RE: Rover 200 BRM | Spotted

[J4CKO]

s m said:

Aiminghigh123 said:

Interesting. Didn’t know they were that fast. I remember overtaking an RS1800 and we were 3 up him he was on his own. The guy went crazy trying to overtake me back and I just kept pulling.

I think people regard them as pretty slow reading the comments. I’ve always seen them as fairly rapid for the time but maybe I only saw the press demo ones

Mine had a couple of mods (Exhaust, air filter, fuel pressure regulator, remap etc), but the prat that owned it before had crushed two pipes into each other to join them for a "Cold air feed" to the carbon air box it had, I un cold air feeded it and it was instantly massively more responsive as it didnt effectively have an air restriction like they use in competition cars to keep power outputs down

It went really well after that, until the HG went, so it looked like an Ultravox video when you stopped at lights and the steam started emanating from under the bonnet.

Did the HG but it was still knackered as the liners had sunk apparently.

It was decently rapid for a bit though, but learnt that a Scirocco R was quite a bit quicker.

[ballswing]

s m said:

I think you have one of the best car collections on here as a lover of 80s/90s stuff

Thank you S M.

[S54B32]

s m said:

I preferred it when the orange bits were redone in silver by some dealers/owners

They offered 306GTI-6 performance and the 30-70 time was its forte






Lotus sports car engine as some used to say ....

Suspension - is it not dual wishbone front and independent rear? I do not think it's mcpherson. Could be wrong but I thought they shared the Civic EK layout. Interested to know if anyone has any diagrams as I can't find any on google..

Awesome little car. On the list of things I wish I'd bought when they were cheap.

[Fuzzarr]

The 200 BRM is a surprisingly good car, though it's understandable why some people don't get it, especially at this price.

I had a passenger ride in one, once, with a chap nicknamed 'graveltrap' who might even be on here.

I hoped he'd give it a good spanking, but we were both feeling incredibly rough after a few beers the previous night, so any hooning was soon curtailed to prevent vomit from covering the lovely red interior.

[S54B32]

Exhaust Ted said:

A limited edition. Classic colour. Free revving engine that was a for runner to Honda's VVT power plants, used by Lotus for their cars. Close ratio gear box. Limited slid diff. Interior that looks like a mini Bentley which is , apparently, as long lasting as the more expensive original. Polished aluminium trim. Its British, yes! It's not like every other hot hatch.
What's not to like!?

I agree with your fondness for the car, but

Exhaust Ted said:

engine that was a for runner to Honda's VVT power plants

that's not quite true. I'm pretty sure the 1.4 K series did briefly own the bhp/litre crown until the VTEC Civic/CRX took it in the late 80s.

VVC and VTEC are not alike. You could argue VTEC is simpler... good document on VVC here: http://www.sandsmuseum.com/cars/elise/thecar/engin...

[ddom]

VVC was much later than VTEC and Rover took the design from an expired patent. VTEC was born in the 1980's from Honda motorcycles. 1989 for the first DOHC VTEC.

https://www.autozine.org/technical_school/engine/v...

The VVC was a much better starting point for tuning, blank off the VVC and it has more scope for porting as there's less casting in the inlet and it's a different shape. Pretty much the same in regards to porting and valves as the VHPD. They used to attract a premium of a fair few quid.

[s m]

S54B32 said:

s m said:

I preferred it when the orange bits were redone in silver by some dealers/owners

They offered 306GTI-6 performance and the 30-70 time was its forte






Lotus sports car engine as some used to say ....

Suspension - is it not dual wishbone front and independent rear? I do not think it's mcpherson. Could be wrong but I thought they shared the Civic EK layout. Interested to know if anyone has any diagrams as I can't find any on google..

Awesome little car. On the list of things I wish I'd bought when they were cheap.

Rover brochure seems to confirm Mac struts and torsion beam rear

[legless]

s m said:

Rover brochure seems to confirm Mac struts and torsion beam rear

Yup. The R3 200 floorpan was basically the front end of a R8 200/400 mated to the rear end of a Maestro, albeit with some engineered-in flexibility into the rear suspension bushes to allow some passive rear steering.

[s m]

J4CKO said:

Mine had a couple of mods (Exhaust, air filter, fuel pressure regulator, remap etc), but the prat that owned it before had crushed two pipes into each other to join them for a "Cold air feed" to the carbon air box it had, I un cold air feeded it and it was instantly massively more responsive as it didnt effectively have an air restriction like they use in competition cars to keep power outputs down

It went really well after that, until the HG went, so it looked like an Ultravox video when you stopped at lights and the steam started emanating from under the bonnet.

Did the HG but it was still knackered as the liners had sunk apparently.

It was decently rapid for a bit though, but learnt that a Scirocco R was quite a bit quicker.

I must admit I did think of you when I saw this clip

Clicky

....especially the bit at 1 minute in with the Nissan Z droptop

[Alan320i]

I have owned 3 which I bought for less than £310 each. Ten years ago I used to buy them to break for spares. The rover forum was busy and I’d sell all the bits with a month. It was a great income while it lasted for me at the time while I was at university. I had all 3 in 2011 and still have a genuine pair of front wing badges which are worth quite a bit now. All 3 cars were rusty old bangers and two of them had engine issues. One came with a receipt for £900 for an engine rebuild a few months prior to me owning it. The workmanship was shocking and had been bodged together.

I was not a popular man on the brm owners club and used to receive messages from strange rover men. Naturally, the owner soon banned me even know he had also broken a BRM.

[Downward]

I went from 306 S16 to Rover 200vi Back to the 306 S16.

The 1.8vvc engine was decent but I went from a 98 Rover to a 95 Peugeot and everything about the Pug was better.

[Tankrizzo]

article said:

Remember that odd lull for hot hatches in the late nineties? Insurance premiums had killed off the icons from Ford, Renault and Vauxhall, and it was just before the Clio 172 and first Civic Type R signaled a renaissance. It was an era defined by the Civic VTI, Bravo HGT and Almera GTI - not exactly pocket rocket legends. The Peugeot 306 GTI-6 could have been half as brilliant as it was and still would have been the cream of the crop.

I don't know what age the author is but this was the absolute prime time for me driving as a youngster - 1997 to 2000 - and the hothatch scene was dominated by the Saxo VTS, 106 GTi, Escort RS Turbo, Astra GSi and slightly leggier 5 GT Turbos/205GTis. In fact I barely remember seeing a Bravo HGT or Almera GTI.