The new MG

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

This might fuel the forum’s occasional debate about electric cars:

https://apple.news/AHtX-CyCzTIybDvUQX3_FDw

MichaelG.

[Andrew CrowParticipant @andrewcrow91475]

For the more senior and practical people like model engineers, this is a most impractical vehicle and @ sixty grand a pop I don’t think I’ll be rushing out to buy one.

Andy

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

I’ve got Covid atm so a bit fuzzy thinking, it’s a Chinese car with an MG badge stuck on it so as much an MG as my Ford Focus and the author managed to slip in the Brexit word, do they never give up? Very shiny though!

Tony

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

hi, I had a twin carb MG back in the early 70’s, OK, it wasn’t up to the same standard as the Wolseley model, but better than the Austin / Morris version, you may have guessed by now, that I mean the 1100 rust bucket, never was worth its weight in gold, but it was worth more to me then than any electric car is to me now.

Regards Nick.

[Nicholas Farr]

On Nicholas Farr Said:

hi, I had a twin carb MG back in the early 70’s, OK, it wasn’t up to the same standard as the Wolseley model, but better than the Austin / Morris version, you may have guessed by now, that I mean the 1100 rust bucket, never was worth its weight in gold, but it was worth more to me then than any electric car is to me now.

Regards Nick.

My sentiments entirely!

Andy

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Some spare batteries and a starter motor, I have a front grill badge of one of my old Bs, I’ll make my own ! Noel.

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

My  first foray into the joys of MG ownership could have been an MGA 1600 BUT in reality became a ZA Magnette. Walnut dash with green glowing instruments (at night), leather seats and trafficators, ZB had winkers. Second helping was a loan car from Naylor Bros where wife worked, who were T series restorers and were licensed to manufacture, from original MG drawings, the last great TF (Headlamps IN the wings) hiding a 1700 lump under the lid. £15000 (at that time, NEW) of pure motoring nostalgia WITHOUT the British car disease of oil leaks.

 

Regards  Ian

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

I had a Wolesley 4/44,which was very similar to the Magnette, but with a smaller engine. The column change was worn out, so gear changing was a bit wooly, and the accelerator linkage was rods, cranks and ball and socket joints, which fell apart if you went over a big bump, jump out, up with the bonnet and put it back together. 0-60 eventually, and 30 mpg on a good day. Now where did I put my rose tinted spectacles.

[Bo’sunParticipant @bosun58570]

Annoying maybe Duncan, but at least you could fix it.  Halcyon days?

[Tony Pratt 1]

On Tony Pratt 1 Said:

I’ve got Covid atm so a bit fuzzy thinking, it’s a Chinese car with an MG badge stuck on it so as much an MG as my Ford Focus and the author managed to slip in the Brexit word, do they never give up? Very shiny though!

Tony

You are right. Owned and manufactured by China. Parent company SAIC is owned by the Chinese government and makes a slew of cars with various badges stuck on. Chairman Mao would be proud of them, the company having been around since his day.

Bit like the new BSA motorcycles. Owned and made in India by the Mahindra car company. They are actually a decent machine though, using a very modern and well-proven Rotax engine dressed up to look like the old Beeza bangers. Realistically, better than anything that came out of Small Heath. When they eventually get to Australia I may well be tempted…

[GreensandsParticipant @greensands]

Not an awful lot in common with the model TC I owned aeons ago………….

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

I think it’s a nice looking vehicle but sadly impractical and one of the reviews I read didn’t much like its road handling. The range is pretty poor too, likely in winter it’ll be less than 150 miles. The argument about it being Chinese is pointless since large amounts of car components are going to be sourced there now. How we’ve got to the situation where China has become such an industrial hub is a different discussion the West should be frightened by and foolish to have supported.
It makes a change from the ubiquitous SUV/Crossover market.

[pgk pgk]

On pgk pgk Said:

The argument about it being Chinese is pointless since large amounts of car components are going to be sourced there now.

Just got back from a Sunday classic motorcycle club ride. Only breakdown of the day was  a freshly restored Suzuki GT750 two-stroker. The nipple pulled straight off the end of the brand new Chinese-made replica clutch cable. Not crimped on hard enough. A far from unique story.

Yes many components are made there today, and they can make good stuff. Can. But they don’t always do that. A mate bought a brand new (Chinese) Haval SUV (Great Wall rebranded after they got such a bad name) and the cruise control button fell off the steering wheel into his lap on Day 2 after he drove it off the showroom floor. A week in the workshop while they waited for and fitted a new steering wheel.

BMW was manufacturing their 650cc single cylinder GS adventure bikes completely in China a few years back. They recalled the entire year’s production and gave the owners their money back. The Chinese factory had failed to tighten the con-rod big end bolts up to spec and the engines started tossing the conrod out through the cases within a few thousand miles.

I just had to replace the gearbox in my Australian-branded but Chinese-made washing machine because the Chinese bearings did not last 5 years and the gearbox ism so flimsily made, the only way to dismantle it is to destroy it. My previous washing machine, Australian made by the same brand, lasted 10 years before having the same trouble.

Such stories are legion. Scepticism about Chinese quality is founded in such reality.

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

There’s some amusingly daft comments on this thread:

a two-seater convertible that’s impractical? Seriously? Aren’t they all? Go and sit in an MG Midget, MGF, Mazda MX5, Boxster etc and consider how much more practical they are. That’s assuming you can actually get in them.

