Morgan takes on Porsche 911 with all-new Supersport: ‘Our best handling, most refined model ever’

British niche carmaker Morgan is taking aim at the Porsche 911 with an all-new model that it says is the best handling and most refined vehicle it has ever produced.

At first glance, the new Morgan Supersport doesn’t look too different from the Malvern-based firm’s Plus Four and outgoing Plus Six models, which have a shape that goes back seven decades. But the Supersport is not a direct successor to the Plus Six, rather an all-new model built around more advanced underpinnings.

Improved aerodynamics

The Supersport’s design takes inspiration more from the ultra-exclusive Midsummer special edition car unveiled last year, which was a collaboration with Italian design studio Pininfarina, than the Plus Six. That’s especially true around the elongated rear end, which is elegant but also helps clean up airflow, and the sharper front wings that again, improve the aerodynamics.

Morgan says the drag coefficient of the Supersport is 0.44 versus 0.463 for the Plus Six (with the roofs up); neither of which is terribly impressive (there are some modern pick-up trucks that are just as slippery through the air) but it still marks an improvement.

But the Supersport is more advanced underneath its shell, as it’s based on a significant development of the CX aluminium chassis (referred to in the industry as a “platform”) that Morgan introduced for its cars in 2019.

According to Jon Wells, Morgan’s chief design officer, the Supersport started off as an “exercise of proportion and styling” but the project “snowballed to become much more than that,” and the new CXV platform was born. The Supersport has been in development for at least three years, meaning it actually predates the Midsummer.

“We announced that car [Midsummer] first, really to tell a very powerful brand story, the sensory joys of open-top motoring, [its] analogue interface, coachbuilding, woodwork, craftsmanship, and just to set the scene really for a new design language,” said Wells.

But the objective, he added, was to create a wildcard alternative to cars like the 911 and Ford Mustang that could be included in car magazine group tests against such rivals, and not disgrace itself. Hence creating something new from the ground up.

The design is a fusion of tradition and modernity, with aluminium seals, a flat undertray, rear diffuser and other aerodynamic tricks characterising the lower half, while the familiar shapes of the top half intentionally clash, as a celebration of Morgan’s coachbuilding and technical progress.

A new pink paint colour (which brings to mind one of Jaguar’s two hues used during its controversial relaunch last year, but was actually created ahead the Type 00, according to Wells), is also designed to clash with the traditional part of Morgan’s character.

The Malvern engineers identified the sides of the Plus Six, behind the bonnet, as fast-moving low pressure zones, and has tipped the arches back on the Supersport and created bonnet vents each side, to extract a bit more air from the engine bay in the flanks, rather than relying on louvres on the top of the bonnet for cooling. On the top instead, behind the radiator, is a vent that takes air directly up over the flat windscreen.

Elongating the tail then helps control how the air detaches from the surface at the rear, reducing drag.

A car that rewards drivers

The SuperSport keeps the Plus Six’s powertrain: BMW’s B58 twin-turbocharged six-cylinder engine and ZF eight-speed automatic transmission, delivering 335bhp to the rear wheels.

Morgan hadn’t announced the performance details but, with a kerb weight of 1,170kg, it’s 10kg lighter than the Plus Six and that means acceleration from 0-62mph will be virtually the same time (4.2sec), and you can bet the top speed is similar, too (if not a little faster than the Plus Six’s 166mph, due to the lower drag).

But it’s the way the Supersport feels to drive, and the way it can attack corners, that makes it stand apart, according to Wells.

“That’s really been a benchmark here,” Wells told us at the intimate preview event at Morgan’s London showroom. “This car isn’t about chasing lap times. It’s about rewarding drivers with the most fun. And to be able to put the power down on any corner and just really enjoy the way the car pushes with confidence, with a smile on your face.”

With that in mind, Morgan said it evaluated “lots” of different types before settling on Michelin rubber, which the engineers and test drivers agreed offered the most feel when behind the wheel.

The Michelins cover bespoke alloy wheels in a choice of cast alloy 18in or forged 19in sizes, with the latter rims weighing 9.7kg each, which is around 4kg lighter per corner than those available for the Plus Six. Morgan described it as a significant and noticeable reduction in unsprung mass, which it added helps make the Supersport feel significantly sportier than the Plus Six.

Morgan has also completely revised the suspension, with active travel increased from 50mm to 80mm, and front and rear anti-roll bars now coming as standard. This results in being able to reduce the stiffness of the springs, resulting in a less choppy ride, according to Wells.

“We have a lot more compliance, which just means the car is less unnerved by some of the small bumps in the road and just again inspires a lot of confidence,” he said.

Buyers can additionally pay for a limited slip differential on the rear axle, which further improves cornering ability and power delivery, while an all new steering rack, with revised steering shaft routing and fewer universal joints, is designed for faster initial turn-in to corners.

The Supersport should also feel sharper in the corners thanks to the extra stiffness of the new CXV underpinnings (a chassis that flexes is the enemy of consistent dynamic feel). Versus the CX chassis of the Plus Six, it is “massively stiffened up” around the gearbox area and under the seats, and up to 100 per cent in specific places, which Wells says improves the initial feedback to the driver. Across the length of the chassis, though, there’s a 10 per cent improvement in chassis stiffness.

