Discussion
Wildoliver is on the money.
Ignore the usual anti-Rover tosh, the R25 was a cracking car. I had a 2000W 1.6 for 2 years and it never missed a beat, and it put some supposedly better/faster cars to shame. In my experience, the earlier cars are better put together. The only rust I remember was some slight bubbling around the tailgate hinges - other than that not sure it's a worry other than on bodged repairs.
The R25 had much better handling than the R200 so don't think they're the same. R25 GTi / Rover 200vi / Rover 200 BRM all had the 1.8 VVC K-series with 145bhp, but IIRC a simple swap for a 52mm throttle body from a ZR 160 will give you 160 bhp. They do 0-60 in about 7.5 secs iirc.
The vi/BRM had better handling than the standard R200 and the BRM had a torsen LSD as already said, as well as that fantastic interior.
Get one that's been well serviced, keep an eye on the coolant levels. Nice 3 door GTi in dark met. blue or an a/c BRM for me please
Ignore the usual anti-Rover tosh, the R25 was a cracking car. I had a 2000W 1.6 for 2 years and it never missed a beat, and it put some supposedly better/faster cars to shame. In my experience, the earlier cars are better put together. The only rust I remember was some slight bubbling around the tailgate hinges - other than that not sure it's a worry other than on bodged repairs.
The R25 had much better handling than the R200 so don't think they're the same. R25 GTi / Rover 200vi / Rover 200 BRM all had the 1.8 VVC K-series with 145bhp, but IIRC a simple swap for a 52mm throttle body from a ZR 160 will give you 160 bhp. They do 0-60 in about 7.5 secs iirc.
The vi/BRM had better handling than the standard R200 and the BRM had a torsen LSD as already said, as well as that fantastic interior.
Get one that's been well serviced, keep an eye on the coolant levels. Nice 3 door GTi in dark met. blue or an a/c BRM for me please
Edited by NiceCupOfTea on Wednesday 29th October 11:47
wildoliver said:
You'll get loads of people telling you about the headgaskets on these, all of them experts even though they haven't owned one.
The headgaskets do go, but usually only because the water level has been allowed to drop
Having had a 214 as a shed for 3 years inc. HGF, so reasonable "expert" to comment. The headgaskets do go, but usually only because the water level has been allowed to drop
I dont think this is true (well, will cause problems in ANY car!). Its a combination of poor theromstat placement and plastic dowels which allow the head/block to move. The new landy HG (which i have)has steel dowels and moving the thermostat to the other side of the engine (i dont) will solve its "k-series = hgf" label
edit - just to add, found my 214 very reliable and OK (wouldnt of paid £400 for HG/cambelt etc if it wasnt as the car only cost £350!). Its slowly rusting and falling apart now (1997), also worried about its safety so its time to change. I would have another!
Edited by cheeky_chops on Wednesday 29th October 11:56
cv01jw said:
Thinking of getting one soon.
Any major pitfalls to be aware of with these? I understand that the VVC engine does not suffer the same head gasket problems as the standard 1.8, is this true?
If anything the VVC suffers more from HG problems. I had a Vi and it was losing coolant at a slow rate for 6 months or so. Replaced the HG as the coolant was starting to get rather oily.Any major pitfalls to be aware of with these? I understand that the VVC engine does not suffer the same head gasket problems as the standard 1.8, is this true?
Built like crap too, it was only 8 years old but there was rust in places, interior was rattling like mad, sunroof leaked, stank of petrol if you went around a corner too fast. They show their age a lot more than other cars. If you can pick up at Vi for £500-600 off ebay then its a good deal, but do not spend anything more than a grand on one.
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