Since ‘Enjoying MG’ published my article eighteen months ago, ‘First year with an F’, my MGF named KaRIN and I have experienced a few changes, made lots of new friends and had some more adventures.

I have been working away from my native Lancashire for the last 10 months, so I have not been able to use the F as much as I would have liked. Only 4,000 miles were covered in the second year of ownership making 10,000 miles overall. In that time I have noticed a steady increase in local sightings of the MGF which indicates the increasing popularity of this fine sports car, which still seems to be selling well.

Whilst having the F serviced recently, I noted a number of subtle differences in the MGF courtesy car when compared with my own 1996 (N Reg.) model. These were: The airbag cover in the centre of the steering wheel now sports a rather handsome red and cream MG motif instead of the black embossed MG motif on the earlier type. I was so taken with this motif that I enquired about changing to the new airbag cover but when informed by Foxfield Rover of Wigan (my excellent local dealer) that to do this also meant purchasing a new airbag unit at £350, needless to say I declined. Another change to later cars is the fitting of a new design of hood cover, which I think looks untidy but apparently it has been introduced by popular demand. I know quite a lot of people had problems fitting the original cover, but once the original cover has been fitted several times the tightness in the wire gives slightly. After this has occurred it is just as easy to fit as the new type and looks far neater. I think the new design detracts from the finish of the hood and looks like what it is, an afterthought.

Also changed was the hood and weather seal design, earlier hoods having seams a quarter of the way in from the door edge removed from the newer design. Earlier seals leaked, a common problem and were changed under the warranty on my F during a service some time ago. I think the newer hood design gives a smoother roofline and is therefore an improvement but was surprised that the new design did not include rain channels as seen on the after market replacement hoods. These rain channels will probably prevent rainwater dropping in your lap when you get in and out or open the window slightly when it is raining, I think I’ll wait until the hood wears out or is vandalised before I change mine.

Until recently I have had doubts as to whether anyone could really feel if the VVC was any quicker than the 1.8i, having now had the chance to drive a VVC as a courtesy car a few times, I am convinced that the VVC is quicker. Although I only found this to be in the 50 to 80 mph range, this difference may well be even more pronounced as you drive faster.

On the face of it, not that much has changed in three years of production, which just goes to show what a fine job Gerry McGovern and his team did when designing the F in the first place.

I must confess to having made a few modifications to the F when time permitted over the summer, these came about in the following ways. I have found that when driving on the motorway with the top down the draught on the back of my neck was quite uncomfortable. Puzzling when you consider that I have been driving my 1969 Sprite with the top down in all weathers for just over 20 years without problems. After some consideration I have developed a theory as to why this occurs. The Spridget along with the MGB have quite vertical windscreens and although these deflect from the faces of the passengers they are not very airflow efficient, (no doubt due to not using wind tunnels in early 60s design). Subsequently the deflected air tends to return into the cockpit from all around the side. This means that the amount of draught felt at the back of one’s head in a B or Spridget is only a small part of the air deflected and hence not too noticeable. The down side of this is that there is turbulence in the cabin itself. On the other hand the F appears to have a very efficient windscreen which being quite raked deflects air over the cabin smoothly with very little cockpit turbulence. The drawback is that most of the deflected air then tries to rush back into the cabin from behind the seats which causes a draught, particularly noticeable when the air temperature drops below 17 degrees. To overcome this I have subsequently purchased (at an expensive £187) and fitted a wind deflector. Quite easy to fit, it took about 45 minutes and involved drilling two holes in the rear bulkhead trim panel using the templates provided, then replacing the two short bolts now exposed with longer ones which hold the wind deflect or brackets. This has made motorway cruising much more enjoyable with the top down and I now only put the hood up when it is actually raining. I don’t know if my theory is anywhere near correct or not, but the wind deflector certainly works.

