My MG TF 160

I could drive it for all the summer 2016 and after the thousands of kilometers I did with her, I have to say that I am very happy of this little car. The spare parts are easily available in England when you speak English fluently and they are reasonably affordable (even if the MG-Rover group is no longer existing). The only problem is to find a mechanic who knows how to work on those mid-engined cars, quite uncommon here in France. In particular, one of the trickiest operation is the bleeding of the cooling system. If it is not done correctly, the K-series engine has a reputation of easily blow the head gasket. I also bought some wrenches and tools to do by myself the easiest repairs and maintenance, since a constant attention is mandatory.

The MG TF is a driver's car which is perfect for me: I am not a fast driver and I search my fun only at legal speed. I could leave for a 3000 km summer journey in the north of Italy without any problem. The booth is not huge, but it fits my needs. The engine is brilliant and its sound is wonderful sound even with the stock exhaust. On the other hand, the car does not filter at all the driving sensations: suspension is harsh, you quite literally have the wind in your hair and it is noisy. A driving experience more similar to the original 1960's and 1970's MG A and MG B roadsters. Quite a difference from those SUV's which are mainstream today. Therefore, driving the TF is not very comfortable on highways. The engine has enough power and torque to push the car very well at any reasonable speed you may choose, but the noise makes it difficult to drive for a lot of hours continuously (but I have a Citroën DS4 which is perfect for that). The TF is just perfect for some sheer fun on a windy mountain road (but always with a great deal of prudence and respecting speed limits) or gently cruising at low speed, admiring the astonishing panoramas of Dolomites, the Lugano or the Moncenisio lakes.

I like very much the Mazda MX5/Miata and I find the Fiat 124 Spider which is derived from that platform just awesome, but driving a mid-engine car such as the TF with no electronic controls (apart ABS) has a charm of its own. I was very happy to found a model equipped with the most powerful engine, with a very advanced variable valve timing mechanism (VVC) which allowed to obtain 160 bhp from the 1.8 liter displacement. The acceleration is very progressive and becomes aggressive after 4000 rpm up to 7000 rpm.

I think that the MG TF is not a good first car for a young person, even if the low price are attractive right now. It may be unreliable in some situations, it requires a great deal of care and love and the complete lack of electronic assistance in the drive can be dangerous for an unskilled driver, especially on wet tarmac. I have another car which is my daily and I know pretty well what a classic car is (have you seen my page about my Lancia Fulvia?). I think the TF is a future classic which is now a well kept secret.

I have a look at announces here and there and I have the impression that the average prices are growing (at least in France) with respect to 2016, when I wrote this article. I do not know if it is a bubble or not. However, I hope that those cars are landing more often in the hands of people that cherish and that keep a good care of them, allowing to raise a little bit their value. By the way, the car works perfectly after some maintenance and I like it even more.

I found out that this page is one of the most frequently read pages on my entire site! I am pleased about this and I happen to receive emails quite regularly from people who would like some advice on MG TF. I'm not a mechanic, but I've owned the car for four years now and ended up learning a few things. So here is my answer to a fairly typical email (received from Massimo), hoping that it will be useful to others. Of course, the list is not exclusive, it contains just the points that I've seen most frequently cited in the forums I frequent, in the specialized literature and in my personal experience. For more information, I highly recommend Roger Parker's books, in particular "MGF and TF Restoration Manual", The Crowood Press, January, 2013.

Dear Massimo,

A first trick was revealed to me by a very kind owner of a 1937 MG and it is called preventive maintenance. Every time you use the car, take some time to check all the levels, see if there are any bad hoses or leaks, make sure there is no mayonnaise in the oil, and so on. If you are not sure when the brake fluid was last changed (it must done every two years), have it changed. If you are not sure when the timing belt and water pump were made, have them changed by a good mechanic. If the tyres are worn (or are older than, say 5-6 years), replace them. The car is quite safe on the dry tarmac. I do not know which version is yours: if it has a 1600 cc engine it is a bit less exasperated, but under the rain mine went in a spin while driving on a circuit. I opened the throttle too much in a hairpin bend (in the same spot, other drivers with the TF did the same error). A mid-engined car is not exactly easy to handle in those situations, but on a circuit the mistake was made in perfect safety and caused no troubla. In the following laps, I was not caught unprepared... Not all tyres fit well: some models are know to be much better than others for the TF. There is also the difficulty that the size of the tyre to be mounted on the front wheels is not the same as those of the rear wheels.

The second trick is that the car has a specific purging procedure for the cooling system (there are three points to purge). If your mechanic is not careful and does not do it correctly, air bubbles remain in the circuit and in extreme cases you may even end up with a head gasket that needs to be changed. You may then blame the car, but the culprit is the poor maintenance... There are also two long steel pipes in the radiator circuit that run under the car and are known to be fragile and prone to rust. Have the car put on a lift and check them out. If they are in bad condition, there is a stainless steel spare in the catalog from Rimmer Bros (great address!).

Watch out for rust, in the underbody and especially on the front and rear frames: they are derived from the MG Metro and the treatment is not long lasting. In mine there was some superficial rust that I removed with a metal brush and then treated with a good rust converter paint. Under the front wings there is a plastic protection above the wheel: it is a good idea to remove the screw that fixes the rear part (towards the door) and clean behind the protection, because mud, humidity and dirt accumulates there (and so after a while the metal starts to rust). The plastic rear window is fragile, fold it gently while you open the hood.

An excellent habit to adopt is never to rev the engine cold. Check for the oil to reach the appropriate temperature, before going over 3000 rpm.

To sum up, the MG TF is a car that I love and that gives me great satisfaction. Being now 16 years old and having a particular setting, it must be treated as a classic car, in the sense it should not be revved at the limiter, but in the sense of the very strict maintenance. Keep an annual budget as other work may be done. For example, replace shock absorbers if they are still the original ones. After 16 years, they may be tired even if they do not have too many miles. Consider a repair budget, just in case you are getting the head gasket starting to leak :-)

I'm a member of the MG club in France, I think there is something like that in Italy (I found https://www.mgcarclubitalia.org), [...] I'm very happy with the French club and I found many kind members who gave me good advice. I'm also a member of a French web forum: as in all forums, you have to distinguish the real experts from people that write nonsense, but after a while you get the eye trained for that.

I hope I did not scare you too much: as I told you above, treat the car well and you will see that yours will be fine if it has not been treated too badly in the past.