chris666

Hi just after a bit of advice
looking for a car for the summer !
had an mx5 last year, great car but want somthing different
this year ive got £2k to spend . two cars for sale in my village
a white 96 mgf with 75k & a red 95 mr2 t bar turbo with 85k
people say the mgf's engine is a bit weak
& the mr2's clutch
but what would be the best ?
not after ***** out performance , got the scooby for that
looking for roof down motoring at a cheap price
thanks chris

ps i don't cut hair

FlightMan

Mate had an MGF, he preferred my MR2, even though it was 4 years and 30k miles older.

So did I.

The MGF was complete *****.

bonerp

must've had a bad one then cos my 1.8 vvc was a fine car!

The Zohan

MGF's had a poor record for build quality.

Personally i would go for the MR2, more likely to wear the miles and age better than the MGF.

The 1.8VVC engine was good, well would be as Honda derived but TBH i have not heard to many good things about MGF's

Suspect the MR2 would be a better drive as well, owned and driven a few MR2's.

richs2891

Out of those two would go the MR2 route. Would nover buy a MGF girl at work has one head gasket went within a week of owning it !

Richard

bonerp

yeah the HGF was a re nowned problem! Not on mine though. Just buy a warranty if you want an mgf! That'll cover the hgf.
I had no issues at all. And I never drove mine slowly!
Theres a good fan base too and no problem with spares.
Personal preference at the end of the day. I don't like MR2's. Mine would have to be a TT supra if I went down the toyota route!

what would scooby do

I have a rover 200 with the 1.8 VVI and also an MR2 T bar..

My advice, MGF is awful - get an MR2, even N/A ones are a good laugh and you won't have to worry about the engine going into melt down.

Never had a problem with my VVC engine though, if it does go pop I'll just throw the car away.

MarkWRX

I knew they'd been around a while but not that long!

Dream Weaver

MGF: ****, would rather drink my own ****

MR2: Superb, especially the rev3 94 on version as you've seen. Never had bother with the clutch on mine.

BOB.T

If you saw under an MGF you'd never buy one! It's just two Metro front subframes bodged about, garbage!

Andy T

MR2 everytime - a lad in work used to have an MGF. Not that impressed.
House mate has an N/A MR2 and it is a hoot to drive

scoobynutta555

I knewsomeone once with an mgf and he said it was the worst car he had ever owned, and quite slow. I've also known people with MR2s, non turbos, and they had no issues whatsoever. For an independent view have a look on Honest John and see what`he says about each car.

Click on car by car breakdown on honest john website.

skinters

'95 Rev 3 MR2 T-bar turbo is a top car! I had a mint Rev2 turbo T-bar and drove it everywhere. I think they put on a smaller turbo running higher boost for rev3 and it gave about 230-240bhp so not slow or laggy.
Even drove from Glasgow to Tuscany for our hols and it was fine. Stewed the wine a bit in the hot boot though. Totally bullet proof - had it from 40k miles to 80k without a hitch but I never modded and treated it very well. Make sure it's MINT and shod with good rubber (Potenza S02s were my fav) or you will end up in a hedge. (lesson almost learned using 'powermax' on the back... ) Car comes with big brakes from Celica GT4 I think - worked very nicely, LSD also very good and a sharp turn in with light front end. Electric powersteering a little odd but worked well.
My one even had fog lights that turned with the steering wheel for novelty effect (standard fit I think). The lovely 1/2 leather alcantaras are a must. The velour is horrid and the full leather looks a bit odd.
Maybe rose tinted now but it was a great car. Problem will be finding a nice one as I've seen some sorry examples around recently.
T bar works well enough to pretent it's almost a convertible.

Never saw any draw to an MGF really - but never compared the 2 back to back. MR2 turbo definitely has more *****!

Remember: all MR2 turbos are jap imports. Was never made for UK. Watch out for stupid mods. It should say turbo on the side AND have the extra deep louvers on the engine cover and a little boost gauge on the dash. Check your insurance too!!

CrisPDuk

Look at it this way, one was designed on a shoestring, by a bunch of muppets who couldn't even be bothered to provide decent engine cooling, and thrown together by a bunch of brummies who were too busy worrying about whether their paycheque was going to bounce to care about screwing cars together properly

The other, whilst admittedly having seriously dated styling, was built by people who build cars so reliable that even the combined ineptitude of Clarkson, Hammond and May cannot kill them

When you take into account that the second happened to be built by the world's biggest car company, it really is a no brainer

On a personal note, I don't like either, I'd go for another MX5

shanea

MX5 every time

Jonnip74

I asked a similar sort of question back in April..... lots of reasons why not to touch an MGF in here...

https://www.scoobynet.com/other-marq...ces-folks.html

Glad I didn't go with the MGF.... went for a MX5 instead. Lots more fun!!!

Cheers!

Jon

chris666

Thanks for all the info guys
went to look at both the cars in the village ,the turbo was a dog
odd seats, faded paint & no history but did go well
the mg was a bag of bolts full stop
also looked at another mx5 for £2k but that also was a dog with the sills patched up.
then found a mint mr2 rev 3 t bar non turbo inport just up the road in a garage
went to have a look yesterday morning, and after a bit of haggling
got it for £2200,full history jap & uk. 1 owner .75k
just had a full £1400 service inc belts,breakes & tyres
roll on summer
thanks again chris

Dream Weaver

Superb buy, can't believe they are so cheap these days!!

May have a look for another one myself now.

The Zohan

Looks superb, good choice and a hell of a lot of car for the money - Enjoy!

GreenTurbo98

iTrader: (1)

MR2 - Great cars. I have a NA (non turbo) Blue T-bar G-Ltd import.

Driving round I felt like a superstar, it turned heads everywhere. Everyone loved it, people would talk to me at the petrol station etc. That never happens with the subaru ( A bit scary in the wet, not a rocket but did feel like a proper sports car. So low to get into.

Then I got engaged, The MR2 went for £1850, a sad day.

Chris L

This might help you make your mind up. While looking at the Honest John site (linked to in an earlier post) I came across this: MGF Hall Of Shame

A site dedicated to MG F head gasket failures! Not pretty reading....

stuh1981

I would go for a MR2. I would not touch a MGF in a million years. I have to say mate the MX-5 is better than both though. I had an MX-5 for two years wanted a change so sold it, but within 6 months i had bought another one.

KEEP THE MX-5

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Im in with the toyota crowd here
Sitting in traffic on saturday for the british GP, car in front (no it wasnt a toyota ) started smoking (well steaming), guess what that was yup one overheated MGF he needed to pull over, think he'd cooked his head gasket, though those K series engines are reknown for it.

Tony