MG RV8 - What arr they like then ?

[mdh]

Saw one of these this morning. Lovely sound.
Anyone on here actually got one or driven one ?

What are they like ?

[kevinday]

IMHO they are a waste of space, the only thing going for them is the sound of the engine. AFAIK Rover Group did not update enough of the inherent 60s design to produce an 80s/90s car so the awful handling remains, and they were also a bit expensive.

[pbrettle]

Yep, Kevin is right. The engine is an updated V8 with a little more power than the original one - 190BHP as apossed to the 160 before. Trim updated and general quality is higher (just). Engine noise is strangled by cats and exhaust, but still not that bad for the old RV8.

The Rover engineers did do quite a lot to fix the handling and it is a vast improvement over the old MGB. However, dont expect it to be modern in anyway. Its still leaf springs at the back and therefore somewhat 'twitchy' at best.

To be honest, I would bet a pukka Costello MGB V8 and then take it to Cambridge Motorsport to get it sorted out. Nicer looking, fast as hell and handles well.... and probably for a little more than the RV8. Then again I do prefer the old crome bumpers..

Cheers,

Paul

[mgv8]

I would just try one. I you will find it a lot more fun than you would think!

[Woodcote]

I own an MGRV8 and I find the car an absolute pleasure to drive. It looks a little like an MGB and many hot hatches assume that is what it is - It's fun to see them disappear in the distance.

Seriously the car is only 5% MGB with the remainder of the bits coming from other standard cars. The engine pull beautifully and my wife considers it the nearest manually geared car to an automatic she has ever driven there is so much useable torque available. The suspension too is not MGB and it is light years ahead of the standard V8 suspension both front and rear.

There are other plusses for the cars as well - an all galvanized body, very high resale value which is liable to increase instead of decrease and a great finish internally and externally.

So for a real head turner of a fun car with teeth - look for the MGRV8