Video: How to make an MG Midget as fast as a Cayman GT4

https://www.youtube.com/embed/5JzLxQLY9dc

How to best optimize an MG Midget for autocross? How does a rotary engine, massive box flares and a custom suspension sound?

We take a look under the hood of this wild MG with its creator, Daniel Cummings, a previous winner of our $2000 Challenge and builder of the Subaru LMP360.

Presented by CRC Industries.

nocones
nocones GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
7/25/23 11:31 a.m.

Hey look it's me!

Video turned out great, I'm finally getting used to hearing myself ramble on about things.  

My one regret is that the laps being filmed are before I put in the emergency F150 fuel pump bought over lunchtime while the car was breaking up at higher RPM (Thanks for the suggestion Tom!).  

This has been a fun project and I'm planning to try to get it a bit more "streetable" after running the LMP360 at UTCC this year.

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
7/25/23 12:08 p.m.

I always love when the suspension is exposed enough that you can see it working.

I'd watch an entire lap of the Nürburging from the suspension's perspective.

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/25/23 12:15 p.m.

Drove an autocross run in this car, the handling feels really refined and it's not tricky to drive at all, it's kind of like an Elise or S2000 in that you can get a huge amount of rotation out of it before the back end is actually sliding. It doesn't feel like it's lacking torque either, if not for the exhaust note you might think it had a high-revving I4 in it.

You do need upper body strength for the all-manual steering though, if the course had one more turn my noodle arms wouldn't have made it cheeky

VolvoHeretic
VolvoHeretic GRM+ Memberand Dork
7/25/23 12:37 p.m.

I really loved the in car video camera view showing the track and the driver working. laugh

ChrisTropea
ChrisTropea Associate Editor
7/25/23 1:13 p.m.

In reply to Colin Wood :

Any time I can get a camera angle on some suspension in motion I try to get a camera on it. It is just so cool to see that stuff in action vs static. 

Noddaz
Noddaz GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
7/25/23 5:44 p.m.

Incredible!

 

kb58
kb58 UltraDork
6/8/24 2:07 p.m.

To be an apples-to-apples comparison, I wonder what a shop would charge to build that car, versus just buying a Porsche GT4. I realize the point is that he built the car, but the thread title does prompt the question.

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