Tunebug vs MGB, initial thoughts

Legal Bill · May 5, 2011

Jim_Gruber said:
... Although local Autocross Guru here in Dayton says he can eat up an S-2000 with his '06 Miata with sticky tires.

On certain autocross courses (tight) he can beat a similarly prepared S2000. On most, he cannot, or if he can, he would still be faster in the S2000. On a track the Miata has no chance at all.

tdskip · May 5, 2011

Boxsters are all that and a bag of chips - not a hit you over the head experience but as a total package they are hard to beat.

But anyway..

Gundy · May 5, 2011

Hap Waldrop said:
toysrrus said:

Gundy said:

MGBs are girlie man cars.
They corner like drunken sows plowing every chance they get.
Lots of low end power for those fearful of revving an engine.
Gawd it's so soft it's embarrassing.
LOVE to cruise in it with the ol lady by my side but that's about it.
Chick car.

Hey David,

I surely hope "Your Better Half / ol lady" does`nt know this website exists! If she does and reads this; You just may be in "Deep Duty"!!

Regards, Russ

Click to expand...

Russ, not only that, but since he soon be seeing alot of the rear end of a MGB GT, he will live to regret those words He'll need more than a Speedwell shift knob to keep up with me, he'll need really large attachments

Click to expand...

November can't get here soon enough Big Boy.

I can't wait to see the new and improved GT.
Trust me I know my limits and one is I'll never pass ol Hap.
Those laps he gently took in Mimi last year made me about crap my pants.

davester · May 5, 2011

bthompson said:
Everything else is too big.

My thought exactly, every time I drive the Sprite.

DrEntropy · May 5, 2011

Legal Bill puts up a real point. The S2000 Honda is the LAST true production two-seat performance sportscar. If ya haven't driven one, you should.

ABfish · May 5, 2011

bthompson said:
I haven't had many sports cars over the years, having mostly been enamored with cheap old Cadillacs growing up. Once I realized you should never buy a car you can't push, (or bump-start,) my life got easier.

I've had a Fiat Spider, which was beautiful, and a nice cruiser. The twin-cam was a revelation, despite the heavy block and less than stellar acceleration.

Then I got an Alfa GTV6. Fell in love. I never knew a car could do the things it did. Should never, ever have sold it. (To an old friend for twice what I bought it for...he promptly got it t-boned going through an intersection.)

My intention was to buy another Alfa after that, and to continue to buy Alfas until I was too feeble to drive, (and then I would park them in the living room and look at them.) Unfortunately, prices had gone up to the point where it didn't look like I could afford one. So I started looking around at other options, and my wife said "What about an MG?"

Small, cheap, convertible, close by. Why not? Never had one.

It was odd, this little Midget. It was like squeezing into a go-kart with the wheel in your chest, especially compared to the arms-out Italian wheels, but once settled in, it felt "right." The proportions worked, somehow. It was tired, and the carb was shot, but I was surprised how quickly I could get it sorted out. Everything was 'right there,' and it made sense. Not Italian sense: good old straightforward British sense.

It is slow. Oh, so slow. It must be; I'm being passed by everything, even though it feels like I'm speeding... The speedo is reading ridiculously low numbers, forget about the Interstate. But this can't be right; why am I having this much fun at 35mph? The Alfa blew past 35 in second gear, never even noticed it was there. 35 feels like 50; 45 feels like 70; 55 feels like Formula 1. And the twisties...wheee!

Yep...I'm in love again. I use the Midget for everything, drive it everywhere. Every other car is stupid: overweight, ponderous, numb, insulated, now. This car is perfect. It's not small, it's just right. Everything else is too big.

Bill-
I could have written the last 2/3 of your post, and I've only had my Sprite for four days. I've had numerous American collector cars from Mustangs to Roadrunners (including a 440-6pack car). How could driving the Sprite be more fun than stomping the accelerator on that Roadrunner? I'm not sure, but I have though about how exotic that little devil must have seemed in 1965 to an American who had only driven Fords and Oldsmobiles. It has really dawned on me just why the Brits sold so many sports cars in the US in those days. I was born in '62, so it was not "before my time", but definitely before my love affair with cars began.

