When I bought my Plus4 (GDi) in 2015 I really fancied a 4/4 - those skinny wheels and lighter weight looked like fun. Then I had a test drive in one and the issue you mention became apparent. I didn't want to have to modify a new car (I was buying new because I could afford it and was busy) so I went with the Plus4 which has a nice amount of power and torque for the (my) real world and returns 40+mpg on a long drive with reasonable running costs and tax. And which has a sublime gearbox which really is a joy to use. Still got the Plus4 and see no reason to change.
Agree with Fox Terrier. Same comments apply to my Plus 4 Duratec (2012). Had the car from new and see no reason to change it. In the past I’ve been tempted by the extra power of the Roadster, especially the 3.7l version, but the potential extra cost of running such a Morgan made me stay with the Plus 4. However, if I was starting again and money was not a problem, I’d probably go for a Roadster.
Bob.
Some good points well made by Fox Terrier & RJW
When considering my first Morgan I went to Alan White and looked at them all, coming from a 470hp Aston Martin I assumed a 3.7 Roadster was what I needed, but there was something about the Plus 4 that just felt like it had the right balance, somehow it seemed the most authentic Morgan. Alan White had two of the later GDI Plus 4s in stock, the gearbox on this model is sublime but both examples seemed like too much money for what is at the end of the day a four banger Morgan.
I'm also not a big fan of direct injection so I set about hunting down the slightly earlier port injected Duratec Plus 4 which is an extremely tunable and reliable power plant as used by Caterham and many others for years. I appreciate a Duratec Plus 4 will be more money than the earlier Rover engined Plus 4, but I'd encourage the OP to see if he can find the extra cash as the Duratec is an amazing engine, better still from 2012 Morgan gave the Plus 4 the same excellent Mazda sourced five speed box you find in the more costly and expensive to tune GDI Plus 4.
After finding my 2012 Duratec Plus 4 with a Mazda box I set about tuning it, without too much effort at all the engine is now theoretically making over 200 horsepower (as yet untested), to me this seems plenty for the Morgan chassis and antiquated leaf sprung beam axle rear suspension. Following my tuning work my Duratec remains incredibly flexible too, I can drive through town altering my road speed up and down on the throttle alone in one gear, and with the engine speeds ranging from 900rpm to just 1,800rpm without a single snatch or stutter.
A Duratec Plus 4 is cheap to tax and cheap to insure, the car can also deliver 38 mpg plus on a run making the ownership experience very cost effective, and best of all my 2012 model is ULEZ compliant which is important to me as I live right on the edge of the zone so an earlier Rover engined Plus 4 would have seen me paying £12 everytime I went for a drive. A Plus 4 Supersport is probably the ultimate sweet spot for me, but they’re rare and expensive so it proved easier and more cost effective to source a 2012 Duratec Plus 4 and tune it to Supersport power levels.
Saying that, I also really like the narrow bodied 4/4 anniversary model that came with the 2.0 Duratec, tune it to 200hp + and that could well be the ultimate Trad morgan