Chinese cars are poorly designed and made. Yes, European  ones are so much better and never fail as a result. We’ll have to ignore BMW’s diesel timing chains, VW DSG gearboxes,  Ford’s wet timing belts, rusty X-type Jags etc unless we’re going to live in a fantasy world.

MGs were always a collection of prosaic mechanical parts in a hopefully pretty body improved by marketing; what’s changed with this one?

It looks new and flashy? Yes, that’s because it’s supposed to, just like an MGB did when it was when new….

[Bo’sun]

On Bo’sun Said:

Annoying maybe Duncan, but at least you could fix it.  Halcyon days?

I’d rather have my present car, which just works and does 40-50 mpg depending on where I am (motorway or town) than something that needed attention very regularly. Last 3 cars all did >150000 miles with just planned oil/filters/brakes/tyres, my vauxhall viva needed a new clutch every 20000. Ok it was an easy job, but shouldn’t have been necessary. Gearbox output shaft seals were another frequent job.

[Nick Wheeler]

On Nick Wheeler Said:

There’s some amusingly daft comments on this thread:

[…]

MGs were always a collection of prosaic mechanical parts in a hopefully pretty body improved by marketing; what’s changed with this one?

It looks new and flashy? Yes, that’s because it’s supposed to, just like an MGB did when it was when new….

Some very good points, Nick ^^^

I was reminded of the day [more than half a century ago] when we first saw the Japanese competitor to the MGB GT in a showroom in Leicester.

… but to answer your closing question: Top of my list would be the quoted acceleration time !

MichaelG.

.

Ref. __

https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/classic-car-reviews/datsun-240z-review-is-the-original-z-the-best/

 

https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/STORIES/RELEASES/nissanz-50years-excitement/

 

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

No great surprise, and hardly likely to affect the buying-decision … but I thought I would just mention this:

The government has declared: “From April 1, 2025, drivers of electric and low-emission cars, vans and motorcycles will need to pay vehicle tax in the same way as drivers of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles do. This change will apply to both new and existing vehicles and will ensure all drivers begin to pay a fairer tax contribution.”

MichaelG.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

The Yanks ain’t having it. Moves afoot to ban all  Chinese cars over concerns their software will be used for spying and other malicious purposes.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/22/biden-rules-ban-chinese-made-cars-spying-fears

[Michael Gilligan]

On Michael Gilligan Said:

No great surprise, and hardly likely to affect the buying-decision … but I thought I would just mention this:

The government has declared: “From April 1, 2025, drivers of electric and low-emission cars, vans and motorcycles will need to pay vehicle tax in the same way as drivers of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles do. This change will apply to both new and existing vehicles and will ensure all drivers begin to pay a fairer tax contribution.”

MichaelG.

An awful lot of electric cars will fall into the (so called) higher luxury car tax bracket because they cost more than £40k When new.

[Hopper]

On Hopper Said:

The Yanks ain’t having it. Moves afoot to ban all  Chinese cars over concerns their software will be used for spying and other malicious purposes.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/22/biden-rules-ban-chinese-made-cars-spying-fears

Why doesn’t that surprise me about the Chinese?  Maybe Europe should do likewise.

[Bo’sun]

On Bo’sun Said:

On Hopper Said:

The Yanks ain’t having it. Moves afoot to ban all  Chinese cars over concerns their software will be used for spying and other malicious purposes.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/22/biden-rules-ban-chinese-made-cars-spying-fears

Why doesn’t that surprise me about the Chinese?  Maybe Europe should do likewise.

It’s got nothing at all to do with security. It’s mercantilism pure and simple on the US part. Doing their best to wreck the world’s economy.

 

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Another report HERE shows such fears are not pie in the sky. From the Hezbollah exploding pagers fiasco to Iranian nuclear processing centrifuges self destructing to infiltration of Western power and comms utilities,  such “sleeper’ malicious software is a well established weapon of modern warfare.

Caveat emptor indeed.

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

To quote the schoolboy aphorism:- “He who smelt it dealt it.”

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Modern electronics have fantastic potential; for good or evil, depending who you are and want to do.

To see the vulnerability, watch “Scam Interceptors” on BBC TV. They can hack into even the CCTV systems of scammers and even pinpoint the building, in the city from which they operate, as well as showing nthe scammers screen inages.

Many years ago, at a talk on GPS, I was told that Russia had satellites that could locate you to within a few yards.  About that time I was shown a US film taken from 65,000 feet showing an articulated truck on the road. You could tell the make from the badge on the radiator grille. And that was what they were prepared to make public!

More recently, note the ability to choose which window through which to project the missile!

With Wi Fi on our computers, it should not be too difficult to incorprate spy software. A car radio which reports your movements (Mobile phones allow you to be traced) and your speed should not be to difficult for the spooks to produce.

Adjusting the volume on one hearing aid, reacts on the other!

Big Brother has been watching us since 1984, or before, and gets better every day

Howard

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

None of this is new.  The Romans encrypted dispatches.

From Renaissance times governments exchanged information with their ambassadors by letter, letters that others were keen to read too.  All big states had a ‘Black Chamber’ devoted to intercepting and decoding what their rivals were saying.

Since then telegrams, telephony, wireless, and now the internet have increased the scale of operations, but the principle is the same:  the best intelligence comes straight from the source.  Diplomatic, military, commercial and personal are all fair game.

Dave

[Author]

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