Friday 14th December 2018

MG 3 racing car under development

MG's passed the responsibility of stripping and modding a 3 for track use to its interns...

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Let's be frank, MG's presence in motorsport far outweighs its significance in the UK new car market. This is a company that celebrated the sale of 4,446 cars in Britain in six months earlier this year - a figure the Ford Fiesta sells in a fortnight - yet it fields cars in the BTCC, has teased the idea of a WRC return and has a racing championship dedicated exclusively to its models, called the MG Cup. Now, it's adding a new model to the series' ranks by developing a competition version of the 3 hatchback.

We like the sound of this because, well, racing cars are cool. And this one should be cheap. Developed with the MG Car Club for the MG Cup racing series, the cost to put a racing 3 on the grid is intended to be no more than £5,000. MG says it'll also be far cheaper to run than its classic competition models, like the Metro, which also compete in the low-cost MG Cup, and it should be ready to hit the track ahead of next year's season.

With no MG manufacturing in the UK anymore, the firm's turned to its interns - seriously - to carry out the development work. Presumably (and hopefully) these are engineering interns, rather than those focused on marketing or catering. Although the work being carried out shouldn't be too taxing, because MG Cup regulations restrict modifications to the fitment of Gaz springs and a freer breathing Scorpion exhaust system. There are also bucket seats and a roll cage in the stripped interior, obviously, but the oily bits remain unchanged.

That leaves the car with a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine and five-speed manual gearbox, a pairing that is - compared to the far more modern stuff in the 3's hatchback competitors - a bit rudimentary. Still, the simplicity of this setup should at least make maintenance fairly easy. And they power a decent base chassis, because the 3 is actually a pretty good handling car in road trim.

Could this signal more motor racing for MG? Adam Sloman of the MG Car Club sounds like he'd be up for supporting it. He said: "Motorsport is a huge part of MG and the Club's heritage, and we are very much invested in bringing new cars, drivers and young competitors to our grids in the future." Heck, the presence of more MG competition models might even encourage a few more road car sales...

[dunnoreally]

Their motorsport programme doesn't change the sorry state of the MG brand. As Rich Porter put it once "they don’t make sports cars anymore. They make grey hatchbacks."

I really wish the Nanjing Automobile Group would just give the dross they sell here whatever its proper Chinese badge is and let MG die. It's suffered enough. That'd probably lose them the very few sales they have here, though.

[dunnoreally]

davepoth said:

Evidently they feel that keeping a British identity for MG is important to them,

I'm not really buying it. If they cared about British identity, they wouldn't have closed Longbridge. Union jack decals on everything they sell here isn't caring, it's cynicism. Perhaps their choice of workforce for this project shows they're starting to think they could do more with the brand, but it could easily be just as cynical. Interns are cheap.

I take your point about the sideline in grey hatchbacks, but all the Z-cars, Metros, Magnettes etc etc were somewhat sported up versions of the base models. Even the least sporty stuff (like an automatic ZT diesel, say) was always sharing a range with more driver-focused variants and some kind of roadster. This is no longer the case.

I'll put it this way: suppose that Porsche went into new ownership and, within years, the Boxster, Cayman and 911 were all gone and Porsche now exclusively did SUVs and the Panamera. I'll wager lots of people would be annoyed, and no race series would change that. Isn't this pretty much MG's situation as per today?


...I care a bit about this. Can you tell?

[dunnoreally]

2xChevrons said:

It depends on how much you think two-seater sports cars alone are important to MG's heritage as a marque.

Errr... very? I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who thinks so. I'd argue that it was the roadsters which cemented the brand into most people's consciousness, which both secured a lot of MGs export market (after US soldiers picked up a taste for them after the war and started importing them), and that it was the roadsters that allowed a lot of the badge engineered stuff to exist, through association. For that matter, I'd argue the fact the roadsters are the only reason most people consider the modern cars either. Which, ultimately, is what irks me.

.....Is what I was going to say, but then I read about the sub-£30,000 sports car we're apparently getting, which recontextualises everything, and now I feel a bit silly. Oh well. https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-sha...