RE: SOTW: MG-F 1.8 VVC

[MGZRod]

Nigel Worc's said:

andymadmak said:

Ninjaboy said:

Nigel Worc's said:

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

IT'S ROVER stE, they went bust for a reason .....their cars were pathetic.

That K series .... well, enough said !

I wouldn't piss on it if it was on fire.

Get a cheap Z3, enjoy some proper build quality and engineering

Would someone post the chassis stiffness chart please and show the Z3's "proper engineering" please.

Thats already been done. But you have to remember that our Nige is not exactly what you might call "objective" when it comes to Rover. He bought a high mileage 1.8 R75, with no service history, and then inevitably had some issues with it......... There were a considerable number of R75/MG ZT owners who tried to assure Nige that his experiences were not typical of the average 75/ZT owner, but as he says, "no no no no no no no no no no, it cannot be that I made a stupid decision to buy a car with no history, it must be because they are all crap"...

Lots of people like Nige around..

Yes my high mileage R75 ....... 80,000 miles !

I've never bought a beemer with less than 80,000 on it, and I've never had to replace springs, clutch, master & slace cylinders, head gasket, I've never had to clean out faulty drains so the cpu doesn't drown, I've never had to replace coils because the plug caps were rotting, etc etc etc ...... even when I've taken them to 200,000 miles.

But like you say ..... I'm just biased, I only owned the poxy thing for nine months.....I couldn't afford its running costs !

oh ... and..... three of the four beemers I've owned were older than the "over"

If these heaps of ste were any good, why isn't the company still going ..... huh ?

someones got a big chip on their shoulder. I'm on my second MG ZR. My first cars.

No, they aren't built to the highest standard.
No, the interior won't win any awards.


But, they are cheap. Cheap to buy new, cheap to run, like any car if it's looked after it will normally be fine.

The K-series? Flaws of course but a great engine, twin cam 1.4 making 105bhp? 1.8 VVC with 160bhp? And a lot more to come from it as well.

The interior. My ZR has a nicer, higher quality than a MK5 fiesta. It's not bad at all.


And it's not like they ever said they were the best cars out there, they are honest, do what it says on the tin cars. And I love the interior of the 75 (leathery one, nom)

I know someone who bought a E46 3 series, and is continuously going wrong, ecu going haywire, bits breaking off, crap running. Is it possible his car hasn't been looked after, or that BMW make suit cars?


Grow up matey, your a broken record.

Top shed asking as it's all in reasonable nick!

Rant over.

[greggy50]

MGZRod said:

Nigel Worc's said:

andymadmak said:

Ninjaboy said:

Nigel Worc's said:

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

IT'S ROVER stE, they went bust for a reason .....their cars were pathetic.

That K series .... well, enough said !

I wouldn't piss on it if it was on fire.

Get a cheap Z3, enjoy some proper build quality and engineering

Would someone post the chassis stiffness chart please and show the Z3's "proper engineering" please.

Thats already been done. But you have to remember that our Nige is not exactly what you might call "objective" when it comes to Rover. He bought a high mileage 1.8 R75, with no service history, and then inevitably had some issues with it......... There were a considerable number of R75/MG ZT owners who tried to assure Nige that his experiences were not typical of the average 75/ZT owner, but as he says, "no no no no no no no no no no, it cannot be that I made a stupid decision to buy a car with no history, it must be because they are all crap"...

Lots of people like Nige around..

Yes my high mileage R75 ....... 80,000 miles !

I've never bought a beemer with less than 80,000 on it, and I've never had to replace springs, clutch, master & slace cylinders, head gasket, I've never had to clean out faulty drains so the cpu doesn't drown, I've never had to replace coils because the plug caps were rotting, etc etc etc ...... even when I've taken them to 200,000 miles.

But like you say ..... I'm just biased, I only owned the poxy thing for nine months.....I couldn't afford its running costs !

oh ... and..... three of the four beemers I've owned were older than the "over"

If these heaps of ste were any good, why isn't the company still going ..... huh ?

someones got a big chip on their shoulder. I'm on my second MG ZR. My first cars.

No, they aren't built to the highest standard.
No, the interior won't win any awards.


But, they are cheap. Cheap to buy new, cheap to run, like any car if it's looked after it will normally be fine.

The K-series? Flaws of course but a great engine, twin cam 1.4 making 105bhp? 1.8 VVC with 160bhp? And a lot more to come from it as well.

The interior. My ZR has a nicer, higher quality than a MK5 fiesta. It's not bad at all.


