MG Maestro Turbo in November Practical Classics Magazine

[philippope]

Take a peek at November Practical Classics mag. Maestro Turbo number 96 at Santa Pod back in August - "Faster than a Ferrari", as the ads used to say.
Phil

[The Professor]

Saw that article today.
That Daimler double 6 XJ40 looked nice and very rare. The clubman too looked good.

[Jonathan]

I thought it was yours, Phil. Very good.

There's a buyers guide in the current MG Enthusiast too.

[D87SMW]

I'll keep an eye out for that.

[Jeff Turbo]

I thought it was yours, Phil. Very good.

There's a buyers guide in the current MG Enthusiast too.

The MG Maestro in the buyers guide has a duff engine that has siezed

[Jeff Turbo]

Very good that Phil

[philippope]

Thanks chaps

[G51 NAV]

You'll notice I've given PC a friendly(ish) ear bashing on their forum. I'm delighted to see the MG Maestro Turbo in the feature, but less than a third of the Turbo article was actually about the model itself, with the rest of it being the same old clichéd BL-bashing. Astoundingly, imo, all who have responded to my thread (so far) have supported my opinion.

[D87SMW]

John, I just squinted and read some of what is in the above scan. It does seem to echo oh so many other articles in slating BL and the Maestro even at launch. All cars have their pros and cons, but you don't see articles slating the competition, such as the Golf and Escort, to such degrees.

Reading it again, I'm disgusted. Every sentence contains a negative. I wouldn't bother giving them another Maestro to write about in future. I've come close to getting shot of my own cars in the past through so much negativity towards them.

[G51 NAV]

Astoundingly, imo, all who have responded to my thread (so far) have supported my opinion.

Well nearly all. The forum's definitive 'guru' (read = sh*t stirrer) on all cars which are and are not classics and which are and are not worth saving has had to throw his wooden spoon in. Sadly PC forum has too many of them.

[Jonathan]

I like PC, but I guess that's one of the reasons it hasn't been among my subscriptions for a while. Did Sam Glover get much of a chance to drive the cars? It was the same with the piece on the XJ12. Yes, give me a bit of background but I want to know what it's like to drive, what it's like to live with, how does it make you feel? Sell it to me, damn it!

Good photography, though. One of my younger colleagues picked it up from my in tray on Friday and thought the Maestro looked really cool with its body kit, he hadn't seen a turbo before.

[Guest]

Nothing wrong with the design of the Maestro at all, ok it's not every cup of tea, and it's still a design which still modern enough today. In what way is the Maestro a styling failure? Maybe Sam Glover should look at some car styling designs of today.

[philippope]

As I recall John, Sam Glover drove all the cars. He commented on the Maestro's turbo lag and then explosion of speed as well as torque steer. Personally, torque steer has never bothered me and I actually enjoy the 80s turbo-lag - nothing wrong with a sudden rush of speed!

[G51 NAV]

Torque-steer must vary from car to car. G51 doesn't have any to speak of (but that could be because of its very low mileage) yet it seems to be a very 'notable feature' of some other examples.

[John S]

I would imagine a combination of worn bushes and standard ride height would cause torque steer. Mine has well worn suspension bushes but (at least) 2" lowered ride height and torque steer is absent save for giving it a relentlessly open throttle when navigating around slower traffic (a rare occurrence btw!), then a small tug of the wheels can be apparent. I like it and find that more fun though, like the car is alive.