Discussion
A pal has been running one for just over 2 years, and while always impressed by its handling, the performance has been.... Errr... Leisurely....
TBH, to me, if felt like it had about 70bhp rather than the 115ish it should have.
Meantime, he changed the MAFAM, tried to wind up the turbo a bit, and elaborated on plans which I suspected would never happen.
I picked up some SDI injectors for him, and they were fitted last week.
Now I could not have expected this. Car is standard, only SDI injectors fitted, and it out performed my ST TDCI. Without this turning into a '335d thread' full of daft perfomance figs, he went from 30-50 in 5.6 and 50-70 in 9.1, to 3.4 and 5.0 respectively.
My Mondy only manged 3.4 and 5.1. While I hoped the injectors would sort it out, I never expected that level of improvement! He's rather smug right now.
TBH, to me, if felt like it had about 70bhp rather than the 115ish it should have.
Meantime, he changed the MAFAM, tried to wind up the turbo a bit, and elaborated on plans which I suspected would never happen.
I picked up some SDI injectors for him, and they were fitted last week.
Now I could not have expected this. Car is standard, only SDI injectors fitted, and it out performed my ST TDCI. Without this turning into a '335d thread' full of daft perfomance figs, he went from 30-50 in 5.6 and 50-70 in 9.1, to 3.4 and 5.0 respectively.
My Mondy only manged 3.4 and 5.1. While I hoped the injectors would sort it out, I never expected that level of improvement! He's rather smug right now.
Point was about the improvement in the car.
It must be pushing near 135ish bhp now, 20 up on standard... Impressive increase. (If it was standard, I really, really doubt it would have matched the ST, which is pretty decent itself in the midrange.)
As for the rest of the car, while I couldn't claim the interior is the same quality as the Golf etc, it appears to be just as well built (Honestly? Maybe better, I know of a few mk4 golfs that were falling apart after 60k). Approx 95k, no rattles, nothing falling off, seats still supportive and the bolsters look unworn...
And, as you say, for the base MG models there really isn't any competition. While there is competition for the ZS180 (clio 172, st170, Type R etc) the base model MGs come with the same handling, but less power. What can you compare it with? Focus CL? Golf 1.6S? Astra CDTI? None of these drive like their sportier model versions, the MGs do. Brilliant.
Spelling edit
It must be pushing near 135ish bhp now, 20 up on standard... Impressive increase. (If it was standard, I really, really doubt it would have matched the ST, which is pretty decent itself in the midrange.)
As for the rest of the car, while I couldn't claim the interior is the same quality as the Golf etc, it appears to be just as well built (Honestly? Maybe better, I know of a few mk4 golfs that were falling apart after 60k). Approx 95k, no rattles, nothing falling off, seats still supportive and the bolsters look unworn...
And, as you say, for the base MG models there really isn't any competition. While there is competition for the ZS180 (clio 172, st170, Type R etc) the base model MGs come with the same handling, but less power. What can you compare it with? Focus CL? Golf 1.6S? Astra CDTI? None of these drive like their sportier model versions, the MGs do. Brilliant.
Spelling edit
Edited by Dimski on Friday 13th November 11:35
Another update, 2 years on. I like resurrecting this thread! 
He's still got it, now on about 120k miles, and still going well. I had a brief drive a couple of weeks ago...
Have to admit, it does give an appreciation for how good modern diesels have got in terms of refinement, it is incredibly clattery and noisy at idle, but once on the move it is a little better. It is running over 150bhp now, goes well! The thing that stood out for me though, was the way the car felt down a good road. Even at the very gentle pace I did, the way the steering felt was quite removed, and all the better for it, from more modern cars. It made me regret the passing of these MGs, as unless I go shedding in the next year or so I can't see myself owning one.
Made my Audi feel rather dull!
He's still got it, now on about 120k miles, and still going well. I had a brief drive a couple of weeks ago...
Have to admit, it does give an appreciation for how good modern diesels have got in terms of refinement, it is incredibly clattery and noisy at idle, but once on the move it is a little better. It is running over 150bhp now, goes well! The thing that stood out for me though, was the way the car felt down a good road. Even at the very gentle pace I did, the way the steering felt was quite removed, and all the better for it, from more modern cars. It made me regret the passing of these MGs, as unless I go shedding in the next year or so I can't see myself owning one.
Made my Audi feel rather dull!
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