Autocar020471.Pdf

20 AUTOCAR 4 February 1971 From the performance point of view, the conside rable revs need ed' to re-start two-up on ge aring change is th e most important. the the 1-in-3 test slope . overal l fig ure go ing up fro m 15 .4 to 16.5 mph The Midget's st eeri ng is eve ryt hing a per 1,000 rpm on th e Mi chelin ZX 145 sports-ca r's ought to be- light, very accurate, SR-1 3in . radial-ply tyres on th e te st car highly responsive, highly geared and , on ce the IBlJIIJESJ (cross-ply ty res are st andard). (Owners with rac k is fully ru n-in , giving goo d feel wi tho ut too ot her ty res fitted should not e tha t in th is much kickback. There is no slop w orth MG MIDGET MK III part icula r size th ere are diff eren t rev-per-mile mentioning, so that on first dr iving it , having fi gures for the various m akes , givi ng different got out of almost any other car, one te nds (1,275 c.c.) ove rall gea ring .) Previo usly the same-size to "over-steer". The car' s obviously rig id M idg et' s top speed of 9 3 mp h was seen after construc tion shows th rou gh to th e driver on a AT-A-GLANCE: BLMC's familiar small peak-power eng in e spe ed-6,0 0 0 rpm-but twisty ro ad; it feels ver y much all one piec e . sports-car in latest paintwork and trim, the high er-geared test car ach ieve d 94 m ph Slippery road s are fun in th e M id get, w hich is with some detail improvements. Higher mean at 5,700 rpm, with a bes t figure on one unusually well balanced. Handling characteris gearing increases top speed slightly but not leg of MIRA's ban ked cir cuit in good con di tions tics are com plete ly safe: slight initial und erst eer acceleration. Excellent handling, firm ride, of 96 (5 ,800 rpm) . One doe s not notice much c han g ing pr o gress iv el y to middli n g tai l good value and good fun. di ff erence in crui sing refin em ent subjec tively , breakaway when yo u try really hard . There is no though th ere is obviou SL}; some Improvement. suggest ion of tr eachery at any sta ge, th ough MANUFACTURER Fuel consumption overall . com pared wi th the such a light car obviously badly needs Br itish Leyland M otor Corporation Ltd., (MG lower- gea red car which took part in the all-independent suspe nsio n . Ride is di stinctl y Division), Abingd on -an -Th ames, Berkshire. Mi dg et -S pitfire double test (A u ta car 10 April firm, th e liv e-ax led back end hopping ou tw ards PRICES 1969), see ms har dly affected . We averaged somew hat on bumpy ben ds tak en quickly. As Basic . ..... .. .. ... £6 92 Os Od 2 9 .6 mp g over 1,270 m ile s wi th best and usual wi th an open car one is not conscio us of Purchas e Tax ....... .. ....... £213 14s 9d worst cons um pti ons of 26 and 35 mpg , suspensio n noise to any degre e. Seat belt s (approx.) ... [1 0 Os Od dep ending of course on how one responded 10 Bra kes are unassisted discs front. drums Total (in G.B .) .... £915 14s 9d th e car' s obvious willingness to w ork hard Accelera ti on is very Slightly slower 1O a EXTRAS (inc P.T.) deg ree only not iced by the ink -recor Ing £1 1 15 s Od * Tonneau cover and rail stopw atc h. Showing th e double-t est car In [9 * Radial ply tyres . .. .. 2s 9d brackets, from a sta nding sta rt 50 mph com es W ire wheels .. .. .. .... .. £32 12s 9d up in 9. 6sec (9. 5), 60 In 14 .1 13. 8 1. the Oil cooler ...... .. .. .. .. £1 3 l s l d !,--m ile in 19 .6 (1 9 .3), an d 80 in 29 .7 128 .3 ,' Anti-roll bar .. .. .. ... .. .. £ 3 18s 4d th e new car will however jus t achieve 90 mp '1 Hard top . .. ..... ... .. .. ... £65 5s 7d within t he length of M I RA 's t "II a zon tat . , ,' l d Headrests (pair) .. .. ... £10 8 s m ile-in 51 .3sec-which the other .vo utd n Ot . * Fitted 10 test car Correspo nd ing figures for th e M G i 300 M kll PRICE AS TESTED .. .. .... £936 12s 6d are respectively 9 Asec, 14 .1 19 ,6 and 28 .3 PERFORMANCE SUMMARY with 90 mph seen at 49 .2se c M ean maximum speed 94 mph St anding start i -mile 19.6 sec 0 -6 0 mph .. 