MG TF 160 road & fun track car

[PhilWestMids]

Hey guys - so following on from discussions in the track day section, WackoJacko said I should post up a thread in here about my car

MG TF 160
1.8VVC K-series
160bhp
0-60 6.9secs
145 Vmax
304mm AP racing 4-pots up front
240 mmm rear

Modifications so far:

Alloy heater controls (lets all hear a wit woo to that )
Viper induction kit
HID kit
5.1 brake fluid

Modifications to come:

Adjustable dampers with matched springs
Yellowstuff Pads
'turbo grooved' ebc discs
4-2-1 Manifold
De-Cat
Backbox (not too loud either!, probably Scorpion)
Poly bushes
Harnesses
Re-map
Light weight bonnet and boot
Lightweight bucket seat

Hopefully that will give me a nice fun road and track car that I can enjoy and not have it being too hardcore!

Edited by PhilWestMids on Friday 18th February 23:20

Edited by PhilWestMids on Sunday 20th February 18:01

[pikeyboy]

Personally I'm not a fan of buckets and harnesses in cars with out real cages it can be quite dagerous. Secondly, driving on the road strapped into a harness properly is a right pain in the ar$e ie at junctions or trying to alter the heater temp etc std seats belts and CG lock is all you'll need and dont waste your money on fake rolls hoops they just add weight where you dont need it and will do nothing in an accident.

[wackojacko]

Who prompted this thread ?

Great Car liking the choices of modifications , Also as I said in the trackday forum Harnesses are a pain in the fking ass when getting in and out alot aswell as leaning forward at Tjunctions etc (as said above) but as we said it would be best to keep orignal seat belts and just unclip harnesses when not on track.

also "pikeyboy" I can see where you're coming from about being dangerous with harnesses and no cage but proper Rollover hoops Should be fitted (chassis mount) (all intermite details are on TD forum) but cars rarely go over in full throttle motorsport let alone Trackdays, although I agree with your proper preparation theory


Any pictures Phil ?

Edited by wackojacko on Monday 14th February 20:52

[PhilWestMids]

Hey wacko, put a picture up for you

The harnesses, seats, bonnet and boot would all be parts to fit onto the car for track days and not every day items

[wackojacko]

PhilWestMids said:

Hey wacko, put a picture up for you

The harnesses, seats, bonnet and boot would all be parts to fit onto the car for track days and not every day items

Good show Good show, when it's all ready and complete.... I'm game for a Trackday (as always).


....... it is a faff but I love that fealing of getting into buckets and clonking the harnesses on and pulling them tought ..... such a sense of occasion.....

[Baryonyx]

Looks tidy! These MG TF's are often overlooked for their hopeless head gaskets, tacky interior and general inability to stack up next to the MX5, but in their own right they can be decent little motors. Certainly looking in the right direction with the RWD/covertible configuration!

[pikeyboy]

wackojacko said:

Who prompted this thread ?

Great Car liking the choices of modifications , Also as I said in the trackday forum Harnesses are a pain in the fking ass when getting in and out alot aswell as leaning forward at Tjunctions etc (as said above) but as we said it would be best to keep orignal seat belts and just unclip harnesses when not on track.

also "pikeyboy" I can see where you're coming from about being dangerous with harnesses and no cage but proper Rollover hoops Should be fitted (chassis mount) (all intermite details are on TD forum) but cars rarely go over in full throttle motorsport let alone Trackdays, although I agree with your proper preparation theory


Any pictures Phil ?

Edited by wackojacko on Monday 14th February 20:52

Anyone who has had a big off will think about putting a proper cage in a car, I've had a few both racing and trackdays and I was just pointing out that the style of roll bar he is fitting will offer nill protection in an accident as they dont have any rear diagonal supports. Further more the fitting of a brushed stainless look roll hoop seems at odds with his addition of light weight bonnet and boot. The addition of weight high up will also affect the cars CoG and is at odds with any uprated suspension he is fitting. However each to their own I suppose but this just seems more southend sea front than silverstone pit lane.

[PhilWestMids]

Pikey - Ok so you're of the thinking that the roll over hoops are a bad investment? I cant cage the car as its my every day drive so I was going down the only practical route left open for me Don't know what to do!

[pikeyboy]

PhilWestMids said:

Pikey - Ok so you're of the thinking that the roll over hoops are a bad investment? I cant cage the car as its my every day drive so I was going down the only practical route left open for me Don't know what to do!

yeah hose style type bars are a waste of money, they are heavy and offer no protection what so ever in an accident. I understand its a road car first and foremost and you dont want a full cage so in your position I'd just stick with std seats, belts and a CG lock. Still get the trick dampers etc and spend the balance on tuition, this will make you faster and safer. A Std MGF screen frame should provide all the roll over protection required for tarckdays although open top cars are never good in these situations even with a full cage.

[PhilWestMids]

Ok cool

Well I'll keep you all updated on how it progresses!

[soad]

Should be a hoot to drive!

[GravelBen]

You should be able to get a solid rollbar/half cage rather than a style bar or full cage, there are plenty of MX5 options around so should be a few for the MGF as well.

