Friday 15th January 2016

Shed of the Week: MG ZS 180

Just £795 for the underrated gem in the MG Z-car range, with plenty of scope for making it even better too

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With the price of oil about to fall to 18p a barrel by sometime next week, we could well be approaching a glorious new pre-extinction era of who-gives-a-dang motoring.

On top of a massive growth in the numbers of petrol-swilling V8s we can expect to see rampaging o'er hill and dale, we can also look forward to a growth in manufacturer personalisation.

Hatch rather than saloon but there's still potential

That's not new: the elite brands have been offering diamond-encrusted gearknobs and whale-foreskinned upholstery for many a year.

What is new though is the adoption of exclusive en-glitzing by more mainstream marques like Volvo. Its £68K XC90 First Edition recently sold out within 48 hours.

Now, the rich and glamorous world of 'bespoke' has moved even further downwind to the murky badlands of Shedalonia, as evinced here in the Capt Mainwaring shape of an MG ZS 180.

Currently the property of Fast Eddy's Performance Car Services, an establishment that surely deserves strong PH patronage for its name alone, this unassuming little number can be yours either as it stands or after Eddy's magic wand has been waved over it, with a view to getting you onto the racing circuits of Merry Olde Englande.

Sweet V6 a real gem

Don't underestimate this MG's potential to provide thrills a-plenty. Underneath that pipe and slippers persona there's a frustrated teenager itching to get out.

As Mr Eddy correctly points out, there's a small but significant swell of interest in these V6-engined Clark Kent-mobiles, and when you weigh up the package it's not that hard to see why. Even as standard you get a nimble chassis and a very sweet engine, both of which will respond nicely to judicious tuning.

On the engine side, breathing mods are easy to do and generous in what they return. Derestricting the airflow should be your first port of call. Whether your choice is to race or ramble, you'll get a flying start on this car thanks to the already present induction kit and open pipe.

Rover 400 origins plain to see inside...

Remapping would be the next box to tick. Sadly, the standard Rover chip can't be tweaked, so you'll need an upgrade or an aftermarket ECU followed by a decent clutch.

You might even consider swapping the motor for an early 2.0 Tomcat turbo or a supercharged 1.8 VVC, but then you'd lose the frolicsome fruitiliciousness of the normally aspirated six, and surely only an arrant fool with the fine sensibilities of a safari park monkey would want to do that.

Chassis-wise it's the usual recipe of polybushes and a set of adjustable coilovers. Do that lot and suddenly you've got yourself a very wieldy and enjoyable track tool.

At this price, what could go wrong?

Well, timing belts are a bit of a faff to replace, thermostats leak, rear brake calipers seize, inlet manifolds break and the standard clutch hydraulics aren't the best, being made of plastic rather than your actual metal. The power and balance valves and the actuating motors in the VIS (Variable Intake System) are all known to fail but they're not that expensive to replace at around £150 the pair. The VIS butterfly linkages will wear if you don't keep the oil clean.

The good news though is that the V6 isn't anywhere near as susceptible to head gasket failure as the K Series four-cylinder, and the general build quality on the ZS is remarkably good.

Set aside your anti-Rover prejudice for a minute and examine the proposition rationally. Shed is very much into this idea of low-cost track revitalisation, and the ZS 180 is a smart left-field choice. He is thinking of taking Fast Eddy up on his offer and presenting the result to Mrs Shed for her birthday. She's never raced before, so to help her on her first track day Shed would stick a map of the circuit onto the steering wheel along with some suggested (if surprisingly high) corner speeds.

Here's the ad.

We have a MGZS 180 which are getting quite sought after now.
These were the base for the touring car having the Honda independent rear suspension layout making them one of the best handling front drive cars ever. That and the lovely 2.5 V6 engine with ample power and torque makes them a very credible performance road or track car.
This one has low mileage, great bodywork for year and runs nicely. Usual wear on drivers seat bolster
It has the addition of a Pipercross induction kit and a free flowing backbox so sounds and goes better than a standard one.
Mot till July
We can supply this as it is or specced up as a track car with uprated brakes, tyres, harnesses etc. Please enquire re this and we can quote for an agreed spec

[Dafuq]

Hmmm, bit dull for me tbh, I know it has the V6 and all that but it still just reminds me of all those middle lane hogging hateful Rovers that were driven by grave dodgers. Just can't shake that 'keeping up appearances' image. Give us something Onslow would drive!

[s m]

I like these a lot - friend was a salesman at an MG Rover dealer - the 2 two demos that impressed me were the MGF trophy and the MG ZS180. The brakes on these were particularly good when they were new.
I looked for one as a run about a few years back but just couldn't find one at the time I needed a car

[crostonian]

I quite like these. I took one in part ex a few years ago and was nicely surprised how well it drove and how much fun it was. Yes they look crap and the interior is awful but that doesn't stop people lusting after Imprezas does it? Bit of a Q-car too.

[alpha channel]

Silver has never been this cars best colour as it does give off the old man feel (like that light metallic blue Jaguar use, you'd get the same vibe from it on an F-Type). Bung a more, shall we say, vivacious colour on them, I'm thinking blues and reds (though they do look really rather nice in green), and they look far better and more fitting the MG badge. I like (says a self confessed Rover fan, eh :shrug: I grew up with Rovers).