I love the way the original post has gotten hi-jacked into a discussion of every sports car that any of us has ever owned. I gotta agree with an earlier poster; the MGB is just too soft.

davester · May 5, 2011

Yep, what ABFish said. I was in high school in the late 60s/early 70s, and I was totally locked into big american iron with big engines. However, one warm summer evening my dad brought home a 6 month old 1970 MG Midget and he let me drive it on a top-down drive around our local area. That was it. My interest in those gigantic american behemoths with monstrous engines was immediately extinguished, with the exception of my fondness for those large back seats, so useful at the drive-in theater.

nomad · May 5, 2011

Great topic!! I sold my MGB and now own 4 spridgets! Sooo-- you can see where my position is.

Kurt.

sqbsprite · May 5, 2011

The Fiat X1/9 was one of the best handling cars I have owned. Amazing even on 165/70-13 tires with no anti-roll bars. It was under powered and although it handled great, when you reached it's breaking point, it would kill you. There was not much warning. Just mild understeer and then you were headed for the weeds with unexpected oversteer. I did that twice without leaving the road and it scared me to death each time. At least with the Sprite and MGB you get predictable handling. The X1/9 was low and very stable up to the limit, but slow. 7000 rpms in forth gear was 115 mph. Smooth and stable. It just took a while to get there.

My current daily driver is new Mini and it keeps me quite entertained. Almost have to be going crazy fast to get into its threshold. It's not a sports car but it's fun.

DrEntropy · May 6, 2011

I musta been ahead of the curve. Got a ride in an Elan at age 15 (1965). The owner HUNTED a Corvette to tease, and my eyes were opened. Never owned any Dee-troit iron, first car was a two year old MGB. Great trainer! Got my Elan at age 21, they were called "SuperSprigets" back then. Even today the thing is able to best 99% of what rolls around on the public highways at nearly every task but hauling coal or lumber. That's Diesela's job. :smirk:

Whenever a gearhead pal would demean LBC's I'd "invite" them to have a seat, strap 'em into the three-point harness then proceed to the western PA two-lane "local track" and DEMONSTRATE what the silly little thing can do. Most would not bring up disparaging comments after that, some even needed help to get back onna porch after the ride. :devilgrin:

As for the Italians, there's a feel to the Alfas TOTALLY different from the Spartan English cars. Alfa's FEEL big. And they're leggy. :wink: They're the perfect "middle child". Between the German over-engineered and English minimalism.

Brings to mind the old joke about the differences between Heaven and He**:

Heaven is: British humor, French cooking and German engineering...

He** is: British cooking, French engineering and German humor.

But the Italians are outside it. They really know how to cook, can engineer a great car and then have a good laugh about it all. Bellissimo!

Thread drift? Yeah, it happens 'round here. Livewifit. :jester:

:wink:

Morris · May 6, 2011

I tried to resist but... 72 240z. Best. Car. Ever.

glemon · May 6, 2011

A while back somebody mentioned an S2000, I think maybe it wasn't mentioned because we were talking more classic cars, I have not owned one, but have driven one or two, it did all the right things, and all limits, acceleration etc. is much higher than most all old British cars other than the more exotic ones. It felt a little big to me (for a sports car) but hey I was raised on Spridgets (first two cars) and the digital read out thingy on the dash left me cold, I know it should not be that big a deal, but I really like a big round tach and speedo in front of me. The Z3 doesn't do most things as well as the S2000 from a numbers standpoint, but if feels more like a sportscar to an old school guy like me. Kind of a modern day iteration of a big healey (but not nearly as pretty).

bill_powell · May 6, 2011

What an interesting thread.

Insofar as the original 'question' posed: Never owned a 'B' but I did get a chance to drive a BGT over a Summer. Nice car (well set up, non-stock, just as I like). But as others have said, in comparison to my Midget, felt big, heavy.

