and dial this out and move the initial tyre breakaway towards the rear I've been experimenting with everyone's cheapest, and often extremely effective handling adjustment,.... tyre pressures.

What I've settled on is a perfectly normal for a lightweight Morgan 23.5psi on the rear, but the front has ended up unfashionably high at 28psi, I simply kept raising the front pressures 2psi at a time until the car stopped pushing. As the pressures went up the tendency for the car to understeer on the limit started to fade away, from 26psi the trait was all but gone so I brought the tyres up to a final setting of 28psi and it all came good.

Understandably Monty's steering is lighter too, the feel is excellent, to complete my post Techniques tweaks I also wound the front AVOs up two clicks at a time, James had already taken them from 10 clicks to 18 with good results but it may surprise you to hear I settled on 23 clicks. I'd run them at 24 clicks but I never like setting an adjustable damper of its max setting as it's been my experience this can cause issues.

With the front pressures now at 28psi and the AVOs at 23 clicks the on the limit understeer has been completely eliminated and the car turns in even better than it did when I collected it from Techniques. Surprisingly the Mulfab setup remains very compliant with the steering very much reminding me of my TVR Chimaera which I loved, although Monty has 2.9 turns lock to lock compared with the TVR's very direct 2.3. I'm tempted to continue my experiments with a move to higher spring rates and dampers to suit, but as the front now feels balanced with the rear I've decided the money will be better spent on a session at Bedford autodrome where there's masses of run off so I can really explore Monty's handling behaviors in complete safety.

I've always run British sports cars but perhaps shied away from Morgan as I felt they were a bit sedate, what I've discovered is they can be made to handle surprisingly well with Monty now covering ground (on the right roads) with surprising pace. Some cars tick all the boxes on your wish list but fail to deliver on the promise, conversely my Morgan didn't really promise me much but has proved itself to be a truly charismatic little puppy dog that consistently greets me with a waggy tail and is always eager to please.

Montegue, I can't find it at the moment, what tyre dimension do you have now?

Dave did the guys at Techniques that test drove your car offer any comments or comparison with respect to driving a regular trad?

Hi Henz,

Connti­nental EcoConta­ct 6 in185/65 R15 88H TL.

This tyre size isn't rare, it's commonly found on VW Polos and others.

Dave.

Yes, James was very complimentary and was particularly impressed with Monty's turn in, after my tyre pressure and AVO tweaks it's actually even better now.

I'm based in Rickmansworth Herts, I'm not sure where you're located but if practical to do so you're more than welcome to try Monty, in return I'd quite like to try the traditional sliding pilar setup.

Dave.

Dave that’s a kind offer and you would be welcome to try my well greased antique pillars (they actually work quite well). Perhaps if anything comes on the market I might take you up on it. Thanks for the Techniques comments too.

Hi Dave, thank you very much. So you haven't changed the ground clearance to the smaller one, which is good. On the contrary, a little bit higher.

Well, I finally found the limit of Monty's ground clearance this weekend, the combination of a passenger and a rather high speed hump did the trick

Despite reading this whole post I'm still confused

Is the low point on my 2012 Duratec Plus 4 the bell housing, the cross member, or the protruding MX5 gearbox mounting bolts?

The cross member is the lowest point on my car albeit more forward than the gearbox mount which is almost central between the front and back wheels. That may make the mount more vulnerable under some circumstances? You can see where the bolts have gouged the pavement in one of my previous pics. One of the long bolts that I removed from the mount was actually very slightly bent where I assume it had been clouted. The cross member had grinding/scraping marks before fitting the skid but the bellhousing had no marks.

I’ve already christened the skid and taken some paint off