Soft top, hard top … or both

An extra 10 per cent can be added by fitting the removable carbon-fibre hardtop, rather than the soft top, which features a rare piece of curved glass – and the largest pane ever used on a Morgan, according to Wells. This makes the car slightly heavier, but not by much – the hard top tips the scales at 19.7kg.

Whereas with previous models, Morgan would only sell customers a car with a soft top, then make a hard top available as an optional extra, with Supersport both versions will be available at the purchase stage. That means buyers can choose one or the other, or both.

“This car is more extensively coach built than any car we’ve produced before. There’s more hand finishing on all of the panels. The centre section of the car is predominantly made entirely by hand, by sheet metal. And then there is extra wood in this car; more wood than we’ve ever used previously as well.”

Morgan is keeping door window inserts, which slide down and lock into the door frames via a pair of metal dowels, but they have been redesigned to reduce wind noise and improve interior comfort when in place.

“We then deliberated what to do with the sides,” Wells explained. “Do we want to have a plastic button that we open up and down an electric window with? For many of us driving Morgans, the ability to take the upper portion of the side screen off and have that totally open aperture and be outdoors, even with the roof up, is a real appeal. For us, that’s much more important.”

The doors themselves have new hinges – which now attach to the metal chassis rather than the ash wood frame – for a more accurate closing action every time, while seating the doors more flush to the body. In the words of Wells, the door close “feels less like a garden gate and a bit more like a Golf.”

New levels of practicality and safety

Inside, extra room has been created by extending the cabin backwards, and tall drivers up to around 6ft 5in should feel comfortable inside. The lengthened tail also allows room for a pair of weekend bags to be stored behind the seats, increasing practicality.

Morgan never considered adding rear seats, like a 911, Wells told Driving.co.uk, partly because previous experience suggests demand for four-seat Morgans is low and partly because doing so means adding Isofix points for child seats, and dealing with the related safety legislation.

The Supersport is a lot safer than previous models, it claims, partly as a result of the new steering column, which crumples in a way that means the steering wheel won’t be pushed back into the cabin it a front-on or front offset crash. The firm chose to crash test the Supersport, and the results were exactly as predicted in the computer simulations, it said. Morgan also provides the full suite of driver assistance systems required by law.

What the extended tail also allows, though, is a functional boot, which can be used for extra luggage or to store the side screens. A nice nod to Morgan’s traditional craftsmanship can be seen when you open the boot, as the car’s ash frame – which attaches to the chassis and is usually hidden from view – is visible along the bottom edge of the opening.

Additional practicality comes with an optional luggage rack, which fixes like a bike carrier to dedicated points on a pair of overriders at the back of the car, and can be tilted back to rest on the boot, then secured in place with built-in suction mounts.

Refined, connected interior

Aside from the BMW gearlever, almost no off-the-shelf components are visible in the cabin of the Morgan Supersport, according to Wells: “We’ve done a huge march to improve quality over the last few years. We’ve done that largely in the production process; the supply chain. But really it gets to the point where you have to start redesigning things to really increase the quality.”

Morgan Supersport instruments and switchgear

A good example of that, he said, are the dials, which have been created bespoke in collaboration with Smiths. The edge-lit units are designed to have a”slightly more nostalgic feel,” Wells said, with the shape of each dial face sculpted to catch the light with a slow diffusion.

The “HFS” typeface of the numbers around the dial is bespoke to Morgan, and matches the font used for the badge on the back of the car.

These are the deliberate focus of the cabin, rather than a large touchscreen infotainment system, though there is a digital screen behind the steering wheel that displays things like your gear, speed and warning lights.

There is also digital convenience in the form of a wireless charging pad and Bluetooth connectivity, and tracks playing from your phone can be skipped and calls can be answered using the aluminium dials on the dash. Morgan claims calls can still be taken, and recipients can hear you clearly, when travelling at 70mph with the roof down. The Sennheiser soundsystem, too, has been uprated with new actuators and subwoofers, and calibrated for the new cabin.

Morgan Supersport prices and on sale date

Morgan has already started production of the Supersport and it’s on sale now, with deliveries of dealer demonstrators and customer cars expected to start straight away.

Prices start from £85,000 plus local market taxes, so Morgan says customers in the UK can expect the soft top version to cost around £102,000 on the road, and the hard top an extra £3,000 – or you can buy both roofs for a total of £107,000. That compares to £96,000 for the soft top Plus Six.

“It’s a little bit more expensive,” said Wells, “but we believe a lot more vehicle.”

Morgan Supersport specifications

Engine	BMW 3.0-litre TwinPower Turbo, inline six-cylinder
Power	335bhp at 6500 rpm
Torque	369 lb ft at 1250 rpm
Transmission	Eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Kerb weight	1,170kg
0-62mph	3.9sec*
Top speed	166mph*
Fuel economy	36.8mpg combined (WLTP)
CO2	175g/km
Dimensions	4,110mm x 1,805mm x 1,290mm
Suspension	Double wishbone with front & rear anti-roll bars (dynamic handling pack adds Nitron single-way adjustable dampers )
Tyres	Michelin Pilot Sport 5