14.1 sec Good car in traffic 3 0- 70 mph through gears . 15.8 sec Typical fu el con sumption 30 mpg Such cold comparisons a' e rot 10 the M iles per ta nkf ul . .. 180 M id get' s adva ntage . and c o less than Justice to it s likeable chara cte r Couoted w ith good smoot h- road handling a -v o orakes lof w hich HERE are . surprisingly, still too few mo re anon) , and good -rsiourrv V' nether or not contenders for th e role of th e you ng th e hood IS do w n the pe or , ance IS more T m an 's (o r yo u n g wom an ' s) f ir st than en oug h to pro vid e t e keen dr ive r with a Sport s-car . W ith still-stee per insurance one lot of f un . Clear! I at advantages the little MG might have though t th at the demand for a has are at their be st In traffi c : one has more proper open two-seat er of acceptably nippy th an enough go 10 Sla y master of most traff ic pe rf o r mance , nimble h an dling. sports- car situa tions. The eng ine IS always wi lling. ap p o i n t men t s an d-- by t od avs i nf lated beginning to pull hard fro m 3 ,0 00 rpm, though stan dards - mi ddlin g lo w price , was bigg er than no t baulkmg If you ask It to work from speed s eve r . At £9 0 6 Austin- Healey Sprit e- cum -M G onl y a little above its trckover ,Recommended Midget in its late st form st ill rem ains perh aps' br ief maxi spee d is 6 ,3 0 0 rpm on th e the best car of the type available . Perfo rmance, revco urn er . which under-read by 100 rpm at thoug h.good. is still not as good as a number of trus spee d . bu t the engin e feels happy to go saloon cars, but th e Midget (which is th e higher With out signs of valve-boun ce. "badge" we test ed ) is und eniably a true Exhau st and mecha nic al noise from the engin e spo rts -ca r . are not obtrusive : it is th e gearbox w hich The body shape da tes back to 196 1 wh en offend s most clearly here. First gear would not the highly distin cti ve "fro g-eyed" Sprite was seem out of vo ice In on e of the lower-p ri ced restyled to a mor e conventional-and pe rha ps Vin tage-period popula r cars. It is very no isy on less origi nal-shape. Later. a more importan t mo st exam ples w e have tried . Second and 3rd change in one w ay, the unu sual qu arter-ellipti c are only somewhat better. leaf-s prung back axle w as alte red to ordinary Gear ratios are well-chose n, giving maximum half-ellipti c springing w hi ch more or less spee ds of 33, 55 and 78' mph at 6 ,4 0 0 rpm . eliminate d the car's marked and - once you 'd Useful maxima for everyda y use at 6 ,000 rpm got to know it- amusing tenden cy to sli ght are 31 , 52 and 73 mph . The gea rcha nge is rear-axle stee r. The fai thful BMCA -series extre me ly precise, w ith no thing rubbery abou t eng ine fitted has gradu ally gone up in capa city it. and very mu ch in charact er for th e typ e of and power; it stands now at 1.275 c .c. in th e car . The M idget sha res with it s main competi tor inex pli cably m ild 64 bhp at 5 ,800 rpm form . the Triumph Spitfire the di st inction of lac king (Its saloon st ablemate th e M G 1300 Mk II is sync hromesh on 1st gear , whic h om ission allowed 5 bhp more an d is at so me points sta nds out more clearly as the years roll by . slightly fast er) . M ost re cent alteration s are a One learns to judge engine and road speeds 3.9-to - l f ina l drive (in place of 4.22), black correctly for double-declu tching changes d own, Neat trim li nes still,though you can only buy the car paint on the sills givin g th e effe ct of particularly but it isn 't easy here.

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