RE: SOTW: Rover 825i Sterling
Discussion
This is a KV6 unit, which only diehard Rover beards will go near. Almost unrecognisable from the second-gen unit which saw service in the 75 and ZT, the versions in the 800 were basically hand-built prototypes, and have a justified reputation for going "pshhht" after fewer miles than this one has covered. If this was an 827 Sterling or an 820 Turbo Sport, I'd be all over it like a tramp on chips, but an 825i? No ta.
(Source, before MGJohn jumps on me... http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/08/26/engines... )
edited for duff link
(Source, before MGJohn jumps on me... http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/08/26/engines... )
edited for duff link
300bhp/ton said:
825 is a brilliant car in many ways. Lots of room, comfy, rode well and quiet. Not a Jag I admit, but way better than many would think.
Huge 8 inch speakers in the rear shelf make it good for drum and bass music so I'm told too....
No.Huge 8 inch speakers in the rear shelf make it good for drum and bass music so I'm told too....
My dad had an 827SLI many moons ago and will happily admit that for the money he paid it is the worst car he has ever owned..
Unreliable, badly built, wheezy V6, bad gearbox, drank like a fish and wallowed around through corners.
Had the misfortune of driving it a couple of times myself as a young un. primary memory is of it feeling like piloting a stenna ferry...
He replaced it with a similar vintage 5 Series. Like night and day.
My old man had loads of these from an E reg 827SI through to an 825 Sterling.
None ever broke down, All were very comfy and quite fast.
Sterling had all the toys you ever needed with piped leather and one even had rear reclining seats.
I sooo want one of these for my next Ramshackle Rally!
None ever broke down, All were very comfy and quite fast.
Sterling had all the toys you ever needed with piped leather and one even had rear reclining seats.
I sooo want one of these for my next Ramshackle Rally!
sparkster8 said:
Yes that was what I was thinking of a Vittesse (spelling?) coupe with the T16 lump. Had a 620ti which was an absolute hoot with it's grandad looks and impressive puff. Impressive reliability as well I might add.
My sister had the 620Ti which was fantastic.I ran out of reasons to borrow it in the end!
At one point my family had 4 Rovers.
Dad - Sterling
Mum - 620SI
Sis - 118Vi/620Ti
Me - 420GSI
All were really reliable except my 420 wich cost 9K to fix in year 2/3 (After Warranty)
Thank god the company paid!
We were given one as a pursuit car - ex-trafpol when I worked at Croydon nick.
At the time we were going through a spate of cash point thefts - mostly the ahole thing by some of the travelling community.
Their car of choice at the time was a quick 3 series or a 'borrowed' Cosworth.
The Rover was good in a straight line but through a curve (corners were not to bad) and they started to pitch front to back. Expansion joints on the Croydon Flyover were arse clenching moments over 100mph, where as in the 220gti that followed it wasn't a problem.
On a quick run, it was pretty common for the brakes to be on fire on arrival - not that they faded that much. They tended to ignite when the car had been stopped for a few minutes.
The worst thing was the autobox - it was a pig and the cars spent more time in the workshops for the gearbox breaking than on the road.
In the end they were replaced in the shortterm by 216 and 220 GTi's which were pretty good and then VW VR6's, Cavaliers and Vectra V6 before the BMW's took over.
At the time we were going through a spate of cash point thefts - mostly the ahole thing by some of the travelling community.
Their car of choice at the time was a quick 3 series or a 'borrowed' Cosworth.
The Rover was good in a straight line but through a curve (corners were not to bad) and they started to pitch front to back. Expansion joints on the Croydon Flyover were arse clenching moments over 100mph, where as in the 220gti that followed it wasn't a problem.
On a quick run, it was pretty common for the brakes to be on fire on arrival - not that they faded that much. They tended to ignite when the car had been stopped for a few minutes.
The worst thing was the autobox - it was a pig and the cars spent more time in the workshops for the gearbox breaking than on the road.
In the end they were replaced in the shortterm by 216 and 220 GTi's which were pretty good and then VW VR6's, Cavaliers and Vectra V6 before the BMW's took over.
SWoll said:
300bhp/ton said:
825 is a brilliant car in many ways. Lots of room, comfy, rode well and quiet. Not a Jag I admit, but way better than many would think.
Huge 8 inch speakers in the rear shelf make it good for drum and bass music so I'm told too....
No.Huge 8 inch speakers in the rear shelf make it good for drum and bass music so I'm told too....
My dad had an 827SLI many moons ago and will happily admit that for the money he paid it is the worst car he has ever owned..
Unreliable, badly built, wheezy V6, bad gearbox, drank like a fish and wallowed around through corners.
Had the misfortune of driving it a couple of times myself as a young un. primary memory is of it feeling like piloting a stenna ferry...
He replaced it with a similar vintage 5 Series. Like night and day.
We had one too, an R plate ircc bought almost new from a rover main dealer (it was their demo car).
It was a met green 825i Sterling saloon auto.
It replaced a 6.0 XJ12 much to my disapproval.
However the Rover was very comfy and while the leather and wood wasn't of the same quality as the Jaguar, it was still easily a cut above a similar age Vauxhall or Mondeo.
It was good on fuel tending to average around 33mpg in normal use. It wasn't anywhere near as quick as the 6.0 evidently, but it went ok, it revved very smoothly, gear change was good and non sluggish, it would see over 135mph on the speedo and wasn't what you'd call slow.
Nothing broke on it, nothing went wrong. Not even a light bulb. I admit it wasn't perhaps the most sporty drive, but it was never meant to be, it did ride very very well and you could still hussle it about if you wanted too.
We sold it to someone who lived locally, they still have it. And as far as I know they've not had a single issue with it either.
http://pistonheads.com/sales/3305180.htm
Thats more like it
[/quote]
Like it - just the comment about wandering to the left worries me. If I was selling it I would have had it tracked therefore I instantly think something is bent/damaged underneath. Ignoring that though I like it !
Thats more like it
[/quote]
Like it - just the comment about wandering to the left worries me. If I was selling it I would have had it tracked therefore I instantly think something is bent/damaged underneath. Ignoring that though I like it !
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