The Golf GTi will be along in a second…
The MG Maestro EFi is an underrated piece of kit - and has me tempted. (Image copyright Jonathan Sellars)
When I was young, a friend of my father’s had an MG Maestro EFi. My father thought little of it, spouting his anti-Leyland guff at me in the Rover 800. “Rattly, poorly made, didn’t feel THAT quick” and so on and so forth. But I’d read good things of them, and Kevin’s Targa Red EFi made a powerful impression. Later in life, through the Maestro and Montego Owners’ Club, I encountered many individuals who love their cars, and I was getting itchy feet for a go in one – to see if all the rubbish I’d had spouted at me was true, or if the cars were as good as owners suggest.
Quick though the Turbo is, many Maestro fans and motoring hacks have stated that it’s not the best to drive. The torque steer evident in them and the turbo-lag compromise the behind-the-wheel characteristics of the car – the chassis, good though it may be, can’t handle the extra power. The best from a drivers’ perspective, it is argued, is the MG Maestro EFi. Quick enough, yet lacking the surfeit of much power with which the chassis cannot cope. And with, to quote the owner of D428CHO, “by far the best engine/gearbox combination of the range and never fails to deliver an incredibly enjoyable drive without compromising any of the other Maestro benefits (versatility, comfort etc.)”
Jonathan Sellars has had this Maestro for twelve years, and during this time it has been both his daily hack and treasured toy. Recently it was treated to a full restoration, and has won awards at MG Saloon Day two years running. It’s probably the mintiest MG EFi out there – and certainly one of the most cherished. In it’s time, it’s had MG 2.0i alloys, an MG1600 grille, a digital dashboard, and further upgrades, but since it’s restoration the only non standard items are the earlier ‘cheesegrater’ style alloy wheels, power steering, and a Rover 800 stereo system.
From behind the wheel, Jon’s comments seem to ring true. it’s as spacious as any other Maestro – I’m a tall chap and I know people of a more corpulent build with them, so they’re not impractical. I find the tweed seats in Jon’s car supportive and comfy too, and there’s elbow and shoulder room aplenty. To take the space and comfort thing further still, I even reckon I could have driven it in a hat.
“Driving impressions, Skelton!” I can hear you screaming. “It’s a hot hatch, not a shopping car!” And perhaps you’re right, I should tell you how it goes – especially as contemporary magazines found it quicker than the default choice of a Golf GTi. Sadly, this is the one thing I can’t really answer with much authority. Given that this car is Jon’s pride and joy, I didn’t press on as hard as I could have done had I been so inclined. It felt pleasantly torquey, though – and seemed like the big engined little car it is. I’ve rhapsodised about the Honda PG1 gearbox enough times on these pages for even the least dedicated reader to know I like it, and overall it handled with the aplomb I have come to expect of the Maestro range. The on-paper performance figures suggest that it doesn’t hang about when pushed, too – this car took the MG Maestro from being the underperformer the MG1600 was to being the underrated member of the hot hatch world.
If you’d not guessed already, I like this car. I might not usually be a sporting driver, but the MG Maestro EFi isn’t just about getting from point A to point B at breakneck speed. The impression I got from behind the wheel was that this thing is as effective a long-distance tourer as it is a sprinter. In short, it’s the sort of car I enjoy driving. Granted, the mechanically similar Montego Vanden Plas may be more to my taste – a walnut and leather lined saloon suits me more than a hot hatchback – but that doesn’t stop the MG tempting me. They say that at my age small cars are the way forwards – and after all, this was Jon’s first motor. Next job; find a sympathetic insurance company…