[hammo19]

I have a MGZT shed with this lusty smooth v6. It's a beautiful engine that sounds intoxicating (not as much as my V8s). I would think it goes like a train in one of the 400 series bodies

[HorneyMX5]

NA V6 + Honda Civic suspension makes these THE best choice for a cheap track hack. Much better than a Clio. I have a friend and his Dad who race one and it mikes with much faster metal and surprises a lot of people. They also sound glorious!

[J4CKO]

Good shed, decent package for a grand, not the fastest but quite a few good points, plus the ad spells "sought" correctly, it really makes my teeth itch when sellers say "Sort after", cretins

[burritoNinja]

Since MG's are cheaper than an iPad these days, it probably is worth a punt. They do look very very outdated though. A ZS is a tarted up Honda Civic/Rover 45/400. When it fails just scrap it.

[jamieduff1981]

They drive really well - and I don't particularly like FWD much.

Handling is good and the engine is lovely. I agree silver isn't the best colour for these, but there are far worse ways to spend £800!

[900T-R]

Gosh, I remember these from the Zed-series press launch in Wales, back in 2001 or so. The only time a beat all the other journos for tea on a cross country drive and I wasn't trying for it, I just had that good a time in the car! 'Mine' was a particularly vivid shade of yellow that suits the car a lot better than the silver shown here.

I *will* get one of these in super cheap RHD guise one day as a learner trackday car

[graham22]

Impreza beater.

[jamieduff1981]

My pal/colleague/neighbour bought a green ZS180 for Rust 2 Rome. It's got a few dents now and is covered in stickers but he's kept the car and uses it as his daily hack. He seems to like it!

[MadDog1962]

Hmm... not my cup of tea at all, though I'll admit to not exactly being a MG/Rover fan.

I just read:

"Well, timing belts are a bit of a faff to replace, thermostats leak, rear brake calipers seize, inlet manifolds break and the standard clutch hydraulics aren't the best, being made of plastic rather than your actual metal. The power and balance valves and the actuating motors in the VIS (Variable Intake System) are all known to fail but they're not that expensive to replace at around £150 the pair. The VIS butterfly linkages will wear if you don't keep the oil clean."

(Remember "relax it's a Rover"....)

If I was about to buy a shed I'd much prefer to consider something I'd enjoy enough to actually feel good about saving from the scrapheap, at least for a few more years before terminal tinworm killed it. Although this might be better than the average MG/Rover product of the time, I don't think I could be bothered.

So, sorry Mr Shed, this is nowhere near as good as last week's effort which I really quite liked.

[StarmistBlue400]

I have had a ZTT CDTI and a ZT V6 190. The V6 is a lovely lump, sounds good but isnt all that fast (OK I know the ZS is smaller).

Always handle really well though. Same I starved mine of oil and fked it

[anonymous-user]

I love the KV6, I think it was easily the nicest small V6 of the 90s/00s although not necessarily the most robust. I imagine this is the lightest car they ever fitted to, and it has a good suspension setup too. It looks terrible though, the Rover 400/45 was naff enough but the go faster tat on the MG versions just makes me want to cringe. I'd much prefer they launched a Rover 45 Vitesse with this engine and chassis setup, same goes for the 75/ZT.

[s m]

J4CKO said:

Good shed, decent package for a grand, not the fastest but quite a few good points, plus the ad spells "sought" correctly, it really makes my teeth itch when sellers say "Sort after", cretins

That's just street talk for saying..."yeah it's a got a few problems.....but we can 'sort them after' the sale goes through"

[Mr2Mike]

Nice car, but I don't think it's particularly excellent value. I sold my ZS180 about 3 years so back, a saloon in metallic blue. In the time I owned it (2 years IIRC), I'd replaced all timing belts, waterpump and thermostat with genuine MG parts, fixed the VIS motors, and replaced the rotten exhaust with a brand new Piper cat-back system (not stupidly loud or droney, but sounded lovely). It was in really nice condition and I struggled to get £900 for it.

[Kitchski]

I had one of these, bought for shed money. £250 if I remember exactly, but it had been attacked by a psycho ex-wife with a table. Really, it had!. Inlet system had the death rattle too. It's not normally the VIS motors, it's the flaps inside, which are made of plastic, that tend to fail. I smashed the manifold open, gutted the flaps and sealed it back together. Job done. Lost a bit of torque at low revs, but then took off like a screaming banshee about 3500rpm.

The engine's a nice one, the handling's very good too. Lots of grip and nice steering. You could really enjoy chucking it around hooligan style, and personally I even liked the looks. Still do to this day in fact.

Drawbacks? The ride is SHOCKING. I mean really, really bad. MGR couldn't produce a good ride and great handling. It was one or the other. The interior is also massively low-rent, and you sense the feeling of desperation that must have been around when they were still trying to punt an early 90's Honda interior out of Longbridge in 2002. The thing always used to steam up too (when it was parked and empty before anyone chrips in), and the heating/ventilation are ste too.

I think it was one of those cars which you knew was crap, but you liked it anyway. But it definitely wasn't crap on a B-road hoon. For that it was one of the best cars I've had.

[jazzyjeff]

I've always liked these

Not sure what others on here are doing saying they're "dull"? Take it round a track and shut your eyes (on a straight, naturally!) and you could pretend that you're Gordon Shedden in a BTCC race

In any case, I've rated the article a full 10 out of 10 purely for the phrase "...only an arrant fool with the fine sensibilities of a safari park monkey"

[marshall100]

'sought after' when did this happen? at £795 it would suggest probably not.

Don't these also enjoy frequent visit's to the pump? like to the point where you really struggle to justify it.