MGB & GT Forum

I sometimes think of replacing my clapped out '94 Jimmy, which is what I'm driving to work now, trouble is NO modern car I see interests me. And my search for another B isn't going anywhere either.

For me looking for another car is like what Lewis Grizzard said: "Elvis is dead and I don't feel so good myself"
David

Bill that isn't a car on the radar in the UK, but it certainly is quite a sexy beast, no doubt better looking than the zeds. Now as a canadian you won't take offence on this question, does it really handle like a European sports car? pardon my scepticism too much Top Gear cynicism ! It looks like it knows what a bend is. How much do they retail at?

79 x 2 = 115 ? I didn't realize the 115 was rear wheel hp on the Miata. I'm pretty sure the 79 isn't rear wheel hp for the B. Either way... the Miata I drove was a slug. That 167 hp one should work well though!

The Solstice coupe is a sexy beast. Much better looking than the roadster. Looks a bit like the Daytona coupes from Shelby.

Yes, it really does. It has an all independent suspension with traction control and active suspension control like the current Corvettes that can momentarily grip a single brake caliper to bring it back into line when it starts to go. It also has 245x45-18" sticky tires on 8" alloy wheels, and I have modified the suspension to improve on the original. I installed different sway bars, shocks, springs and added three frame reinforcements and the net result is a car that handles as well as anything I've driven, but even in stock form it was as good or better than most of the other stuff out there including the BMW Z4 and Nissan 350Z. Now it betters them by some margin - they won a lot of SCCA races and solo events using these cars.

The car has lots of flaws (as do all cars) like low stowage space, instruments you have a hard time seeing in daylight as they are mounted at the bottom of wells, door handles that pull off at unpredictable times, but for handling, they are great, and with the turbo version (I have about 350 BHP which I 'breathed on' a bit) they can break into the 12s in a 1/4.

Partially because of the difficulty of seeing the speedo in daylight and partially because I tend to drive by feel rather than instrument, I took the car on a long cross country jaunt, driving it at a speed that I felt left good margin and didn't cause my timorous better half to question my speed. When I was in the middle of a broad sweeping 'U' bend I happened to look down and saw that I was doing just on 100 mph, about 20 more than I'd have thought.

They never made a RHD version, but they sold the Opel GT version in Europe in LHD form BTW,I've always thought that name showed just how little the advertising flaks respected their target buyers. Even the dullest sports car fan would remember that the original Opel GT that they were trying to capitalize on by name association, and indeed all GT cars, are coupes, not convertibles, which was all you could get until the last few months of production in 2009 - they only made 1200 coupes.

For whatever reason, I always feel like this car is a bit like a latter day MGA coupe in inspiration - complete with flaws.

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Bill Spohn www.rhodo.citymax.com/carstuff.html
Current: 1958 MGA Twincam (race car (170 bhp)),1962 MGA Deluxe Coupe (98 bhp)
1957 Jamaican MGA (200 bhp)1965 1971 Jensen Interceptor (350 bhp)
2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe (375 bhp)
2007 BMW Z4M coupe (340 bhp)
Recent: 1969 MGC roadster (175 bhp),Jensen CV8 (375 bhp),
1969 Lamborghini Islero S (350 bhp), 1988 Fiero GT turbo (300 bhp)
North Vancouver BC

Maybe the question would be better phrased by asking what would be an evolution of the MGB Roadster and GT?

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Don
1970 MGB

Also a hard one if you mean what would the MGB have become - it was a car model in terminal decline from 1974 or so on, and would never have survived to evolve.

If you mean what if the fuel crisis and the union problems and the economic issues of the 1970s had been different, then we are dealing with science fiction, not anything realistic or interesting in terms of talking about our favourite cars.

There just are no equivalents to a dated sports car struggling along one step ahead of the axeman.

The Lotus could certainly be seen as being a precursor for modern cars like the Miata, and the XKE for the modern Jag sports cars, but for any model that simply wasn't created in the modern idiom it is meaningless to try and say that any modern car could have derived from the MG.

