HOW do you keep your existing cars fresh when their replacements are still a couple of years down the road?
This is always a problem for car makers, who choose different routes to try and achieve their objective.
I would have thought that MG-Rover's problems with its ageing MG ZS would have been too difficult to overcome, but then they turn up with the latest version, which addresses many of the shortfalls of the previous model making for a car with plenty of pzazz.
It also has a new face courtesy of a body colour grille and new headlamps and the combination of this and a revamped interior has given it a new lease of life.
It's still a bit behind the best, as you would expect with a car which is essentially a nine-year-old design, but it is now much easier to live with - apart from the ride - which has always been hard and uncompromising, thanks to seriously sporting suspension.
This means you have to choose your route carefully - so the road surfaces are nice and smooth!
In most other ways, it's a great car, but the suspension is so hard that occupants get bounced around unmercifully on anything less smooth than a bowling green.
In today's market place, this is a step too far, as I have written before. Most of us want a little comfort to go with our fun behind the wheel, and this MG offers very little.
The seats are supportive and hip hugging for hard, fast cornering, but they don't really help the ride. If you want to get noticed however, then this could well be the car you have been looking for.
It comes straight out of the box with sleek sporting looks, including a deep front airdam, side skirts, boot lip spoiler and rear bumper air diffuser.
Add all this to a range of vibrant colours including banana yellow and the striking red of my test car, together with big, good looking alloys shod with sprayed-on low profile rubber and you have the perfect car to arrive in if you want to be in the limelight.
I drove the 120+ with a smooth, free revving and tuneful 1.8 power unit - the same one as used by Caterham in all its sportscars but mostly in higher states of tune.
In the MG, there's a lot more weight to drag around, but even so, performance is good enough for plenty of acceleration from almost any speed.
This helps to make overtaking very easy and is helped by a very quick gearchange and a light clutch.
The engine revs easily to a higher than normal red line of 6,800, and has real power from about 3,000 giving a good band of urge through the gears.
In keeping with that hard, almost racing suspension, the roadholding and handling are superb. This is a car you could take to a trackday with very little modification in that department.
It hugs the road as if trying to become part of it and hardly rolls at all even when hustled through demanding curves. The level of grip is truly excellent and the handling just as good, with great balance and safety up to very high limits.
It can be tremendous fun to drive on twisty demanding roads, but the problem is that many of these do not have good surfaces, so you get bounced around like a puppet on a rollercoaster.
The redesigned interior includes much improved seat height adjustment, new fresh air vents with aluminium bezels which swivel to turn them on and off, and a better looking centre console with a rather poor Kenwood stereo - the buttons are far too small to hit on the move.
The ZS is available as a four or five door, and the five door I drove is as practical as ever, with split folding rear seat and a decent size boot.
It has front and side airbags, immobiliser and alarm system, five full seatbelts, electric windows and mirrors, central locking and air conditioning, as well as part leather seats and a leather covered steering wheel.
But that ride is too harsh, and should be improved to help it appeal to a larger numbers of buyers.
FAST FACTS
MG ZS +120
Price: £14,095
Mechanical: 117bhp, 1,796cc, 4cyl petrol engine driving front wheels via 5spd manual gearbox
Max speed: 122mph
0-62mph: 9 secs
Combined mpg: 38.9
Insurance group: 12
CO2 emissions: 174g/km
BiK rating: 20%
Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles; 6yrs paint; 6yrs anti-rust
CAR STARS
How does it compare with the rest?
****** - Best, * - Worst.
Comfort *
Performance *****
Economy *****
Handling ******
Safety *****
Value ****
Equipment *****
Fun Factor *****
Overall Rating ****