But I also drove Minis as daily drivers for some 25 years. Had the coupes with both 998 and 1275 incarnations, couple 'vans' and one pickup. After my Minis, everything else feels larger, heavier. Even the Midget, which gives an impression of long in the nose, a little more heafty in general.

Three of my old friends:

But that said, I really enjoy the Midget, and am quite pleased that I got one.

In the non-LBC realm, I've had a few, but in relevance to the thread, I'll mention two.

My '69 Fiat 124 Coupe was a great car, very competant feeling, very Italian. But like the BGT, just more 'massive' in general than I prefer.

The other was my '69 Datsun 2000 Roadster. Really great machine, and one I miss sometimes. A little quirky, and parts can get a tad pricey. Also seems heavy for its size, but still great fun.

My Datsun:

And here's the Datsun in front of my '68 428-powered GTO:

...but that GTO was a whole 'nother creature entirely, and I'll not go there here.

drooartz · May 6, 2011

A Mini is on my list as well. Drove one around a parking lot once, that's it. I just need someone to triple my salary and make it so I don't have to go into work anymore. That'd be a nice start.

Legal Bill · May 6, 2011

glemon said:
A while back somebody mentioned an S2000, I think maybe it wasn't mentioned because we were talking more classic cars, I have not owned one, but have driven one or two, it did all the right things, and all limits, acceleration etc. is much higher than most all old British cars other than the more exotic ones. It felt a little big to me (for a sports car) but hey I was raised on Spridgets (first two cars) and the digital read out thingy on the dash left me cold, I know it should not be that big a deal, but I really like a big round tach and speedo in front of me. The Z3 doesn't do most things as well as the S2000 from a numbers standpoint, but if feels more like a sportscar to an old school guy like me. Kind of a modern day iteration of a big healey (but not nearly as pretty).

I saw Miatas and Porches mentioned, so I thought it was a general comparison list.

I'm 55 and have owned 5 Bugeyes over the course of my life. (Plus 5 MGAs, three MGBs, three Jaguars, one Austin America, two big Healeys, three Alfas....) I sold my last Bugeye three months after I bought the S2000. I have a big Healey, so I satisfy my old English car jones there.

I love the digital tach. All the gauges are set up so that they can be seen, at a glance, day or night. After rebuilding about a 100 Smiths gauges, I'm just fine with the dependability of those digital read-outs.

I own a BMW 330i and I always hear the Healey guys talking about the connection between the old Healeys and the Z3. I test drove three or four used Z3s and M Roadsters (plus a Corvette and a Boxster) before I bought the S2000. Those cars were used and they really felt it. After eight years, my Honda still feels new.

Everyone has different tastes, but at about $12,000 for a good 2002-2003 S2000 with low miles, you can't do better for your sports car dollar.

JPSmit · May 6, 2011

DrEntropy said:
Brings to mind the old joke about the differences between Heaven and He**:

Heaven is: British humor, French cooking and German engineering...

He** is: British cooking, French engineering and German humor.

Doc, here's the whole story

Heaven: where the police are British, the cooks French, the mechanics
German, the lovers Italian, and it is all organized and run by the Swiss.
He**: where the police are German, the cooks British, the mechanics
French, the lovers Swiss, and it is all organized and run by the Italians.

DrEntropy · May 6, 2011

mmmm... but the Italians are consummate bureaucrats, JP!

...oh...

nevermind. :jester:

bill_powell · May 6, 2011

DrEntropy said:
mmmm... but the Italians are consummate bureaucrats, JP!

...oh...

nevermind.

...they sure do build a good motorbike. Here's my crazy old Guzzi rig:

...I have to admit, it does indeed ooze bureaucracy through and through.

DrEntropy · May 6, 2011

Everything from Binelli to Ducati.

Mickey Richaud · May 6, 2011

I'm kinda partial to cannelloni and manicotti.

Tunebug vs MGB, initial thoughts

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