Maybe Simon can come up with some comparison between the RV8 and something that exists today, otherwise......?

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Bill Spohn www.rhodo.citymax.com/carstuff.html
Current: 1958 MGA Twincam (race car (170 bhp)),1962 MGA Deluxe Coupe (98 bhp)
1957 Jamaican MGA (200 bhp)1965 1971 Jensen Interceptor (350 bhp)
2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe (375 bhp)
2007 BMW Z4M coupe (340 bhp)
Recent: 1969 MGC roadster (175 bhp),Jensen CV8 (375 bhp),
1969 Lamborghini Islero S (350 bhp), 1988 Fiero GT turbo (300 bhp)
North Vancouver BC

I was just about to post about what I thought the MGB would have evolved into and then I see Bill has mentioned my name.

I think the RV8 is the next step in the evolution of the MGB, in this case the roadster but there has been some enterprising individuals who have created GT versions. See photos. The roadster is the one I own.

When you look at this car, it's styling fits right in with most modern cars. Sure the design is based on "old" technology (still has leaf springs in the back but they are parabolic) and a body shell that was designed in the 50's. Ironically, it's being written that only about 5% of the MGB is actually used in the RV8.

The car is more than capable of keeping up with today's cars yet is easy enough to drive around town by anyone familiar with MGB's. The use of a small V8 just makes it that much more fun to drive.

Based on the following information, what "modern" car would be most comparable: 3.9l FI V8; 5-speed; AC; leather interior; Burr Elm dash; 2-seater convertible (or GT if one were to build it themselves)?

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"Speed costs........how fast you want to spend?"

does the RV8 have airbags?

No.

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"Speed costs........how fast you want to spend?"

I happen to drive a 2012 VW Golf TDI with the DSG Gearbox and wow, it drives quite well! Hugs the road, the Torque in the TDI is like no other car I've drive - and it does remind of my B, but on Steroids wow wee!

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1st Place Winner ABFM Portland Oregon 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016!
Email me for questions or needs, I'll respond promptly! dan@allpointsorganized.com
Life. Positively in order.

A diesel VW sedan reminds you of an MGB????

Oh yeah, you drive an RBB. Guess I understand that comparison now....

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Bill Spohn www.rhodo.citymax.com/carstuff.html
Current: 1958 MGA Twincam (race car (170 bhp)),1962 MGA Deluxe Coupe (98 bhp)
1957 Jamaican MGA (200 bhp)1965 1971 Jensen Interceptor (350 bhp)
2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe (375 bhp)
2007 BMW Z4M coupe (340 bhp)
Recent: 1969 MGC roadster (175 bhp),Jensen CV8 (375 bhp),
1969 Lamborghini Islero S (350 bhp), 1988 Fiero GT turbo (300 bhp)
North Vancouver BC

My RBB B will is unique and quite finished, you jest! The Golf TDI has mad-torque and mad-handling skills! It'll outperform most cars on the road.

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1st Place Winner ABFM Portland Oregon 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016!
Email me for questions or needs, I'll respond promptly! dan@allpointsorganized.com
Life. Positively in order.

2012 golf tdi with dsg - 140 hp, 235 ft-lb torque, 0-60 in the mid to high 8's....get out of my way grandpa

I think you're over reaching when you say it's faster than most cars on the road...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-11-02 10:03 PM by mitchelld996.

OK, scratch all the convertibles, it's a comparison to the B-GT.

This is rather a strange comparison, but I had a 1998 Subaru Legacy GT Wagon. It was AWD, with a rear wheel bias, the 2.5L with 5 spd.

Something about the way the car sounded, felt and drove really reminded me of an MG. Don't know that I can explain it, but I called it my MG GT, (it was before I got a real B-GT), and actually glued an MG emblem on the back from an old trunk lid I had sitting around. :-)

All 4 wheels throwing snow in a nice little drift... I miss that car a whole lot!