TIL

"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse) 01/21/2019 at 15:30 • Filed to: MG 1100

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If you want to peruse hundreds of old road test reports from a variety of mainly Brit ish magazines without botheri ng yourself with copyright , they’re !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Let’s look at one, Autocar’s 1968 report on the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! as fitted with the then unusual and posh option of one of those fancy automatic gearbox thingies.

Thus equipped, our little MG could be persuaded up to about 95 mph, to 60 mph in about 14 sec which is quicker than I expected and drank fuel at about 25 mpg as compared with almost 27 mpg for the DIY variant, also better than I expected. For comparison, the latest Focus has a fancy eight speed automatic with the benefit of fifty plus years of advances, yet according to official test figures it’s also about 10% worse than a manual one.

Autocar were quite impressed and mentioned approvingly that it didn’t stall when put into gear, quite a thing in the days of carburettors and manual chokes, changed gear almost smoothly at high speeds if not at lower ones and weren’t bothered too much by the thump when a gear was engaged . On the other hand, it rather deteriorated during a two day journey with four faults and a design failing appearing

Want to see more? There’s a vast variety.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Cé hé sin 01/21/2019 at 15:37

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is that a 4 door Mini coupe?

Cé hé sin > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/21/2019 at 15:42

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No, it’s one model up .

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Cé hé sin 01/21/2019 at 15:43

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well it looks freaking cool. 

ranwhenparked > Cé hé sin 01/21/2019 at 16:34

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The fuel economy figures are quite surprising, people were used to paying a heavy penalty with an automatic in those days (as opposed to now, where automatics actually tend to be more efficient than the manual).

I ts also nowhere near as slow as I would have expected, that’s about the same 0-60 as a late ‘60s MGB, and the ADO16 has a back seat. 

Cé hé sin > ranwhenparked 01/21/2019 at 16:55

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As it happens, there are still plenty of thirsty automatics out there - I mentioned the current Focus, but I’ve just looked up the Nissan Micra (CVT in the automatic version) which is also at least 10 % worse with the CVT and noticeably slower as well.

ranwhenparked > Cé hé sin 01/21/2019 at 17:00

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On the other hand, you’ve also got things like the Mustang, Challenger, or the Toyota-Subaru twins that consistently get a couple mpg better with the auto. I think the 228i and 428i fall into that as well. 

Cé hé sin > ranwhenparked 01/21/2019 at 17:33

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I think bigger cars tend to do better.