We present optical and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of the Type Ia SN 2003cg , which exploded in the nearby galaxy NGC 3169 .
The observations cover a period between -8.5 and +414 days post-maximum .
SN 2003cg is a normal but highly-reddened Type Ia event .
Its B magnitude at maximum B _ { max } =15.94 \pm 0.04 and \Delta m _ { 15 } ( B ) _ { obs } = 1.12 \pm 0.04 ( \Delta m _ { 15 } ( B ) _ { intrinsic } = 1.25 \pm 0.05 ) .
Allowing R _ { V } Â to become a free parameter within the Cardelli et al .
( 1989 ) extinction law , simultaneous matches to a range of colour curves of normal SNe Ia yielded E ( B - V ) =1.33 \pm 0.11 , and R _ { V } =1.80 \pm 0.19 .
While the value obtained for R _ { V } Â is small , such values have been invoked in the past , and may imply a grain size which is small compared with the average value for the local ISM .