RE: MG ZS 180 | Shed of the Week
Discussion
daveco said:
novus said:
Augustus Windsock said:
My main abiding memory of these was the yellow one that my parents neighbour bought new
The amusement factor was when he was stood on the drive assessing it from different angles and I asked what he was doing
‘Something doesn’t look quite right’ he said
We kept looking and eventually realised that the car had come from the factory/dealer with 3 matching tyres and one that was a different size/profile
The indifference shown by the dealership was stunning and was perhaps indicative of how the manufacturer was heading downhill...
You must have been bored to go to the dealer with him to complain about this and then witness this stunning indifference you speak of The amusement factor was when he was stood on the drive assessing it from different angles and I asked what he was doing
‘Something doesn’t look quite right’ he said
We kept looking and eventually realised that the car had come from the factory/dealer with 3 matching tyres and one that was a different size/profile
The indifference shown by the dealership was stunning and was perhaps indicative of how the manufacturer was heading downhill...
Must be Black Friday time for Novus, I cant see that i said that I went to the dealership (I didnt), and I didnt go with my father, it was my parents neighbours car.
The point was, of course, that either the factory stuffed the wrong tyre on, or somehow the tyre was damaged prior to the proud (!) new owner taking delivery and the dealership managed to make a complete hollyhocks of replacing it.
A friend and I bought and sold a few of these, and one guy bought a slightly rough one from us purely to use as a track day biffer. Apparantly he said that other than a Peugeot 306 GT6 it was the cheapest way to have fun on such days.
These cars are epic. I have had a few of them. Modern-day classic for sure. A good mark 1 is the car to get as the mk 2's were build when Rover were running out of money and had a few quality problems. Spares for the nk2 are a problem as they were a short production run. Bumpers and bodykits.
Compared to everything else that was made between the years 2000 and 2005 these Mg Zs 180's are right up there with the best. That being the BMW e46.
I had a bmw e46 330ci manual and as good as that car was, the ZS 180 felt sharper and lighter and was very responsive.
Shod with decent rubber these cars stick to the road. Great driving car.
I now own a couple of bmw e46 m3's which are obviously great cars, but I have nothing but wonderful memories of my ZS 180.
For me the MG ZS 180 is a PH HERO. I would love to have a mint one back any day.
Compared to a VW Golf mk 3 or 4 GTI of the same era which is seen as the benchmark of greatness.
The ZS 180 is far superior.
I seem to recall TOP GEAR doing a drag race with a VW Golf 8v gti against a rover 214 automatic.
What car do think won.
In fact the only negatives about the ZS 180 is they are getting on a bit now and GOOD cars are thin on the ground.
The only thing not mentioned in the Thread was the PEKTRON unit that is fitted in the Face lifted ZS and ZR which is a module that fails and can cause problems with the central locking and electric window plus alarm and imobilizer. But they can be fixed by specialists.
Compared to everything else that was made between the years 2000 and 2005 these Mg Zs 180's are right up there with the best. That being the BMW e46.
I had a bmw e46 330ci manual and as good as that car was, the ZS 180 felt sharper and lighter and was very responsive.
Shod with decent rubber these cars stick to the road. Great driving car.
I now own a couple of bmw e46 m3's which are obviously great cars, but I have nothing but wonderful memories of my ZS 180.
For me the MG ZS 180 is a PH HERO. I would love to have a mint one back any day.
Compared to a VW Golf mk 3 or 4 GTI of the same era which is seen as the benchmark of greatness.
The ZS 180 is far superior.
I seem to recall TOP GEAR doing a drag race with a VW Golf 8v gti against a rover 214 automatic.
What car do think won.
In fact the only negatives about the ZS 180 is they are getting on a bit now and GOOD cars are thin on the ground.
The only thing not mentioned in the Thread was the PEKTRON unit that is fitted in the Face lifted ZS and ZR which is a module that fails and can cause problems with the central locking and electric window plus alarm and imobilizer. But they can be fixed by specialists.
Needell loved it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUSa0UhbccU
miken2k8 said:
molineux1980 said:
I've a soft spot for these, especially the facelift in the deep blue. Love the slatted grille on the wing.
Don't really know why!
Because it looked good? what a daft thing to sayDon't really know why!
One for drivers rather than badge-worshippers
I have my Mk1 ZS 180 for 7 years now and other than the belts it has cost next to nothing to run. I purchased it for £1200 with 28k miles on the clock, it now has 61k miles. It has suffered from the normal issues:
Plastic thermostat housing split which sits in the V of the engine (£40 for a metal replacement and a few hours spanner time)
Leak in the passenger footwell, this took nearly 2 winters to solve and was really close to me throwing in the towel, lots of info online but all of it proved to be wrong. I then found a workshop document from Honda who did a recall due to a split seam inside the passenger wing. Solve the issue and has been good for 4 years.
Sticking rear callipers. The 180 has different brake callipers (I believe the Integra Type R has the same ones) and the rears have a habit of sticking which then knackers the brake disc and pad.
The interior is starting to show it's age after 15 years of use and I will probably retrim the roof lining and door cards before it goes up for sale in the future.
