RE: PH Heroes: Rover 3500 Vitesse
Discussion
OllieC said:
Wolands Advocate said:
swanny71 said:
Absolutley loved these as a kid - still do.
Me too! Absolutely one of my favourites - still like them today. But, for all that, nowadays I can't really see myself driving one. Too huge and a bit wideboy unless you de-spoiler it. But I'd have room for one in my lottery win garage. Say you put it next to a 5 door M135i BMW. According to road test data, the Vitesse is slightly lighter, slightly lower and 14" longer. Same width.
s m said:
OllieC said:
Wolands Advocate said:
swanny71 said:
Absolutley loved these as a kid - still do.
Me too! Absolutely one of my favourites - still like them today. But, for all that, nowadays I can't really see myself driving one. Too huge and a bit wideboy unless you de-spoiler it. But I'd have room for one in my lottery win garage. Say you put it next to a 5 door M135i BMW. According to road test data, the Vitesse is slightly lighter, slightly lower and 14" longer. Same width.
Possibly my all-time favourite car. So many memories from the 70s/80s of SD1 Rovers. THAT police liver delivery; BTCC at Donington; driving one (non-vitesse 3500) when I was 17 and feeling like a driving God.
I think I need one of my own someday. The Range Rover I've got at the moment has a few bits of trim which are strangely familiar from the SD1 back in the '80s - the door locks, sidelight switch, etc... but I think I need a Vitesse in my life soon.
I think I need one of my own someday. The Range Rover I've got at the moment has a few bits of trim which are strangely familiar from the SD1 back in the '80s - the door locks, sidelight switch, etc... but I think I need a Vitesse in my life soon.
New Scot said:
s m said:
OllieC said:
Wolands Advocate said:
swanny71 said:
Absolutley loved these as a kid - still do.
Me too! Absolutely one of my favourites - still like them today. But, for all that, nowadays I can't really see myself driving one. Too huge and a bit wideboy unless you de-spoiler it. But I'd have room for one in my lottery win garage. Say you put it next to a 5 door M135i BMW. According to road test data, the Vitesse is slightly lighter, slightly lower and 14" longer. Same width.
ETA: that's got me thinking - with a bit of tuning (or borrowing a 5.0 from TVR), I'm sure you can get up to 300bhp fairly easily. Could you make a few brake and suspension changes and make the SD1 as good as a 135i?! Now that would be a great car!
New Scot said:
s m said:
OllieC said:
Wolands Advocate said:
swanny71 said:
Absolutley loved these as a kid - still do.
Me too! Absolutely one of my favourites - still like them today. But, for all that, nowadays I can't really see myself driving one. Too huge and a bit wideboy unless you de-spoiler it. But I'd have room for one in my lottery win garage. Say you put it next to a 5 door M135i BMW. According to road test data, the Vitesse is slightly lighter, slightly lower and 14" longer. Same width.
Baryonyx said:
The old Police show (I think it was Police Camera Action) where the police did the 30 minute run across London to deliver a liver in SD1's is awesome viewing. Proper driving heroics. And the rumble of the V8's as the cops come through the tunnel onto the Embankment; glorious.
Link for the lazy or curious!Really quite surprised that run didn't get mentioned in the article, it's the first thing anyone seems to talk about if you mention an SD1 here I thought...!
wst said:
Baryonyx said:
The old Police show (I think it was Police Camera Action) where the police did the 30 minute run across London to deliver a liver in SD1's is awesome viewing. Proper driving heroics. And the rumble of the V8's as the cops come through the tunnel onto the Embankment; glorious.
Link for the lazy or curious!Really quite surprised that run didn't get mentioned in the article, it's the first thing anyone seems to talk about if you mention an SD1 here I thought...!
Fantastic!
My Dad had a moonraker blue one too and I learnt to drive in it - torquey V8 help minimise my initial stalling attempts!
Ran it for 5 years & 130,000 miles before rust issues prompted a sale.
Along the way it had top end rebuild and hotter Piper camshaft (after original lost a lot of its lift profiles!), larger bore Jag AFM & Janspeed exhaust (sounded sooo good!)
It regularly needed new suspension bushes to keep the suspension tight and compliant
My Dad had a moonraker blue one too and I learnt to drive in it - torquey V8 help minimise my initial stalling attempts!
Ran it for 5 years & 130,000 miles before rust issues prompted a sale.
Along the way it had top end rebuild and hotter Piper camshaft (after original lost a lot of its lift profiles!), larger bore Jag AFM & Janspeed exhaust (sounded sooo good!)
It regularly needed new suspension bushes to keep the suspension tight and compliant
Re size, She Who Must Be Obeyed and I followed a mint Vitesse in the area between Chesterfield and Matlock; she commented on how small the car looked in modern traffic.
But, as my dad used to say, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size if the fight in the dog.....!
I'd love a Twin Plenum in blue, silver or red please Santa!
But, as my dad used to say, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size if the fight in the dog.....!
I'd love a Twin Plenum in blue, silver or red please Santa!
Strangely I'm too young to have remembered these first time round but I have a soft spot for them. My Granddad had an early one for a short while in the early 90s and I thought it sounded awesome and as a 10 year old thought it looked like a race car without even knowing about BTCC at the time. He replaced it shortly after with a V6 Senator then went back to Rover and had a lovely 800 Sterling which I also really liked even over the 800 vitesse. Poor poor Rover RIP.
As would a standard Vitesse with lower suspension and 16 inch wheels.My dad had quite a few of them.
When he died 13 years ago I cleared out the garage and had hundreds of parts that I couldn't give away - even a whole mint bonnet (it weighed a ton!).
His last one was a silver 2.6 that he later converted to a twin plenum. EBW 945Y - probably gone to the skip in the sky now. We used to spend all summer driving around Europe in it. Fantastic.
<runs off and looks for an SD1>
When he died 13 years ago I cleared out the garage and had hundreds of parts that I couldn't give away - even a whole mint bonnet (it weighed a ton!).
His last one was a silver 2.6 that he later converted to a twin plenum. EBW 945Y - probably gone to the skip in the sky now. We used to spend all summer driving around Europe in it. Fantastic.
<runs off and looks for an SD1>
New Scot said:
s m said:
OllieC said:
Wolands Advocate said:
swanny71 said:
Absolutley loved these as a kid - still do.
Me too! Absolutely one of my favourites - still like them today. But, for all that, nowadays I can't really see myself driving one. Too huge and a bit wideboy unless you de-spoiler it. But I'd have room for one in my lottery win garage. Say you put it next to a 5 door M135i BMW. According to road test data, the Vitesse is slightly lighter, slightly lower and 14" longer. Same width.
Can we not have ONE thread where this poxy BMW isn't mentioned come on its Christmas - PLEASE!
rejn said:
But the BMW has 50% more power...
ETA: that's got me thinking - with a bit of tuning (or borrowing a 5.0 from TVR), I'm sure you can get up to 300bhp fairly easily. Could you make a few brake and suspension changes and make the SD1 as good as a 135i?! Now that would be a great car!
Rather like my car that has been used in the feature. Only it didn't need a 5.0. Just a brand new 4.6 Range Rover block, lairy heads and cams to name but a few and then coil overs etc. and then voila.ETA: that's got me thinking - with a bit of tuning (or borrowing a 5.0 from TVR), I'm sure you can get up to 300bhp fairly easily. Could you make a few brake and suspension changes and make the SD1 as good as a 135i?! Now that would be a great car!
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