I had read about the Stephen Palmer exhaust system in magazine articles and advertisements and realised that one of the very few things lacking in the F was a more sports car like sounding exhaust note. So when MGF accessories started to appear, I took the plunge and purchased the SP stainless steel Super Sports exhaust system. So having backed the F up on the ramps in my garden I set to work replacing the exhaust, and was astounded how easy it was. The complete operation only took an hour and a half including setting up and driving on and off the ramps. The only difficult part was loosening a couple of nuts/bolts on the catalytic converter, which had rusted tight and they needed my torque wrench and a length of pipe to get enough leverage to turn the nuts (not easy when your under the car). Although I must admit that fitting the stainless steel silencer strap was a bit awkward but by no means difficult. I also noted whilst doing this work that apart from tight nuts and bolts the catalytic converter would be easy to replace if one ever had to, so you should note that this can be done yourself, before paying a Rover dealer to do it for you. Anyway the result of the change is astounding, up to 2500 rpm there appears to be little difference in the exhaust note, with only a very slight increase in noise level when cruising on the motorway. However at 3500 rpm and over the muted tone turns into a refined race car howl correctly described in SP’s advertisement as ‘evocative’. As well as a more evocative sound the Super Sports exhaust system gives an extra 13bhp, which is noticeable when accelerating, a fact that I really wasn’t particularly interested in before I fitted the system. I had always thought the 120bhp given by the 1.8i engine was quick enough, but having now experienced this additional power I can honestly say the car is even better to drive. The only draw back in fitting the system is the additional £35 added on to the insurance premium to cover the modification. Incidentally, talking about insurance I noticed that this year my insurance premium for the F through the Club’s scheme had actually gone down to £332. This may have only reduced by £11 but a saving is a saving, so well done to the Club’s insurers.

 Another change to my F’s original specification followed the 24 months service, I noted that my local dealership had raised the ride height to the correct setting which doesn’t look right in my opinion. Perhaps Jeremy Clarkson had a point when he said that with the suspension set correctly the wheels don’t seem to fill the wheel arches. It appears that my F had always had the suspension set at the lower end of the correct setting and as the system has settled over the first couple of years it had dropped below this recommended level by around 25mm but still looked OK. However Foxfield Rover told me that the F may look better slightly lowered but it may cause uneven wear on the front tyres. I had read of many instances where owners had found the front tyres to be worn out on the inside after only 15 to 20,000 miles. So I checked mine and sure enough the inside of the front tyres had an average 1.5mm less tread than the outside (5.00mm to 6.5mm). This is something that I think all F owners need to check regularly, so that adjustment can be made before tyres have to be replaced.

So not to be outdone in my quest to get my F to look ‘right’ from the side I spoke to Foxfield about the problem and they informed me that a lowering kit to reduce the ride height by 30mm was available for about £150 plus fitting. However I found that I could purchase a lowering kit (comprising of replacement knuckle joints whatever they are) for £95 (that’s after a small discount I get due to years of purchasing parts for my Sprite and BGT). So armed with my knuckle dusters or whatever they are called, I arranged for Foxfield to carry out the work as I don’t have a suspension fluid pump to reset the suspension once the joints are fitted. The ride height is now set at 30mm below the Rover recommended setting and it looks and handles even better than before.

The only other non-standard items purchased for the F from are a pair of easy to fit door pockets, which at £40 are a bit expensive for what they are. Although I have found them extremely useful since fitting, perhaps you could drop a hint to your loved one that these would make a good birthday or Christmas present. I have also purchased an automatic boot release kit which was a bit tricky to fit and involved contacting my friendly Rover dealer, Foxfield of Wigan for details of which coloured wires to connect to. If you do purchase one of these kits I would advise that you don’t fit the switch into the centre cubby box as the instructions suggest but fit the switch below the steering column on the hinged flap which accesses the fuses and relays. This is because there is only one suitable wire to connect to the relay, resulting in the possibility of opening the boot accidentally whilst driving by someone fiddling about in the cubby box. With the release button being under the steering column the boot could only be released automatically when the ignition switch is on and someone deliberately presses the button.

As to new toys available for the F, well I would like a full tonneau but the new Rover item is apparently not yet available. Also a chrome handbrake button would finish off the interior nicely but alas this seems only to be available as part of a chrome kit comprising of ashtray, button and cigar lighter for £99, so I think I will have to pass on this item.

 My MG plans for the winter and spring? Well the F has to go into the Rover dealership to have a very minor oil leak (about the size of a fifty pence piece) rectified. This is going to take a couple of days as the engine will have to come out to change a gasket, I know it is almost not worth bothering about but oil leaks never get better they only get worse. Anyway I am having it done now whilst the F is still under its extended 3 year warranty and I also get to play with an almost new F VVC as a courtesy car for a couple of days so it is not exactly a hardship. The main job of the winter being to complete the bodywork repairs to my BGT so I can get her back on the road to use as my everyday car again in the spring. So until someone persuades me to write another article, look out for Sue and I at Club events, come and say hello and let me hear your opinions on the above, we’ll either be in a W reg, pageant blue BGT or a White F that sounds great. Keep the MG faith with whatever model(s) you drive, remember all MGs are Fs, because F stands for fun!

Derek Chadwick