It has done very well with transporting the kids on holiday with a roof box and doesn't do too badly on fuel. It does lack a bit of grunt and although the noise is better than a 4 pot I wouldn't say its a typical V6 burble.
Plastic thermostat housing split which sits in the V of the engine (£40 for a metal replacement and a few hours spanner time)
Leak in the passenger footwell, this took nearly 2 winters to solve and was really close to me throwing in the towel, lots of info online but all of it proved to be wrong. I then found a workshop document from Honda who did a recall due to a split seam inside the passenger wing. Solve the issue and has been good for 4 years.
Sticking rear callipers. The 180 has different brake callipers (I believe the Integra Type R has the same ones) and the rears have a habit of sticking which then knackers the brake disc and pad.
The interior is starting to show it's age after 15 years of use and I will probably retrim the roof lining and door cards before it goes up for sale in the future.
It has done very well with transporting the kids on holiday with a roof box and doesn't do too badly on fuel. It does lack a bit of grunt and although the noise is better than a 4 pot I wouldn't say its a typical V6 burble.
I had the chance of one of these a year or so ago for nothing. It had been sat for 5 years (outside) and needed a thorough recommissioning. I got it running in about 10 minutes with some fresh fuel and a jump pack (and it sounded lovely), but it needed brakes and tyres all round, a leaking radiator replacing (came with a spare) and it was due belts. Quickly worked out that having invested all that time and money, I'd still end up with a car worth less than I was going to have to spend on it, so I passed..
They are great to drive though. I remember reading somewhere that the entire development budget for the car throughout its life was less than Renault spent on just the climate control system for the Megane II.
They are great to drive though. I remember reading somewhere that the entire development budget for the car throughout its life was less than Renault spent on just the climate control system for the Megane II.
Edited by Limpet on Friday 22 November 13:24
Worked on these and PDI'd them when new. Yes the quality was truely appalling. Cheapest of crap fitted to the interior, you could spit through the cheap leather on seats. Had cars coming from the production line with panels that had been painted on the outside but not the inside. Cars that had electric windows fitted but winders fitted to the doorcards, same with the mirrors, both manual and electric adjusments fitted. Cars that leaked like a sieve when split new. As mentioned previously they had problems with the VIS, thermostat, water pumps were bad for leaking and the belts are a pig of a job. The cylinder head casting was also extremely bad. However they drove great when working properly.
monzaxjr said:
Worked on these and PDI'd them when new. Yes the quality was truely appalling. Cheapest of crap fitted to the interior, you could spit through the cheap leather on seats. Had cars coming from the production line with panels that had been painted on the outside but not the inside. Cars that had electric windows fitted but winders fitted to the doorcards, same with the mirrors, both manual and electric adjusments fitted. Cars that leaked like a sieve when split new. As mentioned previously they had problems with the VIS, thermostat, water pumps were bad for leaking and the belts are a pig of a job. The cylinder head casting was also extremely bad. However they drove great when working properly.
I'm sure there's a whole thread in this, if you felt like starting one... hint, hint.Whenever you read anything about these people always say it was amazing what they managed to do with the Rover 400 chassis, but it really isn’t; an expensive double wishbone setup all round should be bloody good, particularly against rivals with McPherson struts and a torsion beam rear.
No, what is amazing is that the Rovers sired by Honda so often took these expensive and promising components and ended up with both poor ride and poor handling.
These are gimpy looking things but that KV6 is the best compact V6 of the era, and they do drive well.
No, what is amazing is that the Rovers sired by Honda so often took these expensive and promising components and ended up with both poor ride and poor handling.
These are gimpy looking things but that KV6 is the best compact V6 of the era, and they do drive well.
Daston said:
zedx19 said:
ruprechtmonkeyboy said:
Headgaskets are always a problem on Rovers.
What a very odd sweeping statement.Early KV6 - notorious for total HGF often at very low mileage;
T/M/O series - oil leak at the front left due to poor gasket sealing requiring a new HG;
This oil leak persisted over multiple redesigns from O to M to T; and
Rover V8 - frequent HGF at 100k but the engine was worn out by then anywayz
I suppose the 6 cylinder Triumph designs in the SD1 usually died of oil starvation at the top end before they had a chance to suffer gasket failure though?
BMC/BL/Rover/MGR didn’t go bust because they made great products that were “misunderstood”.
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 22 November 13:33
These later KV6s are pretty reliable, it's the earlier ones that were by all accounts f
king awful. I think the quote from someone involved at the time was something along the lines of "we sometimes had to replace them twice under warranty, and as such they may well be the only engine with a greater than 100% failure rate..."
They also sold the design to Kia. Apparently their iteration was rubbish as well.
king awful. I think the quote from someone involved at the time was something along the lines of "we sometimes had to replace them twice under warranty, and as such they may well be the only engine with a greater than 100% failure rate..."They also sold the design to Kia. Apparently their iteration was rubbish as well.
BrassMan said:
What models did you have?
A few R8 200/400 models, an XX 827 Vitesse, XX 825 and 827 Sterlings, R17 Vitesse Coupe (only good to drive 800), R17 KV6 Sterling, a late 45. Probably some others over the years. I drove literally dozens of different models through work too.
I had some sort of romantic attachment to poor British cars for a while
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