And it's not like they ever said they were the best cars out there, they are honest, do what it says on the tin cars. And I love the interior of the 75 (leathery one, nom)

I know someone who bought a E46 3 series, and is continuously going wrong, ecu going haywire, bits breaking off, crap running. Is it possible his car hasn't been looked after, or that BMW make suit cars?


Grow up matey, your a broken record.

Top shed asking as it's all in reasonable nick!

Rant over.

+1

Dad had a rover 75 on a y for 3 years from new. Did 110,000 miles it never skipped a beat and he drove it hard for its whole life. It just ate the miles and interior with the leather was a lovely place to be he had an alfa 156 2.5 before and he said he ended up prefering the rover for a relaxed cruiser with some luxury it really could not be beaten at the time for its price imo.
He was then given a budget of 22k to buy a car up to a year old or younger for a company vehicle with some criteria diesel etc... Within a week he had gone and brought a nearly new 54 plate MG ZT for around 18k again he did 80k miles in 2 years before switching jobs with no issues at all. He said it was by far it was the best company style vehicle he has owned and this includes a couple of A6's, 3 series and mondeo's etc... The ZT he thought was a very good car to drive I remember being impressed when we were in yorkshire and he was giving it some down the lanes it really handled well for such a big car and again was a very nice place to sit. He maintains that if they sold them still today he would still choose it over to any other rep saloon offering.
Oh and with regards to reliability he had what are meant to be a reliable VW Passat (New Shape 1.9 tdi s had no choice) for his next car. This needed a new gearbox after 4k miles. Also fuel pump was faulty so it was down on power for 3 months whilst VW got the part in and as it still worked he was stucking driving it around half broken. The electronic handbreak got stuck on leaving us all stuck in a service station. Also the computer had endless niggles and it kept having to go back to the dealer for issues. It was the most bland and biggest piece of st I have had the pleasure of sitting in and put me off VW's for life. Dont see why anyone would choose one over the rivals apart from some nice plastic it was bland and generally st in every area. Oh and as an added bonus he then decided to move company and on his last trip down to london the car would not start so he just sent the keys to work caught the train and left i there what a great end to what was generally a very st car.

[300bhp/ton]

Nigel Worc's said:

I've had four beemers, and will have another ..... there must be a reason for that !

Fanboyism? Self delusional?

[300bhp/ton]

Nigel Worc's said:

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

IT'S ROVER stE, they went bust for a reason .....their cars were pathetic.

That K series .... well, enough said !

I wouldn't piss on it if it was on fire.

Get a cheap Z3, enjoy some proper build quality and engineering

Wow you sound like a right idiot.

Z3 is an ok looking car, but I didn't konw you could get one for £1500??

Also they have a bit of a floppy chassis and aren't really as much as a drivers car.

[300bhp/ton]

Nigel Worc's said:

If these heaps of ste were any good, why isn't the company still going ..... huh ?

Are you?

a) that stupid
b) that blind
c) that young, ie 4

pick one

[kambites]

ollie854 said:

I don't know if its already been said but if the K-series was really that bad then why did lotus put it in the elise?

There are various reasons that the K-series is a better engine in the Elise than most of the products Rover offered it in. Firstly, it can actually be a reasonably reliable engine if it is meticulously looked-after (specifically, warmed up properly) and Elises are probably more likely to be pampered than Freelanders or even MGFs; secondly, the Elise is far lighter than anything Rover put it in, so it's under less stress and hence heats up more gently; thirdly it only costs 4-500 quid to fix the head gasket if it does go, which is much more palatable on a car worth 10k than one worth 1k, and if that repair is done properly the engine can be made much more reliable, but most garages don't know how to do this.

The simple answer to why the Elise has a K-series though, is that it started out as a joint project between Lotus and Rover, before Rover pulled out. That and the fact that Honda wouldn't sell Lotus the K20.

Of course the Elise benefits more from such a light engine than most cars would, too.

Edited by kambites on Monday 6th December 09:04

[g3org3y]

Why would someone choose this over an equivalent MX5 (honestly)?

I'll stick with an E30 cabrio thanks. At least you can get them with proper <cough>6 cyl<cough> engines.

[kambites]

g3org3y said:

Why would someone choose this over an equivalent MX5 (honestly)?

It would be newer and/or lower mileage for the money.
It's slightly more practicable.
It's debatably better looking.
It's faster in a straight line.
And probably some other things that I haven't thought of.

[g3org3y]

kambites said:

g3org3y said:

Why would someone choose this over an equivalent MX5 (honestly)?

It would be newer and/or lower mileage for the money.
It's slightly more practicable.
It's debatably better looking.
It's faster in a straight line.
And probably some other things that I haven't thought of.

