| MGF Cars: Suspension Options |
The biggest technical issue facing MGF owners concerns the suspension. The original Hydragas, whilst highly acclaimed when new is now problematic owing to lack of spare parts supply. The interim solution of a coil spring retrofit (essentially a coil in a coffee can, CIAC) proved disappointing. Whilst the CIAC restored ride height and performed adequately over relatively smooth surfaces, many owners (ourselves included) found it harsh and noisy when the road surface deteriorated. Those on forums with technical backgrounds suggested that it is not possible to engineer a coil spring that can do all it needs to do in such a confined space.
MGF owners were thus in a bad situation with many either mothballing, or worse scrapping their cars. Until recently. Now, with the combination of Hydragas & Hydrolastic Service Ltd. and Mike Satur; MGF owners can enjoy their cars once again. |
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| Hydragas Repair Attempt |
We started to investigate Hydragas sphere repair but initial attempts proved unsuccessful thus we have mothballed this project. However, the principle is sound and we highly recommend contacting:
Hydragas and Hydrolastic Service Ltd..
We recently fitted a set of their reconditioned Hydragas spheres to our car previously equipped with the Suplex system and are very pleased with the initial results. We believe this is the preferred repair method of the three on this page. |
| Suplex (CIAC) Option |
We also tried the leading CIAC kit on the market. Results were less than impressive in terms of driveability (in fact the springs inside the coffee cans are downright noisy) and perhaps the greatest fear of the CIAC kits is damage to the BIW (body in white) because the upper damper mounting points of MGF's were never designed to accomodate the stresses such a setup places upon them. Having now removed this system from our test car, we do NOT recommend it. No other suspension changes were made other than the fitment of reconditioned Hydragas spheres from the company above, thus the logical culprit has to have been the Suplex cans. |
Mike Satur Solution
| Until recently, there was no great solution. Like many MGF owners we were about to say FCCKit. Well, we are going to but not in the way one might be thinking! FCCKit is the acronym for the new MGF Coil Conversion Kit by MGF guru, Mike Satur over in England, which gives owners another option for solving the achilles heel of the otherwise awesome MGF.
Although we have yet to try one, this looks like a nice solution although we have heard it essentially makes the MGF into a MGTF.
The aforementioned concern of BIW damage is eliminated because the original damper mounting points are no longer used. Cost is competitive with the inferior CIAC kits both in terms of parts pricing and likely labour (if one cannot DIY fit) as fitting the FCCKit appears not much different than a CIAC kit. |