MGF Trophy 160

I bought my MG TF 160 13 months ago. I'd looked at a few difference alternatives for months before and it came down to the following:-

MG TF160
Toyota MR2
Mazda RX8
Fiat Coupe

The bottom line was that I wanted an affordable sports car which wouldn't be overly expensive to insure and maintain, too often people get cars and then have nasty suprises when its comes to servicing.

I bought mine privately through Autotrader and after some negotiation and checking the cars history with Experion for £40 I made the decision to go for the 160.

Since the launch of the TF range I was impressed with the looks of the car and the performance. I test drove the 135 and the 160 and too be honest its a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned. The 135 is a fair amount slower than the 160 and its nice to have the little extra zip when its needed.

So overall how would I rate the year I've had with the 160..... Mixed! The drivability of the car is great, its lively in corners, handles really well and isn't bad on petrol (averages about 36mpg). However there have been problems - Head gasket failed (replaced under warranty), Windscreen wipers failed (replaced under warranty) and Slave Cylinder failed (clutch basically - replaced at a cost of £135 due to warranty expiring).

So the reliability of the car has to be questioned, its only 4 years old but without the warranty the Head Gasket would cost over £500! This is a known fault with the K series engine and occurs on the Lotus Elise as well.

However compare the MG 160 to the Mazda RX8. The wankel engine used by the RX8 has been known to fail and use lots of oil - it does use oil to lubricate the engine anyway but the mpg is around 18. They have also fallen in price from just over £20,000 to around £17 -18K for a good 1-2 year old model.

All in all I'd give the MGTF 160 7.5/10. I've found the overall cost of servicing (£171), insurance (£750) and tyres (£85 each) reasonable for an out and out sports car. Also its not ludicrously quick so you can learn how to drive a car correctly and move up to something quicker if you still have the desire to go quicker.