I wouldn't have a full cage in a road car, the risk of serious damage from (unhelmeted) head-bar contact in an otherwise very minor incident is just too high. Full cages are designed to be used only with buckets/harnesses and helmets.

Bucket seats are fine in road cars though harnesses could be a PITA so I'd be keeping the regular seatbelt as well.

Edited by GravelBen on Tuesday 15th February 19:15

[wackojacko]

pikeyboy said:

wackojacko said:

Who prompted this thread ?

Great Car liking the choices of modifications , Also as I said in the trackday forum Harnesses are a pain in the fking ass when getting in and out alot aswell as leaning forward at Tjunctions etc (as said above) but as we said it would be best to keep orignal seat belts and just unclip harnesses when not on track.

also "pikeyboy" I can see where you're coming from about being dangerous with harnesses and no cage but proper Rollover hoops Should be fitted (chassis mount) (all intermite details are on TD forum) but cars rarely go over in full throttle motorsport let alone Trackdays, although I agree with your proper preparation theory


Any pictures Phil ?

Edited by wackojacko on Monday 14th February 20:52

Anyone who has had a big off will think about putting a proper cage in a car, I've had a few both racing and trackdays and I was just pointing out that the style of roll bar he is fitting will offer nill protection in an accident as they dont have any rear diagonal supports. Further more the fitting of a brushed stainless look roll hoop seems at odds with his addition of light weight bonnet and boot. The addition of weight high up will also affect the cars CoG and is at odds with any uprated suspension he is fitting. However each to their own I suppose but this just seems more southend sea front than silverstone pit lane.

:S that is why I suggested "proper Rollover hoops Should be fitted (chassis mount)" as a full cage in a road car especially a 2 seater isn't really practical.
It's down to personal preferance, If you have an off on TD it's usally driver fault for pushing the car beyond it's limit etc although sometimes some one else can cause you to have an off but that's out of you control so it is negligible whether or not in a TD car you need a cage depending on how quick the car is etc......

I do see where you're coming from tho pikey , but it's an "each to their own" sort of thing.

[PhilWestMids]

Hey guys, just gauging some opinion on brake pads. I can't find the Mintex pads anywhere so I am looking at Yellowstuff pads for the car. I may also consider the EBC 'Turbo Groove' discs. Now I had these fitted to my ZS 180 and I thought they were superb, but do you guys rate them?

I'll be ordering my braided hoses next weekend £48 for a set of four which I thought was pretty good?!

Hopefully by the end of April I'll have most of my braking system up to spec - new front rotors, new front pads, braided hoses and new fluid

P.S - added a pic of the car up in the black mountains - strange pic as it looks like its resting on the front end with the wheels almost suspended in mid-air... I can promise you it's not though!

[wackojacko]

Awesome Pic looks a near miss with the bumper


Yellow stuff are awesome pads I have them on my coupe with braided lines, alongside standard dics (as they have plenty of life left in them and they're pretty big already >288mm<) so yellow stuff and braided lines and Upgraded Discs will be awesome and a massive improvement.

Yellows have Really good initial bite and as they get warmer the better they get..... not seen any better for similar price.

I'd go for Brembo Max discs rather then EBC Turbo's as a mate of mine managed to crack the Turbos on his 172 cup, The Brembos are a similar price but seem to be standing up to his exuberant driving style when on track.






P.s half the posts on this thread seem to be mine, sorry for Hi-jacking your thread

[Gibby78]

Whatever youy do if you want more power don't decat it, you'll actually lose power with a decat as the VVC mechs need quite a bit of backpressure to function optimally, if you lose too much the mechs don't seem to respond as well, don't ask why I haven't a clue its just a known fact on mg-rover.org and proven with RR's

a sports cat and a freeflow back box should suffice or just the back box and keep the cat, they do respond quite well to a remap though with some airflow mods.

[PhilWestMids]

wackojacko said:

Awesome Pic looks a near miss with the bumper

Lol yeah I think its had approx 1cm clearance Was fun getting the tail out around that corner in the background

wackojacko said:

Yellow stuff are awesome pads I have them on my coupe with braided lines, alongside standard dics (as they have plenty of life left in them and they're pretty big already >288mm<) so yellow stuff and braided lines and Upgraded Discs will be awesome and a massive improvement.

Ok kewl - looks like yellowstuff it is then!

wackojacko said:

I'd go for Brembo Max discs rather then EBC Turbo's as a mate of mine managed to crack the Turbos on his 172 cup, The Brembos are a similar price but seem to be standing up to his exuberant driving style when on track.

Where do I find myself a set of Brembo Max discs?

wackojacko said:

P.s half the posts on this thread seem to be mine, sorry for Hi-jacking your thread

Lol not a problem! It's good to have input and feedback!


Gibby - interesting about the de-cat. I've heard differently so I'll have to do some more digging into that before I take the plunge!

[wackojacko]

Brembo direct or I beleive they're on Ebay most makes and models covered

[dannytherev]

Always liked these :thumbup; as well for the pic on the A4069

[GravelBen]

Yellowstuff (and EBC in general) seem to get very mixed reviews, apparently their QC isn't that great which means some people get good pads and some people get rubbish. I haven't tried them myself but I'd probably look at other options first because of that.