I'm seriously considering trading in my lovely Midget for an MG TF. I've pretty much reach the limits of the car on the track now and it doesn't seem fair to push the car so hard all the time now. So. I'm looking at a few MG TF's, so I can still come to the MGOT track days.

Any advise on which model to go for ? The 160 VVC seems the most powerful, but is the 135 that far behind ? 

Any advise on what to look out for, in terms of potential usual issues, apart from the head gasket change.

Cheers

Richard

Apologies for the delay in replying - I only saw your post this week. Tob be honest, the 135 is not far behind the 160 vvc models in speed and power and with a remap mine is pushing out 150bhp on the rollers. Where you do lose out a bit is in straight line speed, once the vvc engine gets to 6,000 rpm the vvc mechanism kicks in and you get another burst of power, at 6,000 rpm in an mpi engine you are almost at the top of the power band. The other thing to consider is the brakes. 160's have the larger front discs and 4-pot callipers as standard, you might have to upgrade the brakes on a 135. Again though, I still have the standard 240mm front discs on mine although I run grooved discs and EBC Yellowstuff pads front and rear and I don't ever have brake fade or run out of brakes, so you really pays your money and takes your choice as they say. I hope this maybe helps set out the main differences and gives you some food for thought. I would say just go for the best car you can find, irrespective of the engine spec as there is a lot you can do to narrow the differences without spending too much money. BTW 135's run on 15 inch wheels and the tyres are a lot cheaper!

Cheers

Richard