Review
I have to say the MG has run trouble-free apart from being topped up with oil at one point, and with 5,000 miles on the clock when it joined our fleet in June, it has covered a further 7,000 miles in the last five months without complaint.
But one Saturday morning after a few days parked up, I decided to take it for a run to blow off the cobwebs and it wouldn't start. It wasn't fuel – there was a quarter of a tank left – and it wasn't the battery, as all the electrical things still worked. If it was my own car I might have experimented with various things to try to get it moving, but as it was a borrowed car I called the MG Rover Assistance number.
Within 10 minutes of finishing the call I had a text message to my mobile confirming the AA would be arriving within 20 minutes, and a bright yellow van turned up on time. After persevering and pumping the throttle the TF eventually came to life. 'Damp,' said the man.
Perhaps if the car hadn't sat outside my house for much of the week and had been used every day it might not have been so reluctant to start, and the previous few days had been so wet I had considered spending the weekend building an Ark.
However, now the TF is back on form and despite the cold and wet weather, it has been possible to make journeys with the roof down (and with the heater on full blast). And I still get a buzz from driving the TF every time I get behind the wheel. The rasp of the exhaust, the way the engine pulls from 3,000rpm right up to the red line and the controlled handling provide a real thrill.
The TF is well balanced on the limit, with the nose edging wide before being brought back into line by easing off the throttle.
Despite being rear-wheel drive the MG doesn't really do oversteer unless severely provoked, and then it usually needs a wet surface.
The interior seems to have stood up well to the past six months although the optional grey canvas roof looks like a dark colour that has faded.
Despite claims of a harsh ride, constant wind noise and lack of interior space by fellow road tester Steve Moody in a previous update, as sportscars go the TF is a gem with plenty of usable space inside and a reasonably-sized boot.
As we count down the weeks before the TF is replaced on our fleet by a Rover 75 CDTi, we will look back on our few months with fondness.
Just about every driver became emotionally attached to the car and with low emissions, excellent fuel consumption, 15,000-mile service intervals and strong residual values we have proved the MG TF 160 can be a feasible every-day company car.
Company car tax bill 2002 (22% taxpayer): £61.80 per month
