Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Monty Goes to Castle Combe

What a brilliant day testing Monty with the Morgan factory development team at Castle Combe yesterday.



Here's my ECU log showing Iggy's session where he was punching through my soft rev limiter strategy (ignition timing retardation) and hitting the hard fuel cut as indicated by the word 'YES'.



And here we can see my two step rev limiter strategy holding Monty's engine speed to a maximum of 7,115 rpm to ensure the Duratec remains perfectly safe, this despite Iggy's best attempts to take it further.



It's all about repeatable performance with the 60 lb beehive valve springs offering further piece of mind by saving the engine from valve float, the design brief of developing a safe reliable powerplant with excellent road manners but one you can rev out without fear of engine damage seems to have been met.



Matt Mole and his team were there developing two weaponised CX platform Plus Sixs, one race car with over 400 bhp per tonn and one a road car in a kind of Club Sport/Supersport spec, I passengered the road car for one session and would describe the power and torque produced by the tuned turbocharged BMW six cylinder engine as 'Monumental'!



They all drove Monty and universally showered the car with praise, having little experience with other Trads myself its hard to guage how Monty compares, so I wanted the boys from the factory to give me their thoughts on the Mulfab front wishbone conversion, my tuning work and Monty's new Mintex MRM1802 compound track day pads that have proved so effective on the road.

Being long term Morgan employees Matt, Nathan & Iggy have driven hundreds of Trads and have litrally thousands of hours driving and developing these cars, so it was extremely pleasing to recieve the following comments...

"The car turns in so well and handles much better than a standard Trad"

"The brakes are outstanding"

"The engine and tuning are spot on; really good power, torque and drivability from a Duratec and it revs out cleanly too"

And finally from Nathan with Iggy agreeing ....

"I honestly think this is the best Trad I've ever driven "

Praise indeed from such an experienced team of Morgan Motor Company development engineers who clearly know the Trad species inside out

Monty now has the Morgan factory seal of approval

Dave, Well deserved praise indeed. What an accolade! If only the factory would pick up on some of your great ideas. Well done.

Cheers mate, we were also trying out the new Toyo Proxy 888Rs in 195/55.



They give a 30mm drop in rolling radius over my 185/65 Continental Eco Contact 6 road tyres to show an 8% error on the speedo vs sat nav confirmed road speed, this lower gearing helps Monty's Duratec get up into the overlap zone that little bit sooner on his Newman Phase Two cams to give improved punch when exiting those tighter turns.







The 888s also put a lot more rubber on the track, and it's stickier rubber too, with minimal tread and stiffer sidewalls it all adds up to a massive difference on the track.



We've also got the full wheel change process down to just 10 mins, at 2.5 minutes per corner we can now put Monty safely back on his Continental road boots in a blink of a eye

Well done that man, you must be chuffed to bits.

Not only does it go well it looks the biz as well. Love what you have done to it.

Sir P

Thanks, the engine seems remarkablely tight too.

I made sure Monty's oil level was bang on the full mark before I left home, and here's the dipstick reading today after 220 road miles and 30+ hard laps at Castle Combe 🤗



Track work is tough on an engine, but after all that punishment Monty's Duratec has barely used a drop of oil 😯👌