Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Aero 8, 2012< Plus 8, SuperSports, Coupe & Aeromax Retro-fit ABS and traction control

I've a 2013 Aero Plus 8 and would like to fit ABS and traction control. I think that later Aero's may have had such trinkets. Does anyone know if its possible to retro-fit earlier cars like mine ?

Anything such as you suggest is possible , it's all a matter of costs so I suggest you email dealers like Henry @ Williams and Sarah @ BHM as a starting point in your exercise.

The problem will be marrying up the electrical/electronic side of things which are poorly thought out already, another of MMC's Achilles heels in the real world.

More than happy to be proven wrong.

Prohibitively expensive is my flier.

I agree with Richard. Just off the top of my head the research and costs for traction control which was never adopted on Aero series would be prohibitive. As suggested MMC's adoption of CANBUS system in general was flaky on the Aero series leading to all sorts of issues as is, indicators being one of them. Having said that I believe the later Aero S4 and onwards models featured ABS and EBD for brake system.

As Richard says above flaky at best, read Peter Jenks posts on here with regard to electronics on his beautiful Tarka Aero Plus 8 - she spent so much time between Williams and the factory that he just had to get rid of the pain in the end.

We were all sorry for him as he was a great ambassador for the breed, so be very wary about your suggested pathway.

My 2009 S4 Aero handbook says ABS is fitted as standard. I thought the +8 Aero shared the same chassis/engine platform, so would have thought your 2013 would have it too.

Sprinkle glass on the throttle pedal and drive in socks.

From recollection - getting the ABS and Traction control working on the later Aero’s was a lot of work and R&D/config time.

As a safety item - I don’t think retrofitting it is as easy as it might seem (and probably comes with a load of liabilities in terms of its setup and operation).

A bit of a rant re tec advance in terms of vehicle control systems.....I think I understand the desire to attempt to restrain a few hundred horses, which can provide quite a challenge for a mere mortal such as I, and I do admit that the circa 400 horses I have available at times under my right foot can be exercised in ways I had never dreamed of being possible, without ending up buried in a hedge or worse.

That my non-Morgan vehicle is loaded to the teeth with ...wait for it... PSM, PASM, PTV, PDCC and PDAM, which has the potential to cause me to think I may be a far more skilful driver than I ever have imagined possible, and more importantly at potentially MUCH higher speeds, should I so wish..!

Truth be told, those four hundred horses only come alive in the higher rev ranges, so very tempting to exercise some of those digits in the programming, stop the horses just grazing, and get the whip out.... for other than that, just cruising along allowing the PDK to make perfected gear changing decisions relative to data derived from it`s remote digital input devices, in order to minimise exhaust emissions and maximise MPG, perhaps does not justify the other possibly uncomfortable aspects of piloting a sports car, as opposed to a vehicle that is capable of transporting one in comfort...?

All of the above listed tec can be proved worthless having driven perhaps 50 or so miles, parks up in a lay-by, to grab a quick snap, jump back in turn the key, to be faced with a machine which refuses to start and after a few more twisting key attempts, presents a variety of suggestions relative to the possible cause, such as PSM issue, sockets deactivated, steering support limited, possible to drive on, and quite a few other seemingly spurious system warnings, before arriving at... Battery low, start engine......Technology is GREAT, when it is working.... BUT...?

I suspect that it may be wise to consider what one might wish for....?

I have driven and enjoyed the same route in my old carb fed +8, stopped in the same lay-by and grabbed a pic... With little to no thought it might without warning, just decide it will not transport me any further..!

Both Richards posts above reminded me of the brake light issue that Peter had with his digital Morgan....Brake lights are quite the simplest of circuits, until you introduce modern-day technology, which seemed not only to frustrate the dealership and the MMC`s ability to resolve within any degree of reasonably expected efficiency at the time.. which was a great pity.

Ok, OK so my Luddite tendencies have recently been heightened somewhat relative to the above events, but the KISS principal still kinda works for me, even though I have performed a 180 on that for the sake of my own convenience... and more than once, and will ultimately have to pay the high price price that digital tec demands.... Shrug.

It is that which it is, and I am ever thankful to think that I still have my old Morgan to fall back on...(-:

I would think about buying a car which already has it. A lot less hassle!

According to the Autocar road test carried out in 2013, Morgan Plus 8's were fitted with ABS which I would think would have been a mandated regulatory requirement at the point of launch for the second generation Plus 8.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/morgan/plus-8-2012-2019

I have a 2005 Aero S2 and a 2013 Aero Coupe. They both have great big dinner plate front discs and despite a low weight and medium sized front contact patch I have never had them lock up. I have had times when I have pressed hard, also in the wet, but never had a lockup?

They are exceptionally good brakes.

I would be interested if the issue is old/worn rubber. My experience is that the mileage tends to be low per annum. The car does not punish its tyres due to lightweight and non-psycho driving manner normally found in Morgan drivers (even Aeros). This will often lead to the tyres becoming more hardened with age which would lead to increased skid risk?

Now let's not talk about the handbrake on the S2.

- if it's anything like the S1 Aero Alistair,it begs the question 'what handbrake....?'

James

Morgan have a legacy of poor handbrakes when rear discs are involved. Even relatively new Plus Fours required careful handbrake cable routing to work effectively although I believe there have been recent upgrades to improve. This issue is not new of course, Jensen offered all round disc brakes (one of the first) on their CV8 in the early 60's but handbrake action was rubbish despite or maybe because of a dedicated mechanically operated caliper. Strangely our F54 Mini with humble single piston floating rear calipers has massive hill hold capabilities. I attribute this to the electric handbrakes powerful geared motor pulling cable equivalent to Gorilla with six foot pole

I have often typed that the early Lotus Elan was the first car I lusted after, though it too had rear discs and tiny handbrake pads, from a dull memory I think Jag were much the same, if you want a handbrake design that works with a disc brake set-up, then Porsche ever used a disc/drum set-up where the disc runs around the outside of the drum, a bit like a top hat, shoes living inside the drum as the norm, calliper acting on the disc... Simples...??

The early Aero’s had this setup - shoe in drum in the centre of the disk.

Best of both worlds but with maybe an extra unsprung weight penalty

Just checked the photos of my 2012 plus 8. ABS is already fitted, the motor sits above the electric power steering pump under the passenger front wing.

Thats what I thought - that all Aero Plus 8's have ABS fitted as standard

Thanks for everyone's contributions (and rants).

I really would like ABS and I'm not worried about the electronic side of things - I can handle that. What I don't know is whether its possible to hang ABS sensors on the suspension as fitted to this era of Aero...(I think the S4 had different front suspension arrangement)

In view of the number of Aero Plus 8's that have been written off, it might not be a bad idea to try.

Cheers all.

I'm not trying to put you off your project, but I'm not sure it's lack of brakes that was the major cause of prangs, so much as an over-enthusiastic right foot and insufficient time or skill to catch the resulting spin maybe?

Thanks guys - I'm surprised to learn that it does indeed have ABS and I've found the unit under the wing - I was told when I bought it that it didn't - but never mind. So that's a nice surprise

Well that's good to know, but I was a little surprise you hadn't under heavy braking felt the brake pedal pulsating when close to lock up, but there again Morgan brake pedal aren't in my experience the most.communicative and informative.