MG TF LE500 review

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MG Motor TF 1.8 LE500 Road Test

Test date 31 December 2008 Price as tested £16,867

For Ride and handling, crisp steering, feels agile

Against Cramped cabin, patchy build quality, price

The road test you are about to read is not one of a car that was born in 1995 (although it was; we all know that). What you are about to find out is how credible the Chinese car industry has become, and whether it’s possible for Rover’s new owner, NAC MG UK Ltd, to breathe life into the old MG TF design.

The new, slightly improved MG TF LE500 (limited edition, 500 models) is the car that will spearhead NAC’s assault on the UK car market, and although the timing of such an attempt seems unfortunate, it’s good to see the TF back on our roads, even if it does seem oddly familiar.

Mechanically the car is all but identical to the non-VVC-engined MG TF from 2005. There are minor styling alterations around the nose and inside the cabin, while the K-series engine’s notoriously fallible head gasket has been further uprated to prevent leaks.

Otherwise, the TF LE500 is much as you’d expect. It costs £16,055, comes with a hard-top and air conditioning as standard, and is priced to compete with Mazda’s entry-level MX-5.

When Rover’s Longbridge factory was closed in 2005, it seemed like the end of an era. But since then, Chinese-owned NAC MG UK Ltd has reopened the old TF line.

The LE500 is the first car to be made under the new regime, but NAC says others will follow soon. The first new car will be Mondeo-sized saloon, followed by a supermini and, by 2012, a new bespoke sports car.

The basic design of the TF can be traced back to the original MGF of 1995. The only big change since then occurred in 2001, when the car became the MG TF and got conventional steel springs in place of the original’s Hydragas arrangement.