MG 3 racing car under development
MG's passed the responsibility of stripping and modding a 3 for track use to its interns...
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...
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.
I'd rather have an MG metro FFS (yes the crappy old one with 4 whiny gears and a thirst for oil than one of these).
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.
To be fair, 99% of the people who dismiss the modern cars have almost certainly never driven one. They have, if not class leading, at least class-competitive dynamics which gives them a USP of sorts amongst the buget brands.
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.
There's an argument to say that the sports cars have been a sideline to the manufacture of grey hatchbacks for quite a while.
Frankly I'm pleasantly surprised that Nanjing are putting in this much effort. Evidently they feel that keeping a British identity for MG is important to them, no matter how piddly the operation happens to be.
That said, the cars they're making are coming on fast, and I think they'll be class competitive within a decade - in that respect putting a few blokes in a shed with an angle grinder seems like a sensible investment.
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?
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?
Porsche's entire existence and value is predicated on the 356 and 911 and it didn't make anything that wasn't a sports or GT car until the 21st century. Which is a very different kettle of fish to MG, with its long history of badge-engineering ordinary saloons/hatches into fun cars with a sporty-ish bent.
I've driven the MG3 and the MG6 and for all their many problems they have excellent road manners and handling and are genuinely fun to drive - everything you could expect of an MG, really.
.....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...
I know the sales volumes are not massive but MG is the fastest growing OEM sales wise in the UK. Will be interesting to see if that carries on next year.
They sell (and do a degree of development on) cars here to bolster their claims to be a historic British marque in order to generate sales in China, not to actually attempt to make a profit out of the UK market.
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