Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) Collected my Plus Four today

Be careful John, I think it’s illegal to tint any front screen for the best reasons.

A band at the top seems ok though.

Insurers love an excuse …..

Dazzle is always more of a problem when sitting in a lower car. I would just drive less at night.

I think there is an degree of tint allowed which varies with the windows it is applied too. You are allowed a much denser tint to the rear passenger windows for example. Most modern cars have some tint to the front windscreen. Its something I will have to investigate further, of course in conjunction with my insurers and within the legal limits allowed.

Quick AI check as follows:-

In the UK, the front windscreen must let at least 75% of light through, and front side windows must allow at least 70% of light through (70% VLT) for vehicles first used on or after April 1, 1985; older cars have a 70% VLT rule for both front windows, while rear windows have no restrictions, but police can use light meters to check, issuing fines or prohibition notices for non-compliance

Wise words falling on deaf ears...no way an I not driving such a great car at night, often one of the trad bug bears especially down unlit country roads, which didn't encourage spirited driving, which is half the fun in summer.

Thanks for the update John.

I fitted a self cling graduated shade band about 3" deep to the top of the Roadster 'screen some years ago, easy to do as the glass is flat

Well its been two months now since getting the CX, I haven't been able to use it as much as I would like since Xmas, as there's been a lot of salt down and its rained a lot, and the Merc is in the way, as its closer to the garage door. Done just over 1000 miles, had the Morgan service, with the firmware update which improved engine warm up times quite noticeably and hence availability of a heater much earlier on short local journeys. The central locking and headlight coming on make things easier on dark mornings, the car fires up easily, the lack of hood flaps makes visibility much easier, especially when reversing ,as I have a quite narrow garage opening.

The auto is a breeze, sometimes can't quite make up its mind at low speeds what gear it wants to be in, but that's not unusual for 7,8 or 9 speed auto boxes as the gear ratios are so much closer compared to say a 5 speed auto box, so it can be changing up and down a bit more. The changes are quite smooth, you just note the slight change in engine note.You have to hold the car on the footbrake more than I do in the Merc in commuter traffic, because it creeps a fair bit more than I'm used to. The long travel on the brakes Morgan sorted with a brake fluid change etc during the service, they are quite a heavy push but certainly stop you when needed.

Because it's quite damp and I'm using the car a lot in the wet, the mohair hood is never at the moment dry enough to take down without leaving crease marks (same with my Merc Cabriolets) for every day use especially in winter, I think I would prefer an everflex roof, so much more practical and you can drop the roof after a shower, it doesn't really matter if its still wet. Mohair looks nice but isn't that practical compared to everflex.

I'm thinking of replacing the Avon tyres with something with better grip, I have felt the backend twitch a little, going around corners on really damp and slippy roads, even at quite modest speeds. But the state of our current local roads are quite exceptional slippy, as I've felt the traction control on the Merc with much better tyres on, activate on occasion. So it's not just the Morgan I've noticed of late, but certainly the Merc feels more sure footed at the moment..

Love the polished wood interior, the comfort plus seats dislike the music stream system, which with further research appears to be only bluetooth 4, which is known for connectivity issues......so I'm getting a bluetooth MP3 player for use on walks and in the car, whilst I look.another permanent solution. It's just a little of my impatience,we just cant seem to get a continuous seamless phone connection, which is frustrating when I making a lot of stop start journeys.

The polished spoke wheels are great but a bit of a pain to clean, the dish of the wheel and number of spokes make it very hard to clean, made worse with brake dust from the rear discs not just the front discs as on a trad. I've yet to take the wheels off to clean properly, but even the handbook advices taking to a Morgan dealer to have the wheels removed on a 4 leg jack/ramp.......has anyone tried brake cleaner on the polished spoke wheels?

All in all I'm really pleased with the CX, the irritations are mere details, I enjoy driving it, its so easy to live with, I should have done it much earlier. It doesn't take away from my trad driving day and the fun I had in them, its just a new chapter with a Morgan I'm sure it's getting under my skin and into my affections much more than I anticipated, on occasion it feels like a go cart, quick, nimble and responsive with a great bark.Its not a trad, but it's none the worst for that, it's a very user friendly enjoyable step change that you really appreciate and enjoy more having had a trad.

Re tinting of windows, I'm considering this treatment, will firstly help prevent damage to the screen, but also (not sure how) they say will reduce glare: Clearplex

Let me know if you go ahead what you think of the application. I presume its not a problem with heated screens?

John, thank you for these really thoughtful reflections. I suspect that at some point I and perhaps others will face that "do I or don't I" decision of transitioning from a trad to a CX and this chronicle of your thought process and experiences will be a valuable guide in that process. Re your bluetooth issues: our car's Alpine unit lacks bluetooth altogether but it has an aux input: we mount our iPhone to the windscreen using one of those suction-cup thingies with a magnet mount for the iPhone and have a USB C-to-aux cord that is permanently plugged into the Alpine. When I get in the car I just stick the phone on the mount and plug in the stereo and I'm good to go (using Google maps on the phone as the navigator). If I need to make a call I use noise-cancelling AirPods which connect as soon as I take them out of their case.