Talk Morgan Forums Thread Like Summary - Collected my Plus Four today

It was a long day, with a 4am start and only just got home at about 8pm with a short stop at Malvern to sort out a major service in early December, in total 350 miles in the CX about six and half hours driving.

First impressions, more space than in a trad, but less storage holes etc for odds and sods.

The seating arrangement and the lack of hood flap makes visibility much better for a taller driver

The comfort plus seats are very comfortable, even compared to my Mercedes. and plenty of left leg room even though I didn't have the seat back fully.

The automatic is a revelation in a Morgan, so easy to drive especially in commuter traffic and really quick off the mark when pushed. The automatic isn't as sophisticated and as smooth as a Mercedes auto but I cant complain, love it.

The ride and handling is in a different class, it soaked up the miles. Doing 70 mph on the motorways and 2 hours of commuter traffic on A449 from Malvern to Wolverhampton and it returned over 45 mpg amazingly economical hood up or down. Felt the joints on carriageways, but generally far more compliant than any trad I've ever been in'

Heating is quite powerful but the drafts from doors and the gap left between the side screen, hood and bodywork leaves a lot to be desired for such an expensive car............need to fill some of those gaps. Very much like my trads ,for both the passenger and driver its a tale of two halves, the half next to the transmission tunnel gets toasty warm and the half next to the door, seeks makeshift drafts excluders to take the chill out of the journey. I certainly needed to wear a jacket coming back, were I didin't going down in the Mercedes this morning. which was equally as cold going down.

The headlights are well upto the job and make the journey at night so much safer

The standard blue tooth speaker arrangement was much better than I expected, hood up or down could be heard at 70 mph quite clearly, not the depth of some systems, but much better than any arrangement I experienced in a trad for being able to hear the music quite clearly.

The frost indicator was a bit annoying as it comes up and replaces the MPH digital readout directly in front of you which makes judging speeds harder especially in 30 mph traffic camera zones. Need to see how you can override that.

The wipers are a joke, it's certainly an area that requires a little more investment by Morgan to produce something a little more robust.

So first thoughts are quite simply great car, wished I had done it earlier, looking forward to it being my daily driver and enjoying a Morgan again.Its a very capable car, that on first impressions can take continental tours in its stride, in a more relaxed manner than in a trad. I've enjoyed my trads, but the CX takes it too a whole different level, which will extend my Morgan motoring years much further than most likely otherwise would have been the case.

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Nearly 2 weeks of using the Plus Four as my daily driver, looking forward to getting her serviced at Malvern on Tuesday, make a day of it doing factory tour etc.

What I enjoy most.

Ease of operation, so easy to drive, nicely weighted steering, ride pretty compliant compared to a trad, Still feels like a Morgan and much of that is created as soon as you sit in it by the trad type interior, with oceans of polished walnut dash, centre consul and wood steering wheel, just looks and feels period.. Not so sure if I had the MY23 and later metal dash and BMW wheel whether I would feel as at ease created by years of familiarity and richness of the best of a trad dash.. A nice place to be. Comfort plus seats are great with a nice seating position. Parking is so easy by comparison no heavy steering. Whilst still tight much more space to make entry and egress with the roof up easier than a trad. especially with my size of frame. The cabin feels much roomier with loads of room for my feet. The central locking is a boon no bending down fiddling with getting a key in the lock, feels more secure, whether it is iin reality a different matter/issue.

Not so happy with,

Mirrors, wipers, draughts, small petrol tank


For some the loss of the tighter more intimate cabin of the trad. and of course the much less involvement/effort to drive the CX will have it's critics. Lack of cog swopping will be anathema to many. But I can see once I get the draughts sorted out, this is a serious all year round driving car, which will allow me to enjoy my Morgan far more than I ever would if it was a trad. No tucking away over winter, capable of covering vast distances with ease and arriving in relative style.

I haven't had a daily driver Morgan for nearly 30 years, my more recent Morgans I rarely used during the winter.I'm beginning to realise what I've missed, not so much the wet and cold, but the feel of oneness that you can only get in a light powerful two seater sport car. It's ability to focus you more on the journey and how much more quickly you seem to cover the same journey compared to other cars and how much more enjoyable and less tiring the journey becomes.. Even Susan remarked on how much she enjoyed the exhaust bark, something in a trad we found would become intrusive and annoying after a while.

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.

The trendy design team at Malvern in their roll necks and Birkenstock’s with their mood boards must be seething…….
All their advertising shows, and they’ve designed the cars for, young trendy good looking folk……

It seems ironic that the CX’s are being bought by old (er) folk to allow them to keep on Morganing….

**** not you’re not trendy and good looking John*****😁

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I've no roll necks, no moods boards, but I do have Birkenstock sandals, slippers and even Birkenstock loafers, because the good and wider footbed. And I am 68 years of age. I've a trad Morgan and a CX Morgan, so in which box do I fit....??🤔🤔😉

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For me, the whole point of owning a Morgan (trad) is the analogue, retro, vintage, rattley, shaking, leaky, creaky, imperfect, impractical, quirky....FUN..... nature of the car.🥳
There are loads of cars that are waaaaaay better in every way than a Morgan, depending on your requirements and your definition of 'better'...

There is plenty of choice in the pre owned world for anyone to find their ideal Morgan at the moment, I don't really see that changing anytime soon either.....

I was fortune, like Dave to watch my car being built....... that's why I had to buy it back when I got the opportunity.....👴🏻🥳😆

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Thank goodness variety is the spice of life...........for me, the sharing of the journey is more important than the means of conveyance.

Whilst Sue enjoyed being a passenger in the trads, she couldn't drive our later trads, but can the CX and for me that's all part of the journey. and makes it more inclusive.and more special..

I had a black Mog . They do look great clean but that lasts about 100 yards, black really shows the dirt

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

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