Fair points, I am certainly not in the know regarding either, but given that the MX5 is considered the 'gold standard' I was wondering.

[kambites]

The early MGF certainly has its flaws, but it's really not that bad for a car its age.

[300bhp/ton]

g3org3y said:

kambites said:

g3org3y said:

Why would someone choose this over an equivalent MX5 (honestly)?

It would be newer and/or lower mileage for the money.
It's slightly more practicable.
It's debatably better looking.
It's faster in a straight line.
And probably some other things that I haven't thought of.

Fair points, I am certainly not in the know regarding either, but given that the MX5 is considered the 'gold standard' I was wondering.

So why don't you have one

I'm not knocking the MX-5, its a fab little car. But it is only one option at this price range.

And even if the MX-5 is slightly better, the MGF is still way more fun than most FWD hatches and it's still a good looking RWD sports car with a wealth of heritage, support and owners community.

So if its most major failing is not being the best in its class, then that is true of almost every car in production.

[LotusAlfaV6bloke]

Did someone just use the base spec cloth MX5 interior pics against the lux Leather interior option of the MGF and then honestly say "coo, look how different they are, the MGF is much better quality?"

Oh dear!

Kambites - you seemed to have hit the nail on the head over engine options.

[300bhp/ton]

LotusAlfaV6bloke said:

Did someone just use the base spec cloth MX5 interior pics against the lux Leather interior option of the MGF and then honestly say "coo, look how different they are, the MGF is much better quality?"

Oh dear!

Ok then, you find some other pics.

I had a base spec 1.8i 1996 on an N plate. I never had any real issues with the interior. The seats where cloth and comfy and the dash was no more plasticky than any Jap car I've owned or been in.

Steering wheel was nice with good grips and the white dials where refreshing and fairly rare.

[Colin 1985]

LotusAlfaV6bloke said:

Did someone just use the base spec cloth MX5 interior pics against the lux Leather interior option of the MGF and then honestly say "coo, look how different they are, the MGF is much better quality?"

Oh dear!

Kambites - you seemed to have hit the nail on the head over engine options.

I posted pictures from three second hand cars that cost about the same, to make the point that you get much more with the MG. The MX5's and MR2's that I have seen were all dark and miserable inside, but for the same money the MG is not bad at all.

So "coo, look how different they are, the MGF is much better quality?"

ETA smiliy - don't want to start a war just before work.

Edited by Colin 1985 on Monday 6th December 13:13

[sunsurfer]

Kambites said:

"The simple answer to why the Elise has a K-series though, is that it started out as a joint project between Lotus and Rover, before Rover pulled out. That and the fact that Honda wouldn't sell Lotus the K20."

Interesting. Can you let us know where you learnt that the Elise was originally intended as a joint Lotus/Rover project. I'm curious to know what Rover or MG car the Elise project was supposed to be.

[kambites]

sunsurfer said:

Interesting. Can you let us know where you learnt that the Elise was originally intended as a joint Lotus/Rover project. I'm curious to know what Rover or MG car the Elise project was supposed to be.

There's a documentary on the design of the Elise, you should be able to find it on You Tube somewhere, I would imagine.

ETA: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-707292445... is it, I think.

Edited by kambites on Monday 6th December 13:20

[Colin 1985]

Engine was also used in the Arial Atom.

Has quite a nice torque curve with power steadily increasing all the way to the redline.

[LotusAlfaV6bloke]

No probs Colin. Pistonheads Wars - bitterness matters!

[Speedfreakgti]

what a BAD CHOICE for shed. I used to work for a private mg garage , these cars are not a good purchase , through out the entire mgf range they have used rubber locators for the head , the rubber locaters (bloody rover) quite obviously ware. Once the locators go they allow fractional movement in the head not alot but enough to cause a head gasket failure.

All i did for 4 years at that bloody garage was head gaskets, even the work pains me and its not a particulary easy job on a mid engined car so if your sending it to a garage for repair, prepare to pay close to the cars value.

If you are going to buy an mgf ask the owner when the head gasket last went (not if it has, when it did, ur more likely to get a genuine answer) and if they have had the metal locators fitted.

Obviously if your a mechanic with some spare time it would make a cracking toy not much fun to work on tho.

[ferg]

Speedfreakgti said:

what a BAD CHOICE for shed. I used to work for a private mg garage , these cars are not a good purchase , through out the entire mgf range they have used rubber locators for the head , the rubber locaters (bloody rover) quite obviously ware.

Plastic.

This was apparently a bright idea from BMW engineers when they costed up the 'k'.