New Morgan Supersport brings BMW power and daily usability

This is the all-new Morgan Supersport: a BMW-powered sports car steeped in Malvern’s rich, lengthy heritage, yet enhanced with the genuine everyday practicality Morgan hopes owners will use daily.

“We’ve really focused on making this a car that you can jump in and grab by the scruff of the neck, and just really, really drive,” Morgan boss Matthew Hole told TopGear.com.

“And we’ve hopefully put as many features into the car that mean you want to do that all the time rather than some of the time.” This is a serious attempt to turn Morgan’s flagship from a machine reserved for weekends with perfect weather and the moon in retrograde into a car that might make you hesitate outside a Porsche dealership.

Morgan Supersport engine and performance

That demands proper muscle, and Morgan has it thanks to its long-standing engine supplier, BMW. BMW is particularly adept at building engines – especially straight-sixes – and the new Morgan Supersport gets one of its very capable inline-six units.

It uses the turbocharged 3.0-litre ‘B58’ engine found in everything from the Z4 and Supra to several M-Sport – though not full-fat M – models, and perhaps even your toaster.

In this application, it produces a robust 335bhp. Or, at least, 335bhp. “That’s a very conservative power figure from BMW, because they always seem to do a bit more for some reason,” said Hole. “They’re always very healthy engines. It doesn’t need much more power.”

There is also 369lb ft, sent through an eight-speed BMW transmission. The result is a 0-62mph time of only 3.9s and a 166mph top speed. The sprint is a few tenths quicker than in the previous Plus Six, while the maximum speed is unchanged – because, really, that is sufficient.

CXV platform, handling and weight

This familiar powertrain is mounted in a comprehensively reworked development of Morgan’s ‘CX’ aluminium platform. Renamed ‘CXV’, the updated architecture delivers more in every relevant area.

Torsional rigidity rises by 10 per cent compared with CX, and choosing the carbon-fibre roof can add another 10 per cent. Certain suspension mounting points are also 100 per cent stiffer than they were previously.

Compared with the outgoing Plus Six, the steering is 13 per cent faster, bringing greater turn-in sharpness and agility. The platform has gained a little weight, although not much: the former CX structure weighed 97kg by itself, while the new CXV weighs 102kg. Roughly the weight of a full English breakfast.

That should make it easier to keep that breakfast down. Admittedly, ‘ability to retain breakfast in a sports car’ is not a traditional Morgan benchmark, but in standard form the CXV is intended to be softer, more refined and more ‘compliant’. Morgan also promises ‘handling sophistication’, while buyers seeking even more precision can select the Dynamic Handling Pack. This brings Nitron dampers with 24 clicks of adjustment and a limited-slip differential.

There are wheels, naturally, and they are both new and the lightest Morgan has ever made. The 18in Superlight wheels weigh 10.8kg at each corner, while the optional 19in Aerolite wheels tip the scales at only 9.7kg apiece. Overall, the Morgan weighs 1,170kg – again, a modest increase over the old Six, which weighed 1,075kg.

Even with that extra mass, it is naturally slipperier through the air and generates less… lift than its predecessor. Morgan has employed computer modelling alongside skilled human hands in shaping it. Drag is down by five per cent, while lift has fallen by 20 per cent, aided by a smoother underbody and the striking new body design.

Morgan Supersport design, cabin and practicality

And striking it certainly is. Familiar, too? That was unintentional rather than planned. “Amazingly, we’ve opted for pink and blue [for the launch cars] with no insight into what Jaguar were doing,” said Morgan design boss Jonathan Wells. “We couldn’t believe it when that [the Jag Type 00] dropped.”

Set the pink paint aside and it is unmistakably… a Morgan, albeit in the way somebody you have not seen for years still looks recognisable but noticeably fitter. “There is obviously some clearly Morgan DNA – the round headlights, the horseshoe mouth – but everything has been touched and readdressed,” said Wells.

Wells explained that Morgan had previously used off-the-shelf items for exterior parts such as the headlamps and mirrors. On the new Supersport, however, every component except the BMW gearlever has been designed and hand-crafted in-house.

“We’ve created a sort of real simplistic honesty to everything, and as a result, we get this very clean, coach-built aluminium body sitting on a very technical underpinning,” he said.

Rest assured, there remains plenty of old-school Morgan beneath it all. Ash wood is still present, forming the framework for the hand-shaped aluminium bodywork. “It gets really beaten up throughout the process,” said Hole, “and it's hard to show it off in the final aesthetic.” A protected section is visible in the boot.

It is therefore technical, historically informed and comfortable. Material quality has improved, as has the underlying construction. Consider the doors: their hinges now pass through the bodywork and are bolted directly to the chassis.

“You might think that's not novel,” said Hole, “but on previous generations of cars the hinge was attached to a wooden frame on the door and a wooden frame on the body.” In time, that meant the doors would not shut perfectly. This approach allows a better seal, in turn providing a cabin that is, “you know, well sealed”.

Other than the BMW steering wheel and the gearlever – which Morgan had to retain – the interior features smart central dials, proper physical buttons and a central digital screen, all using a typeface developed by Morgan itself. It manages to feel distinctly Classic Morgan while also feeling… contemporary.

There is an excellent Sennheiser stereo, too, with speakers mounted in the chassis so that the whole car functions rather like an amplifier. There is also a proper boot, a small yet useful compartment behind the seats, and a parcel shelf.

“Companies have these sort of ‘bolt-on’ special operations divisions,” Wells told TG. “Morgan is just special operations. That generates huge sorts of brand volumes, huge community enjoyment.”

On the subject of volumes, Morgan is targeting roughly 650 cars this year, with the aim of returning to about 800 annually. Think of it, then, as an exclusive daily driver.