MG/Rover Supercar ? | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Mon 28 Oct 2002 11:28

MG/Rover Supercar ? - volvoman

Was I dreaming or did JC mention on Top Gear a new MG/Rover supercar with a standard 400 bhp (or so) capable of being tweaked to produce 900 bhp !!!!

I saw the picture of the car and thought it looked great but am I missing
something (other than the fact it's a Rover) ?

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Mon 28 Oct 2002 11:43

MG/Rover Supercar ? - CM

It might be a DeTomaso, as I believe Qvale (sp?) had the rights to build DeTomaso.

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Mon 28 Oct 2002 12:05

MG/Rover Supercar ? - 3500S

It started life as a Qvale Mangusta and MGR bought the rights to the car and the Italian subsidary of Qvale so it was designated as project X80 which was reworked due to less than favourable feedback from customers.

It has a Mustang V8 in it with the lowest state of tune being 410Bhp so 0-60 in 4.4 seconds.

However, there are factory approved nitrous injection kits offered and a higher tune up to 965Bhp available.

The car will be handmade and I think only 150 a year made. It's a flagship car and anything designed by Peter Stevens is always something special.

It's a real supercar for BMW M-Series money.

And what's the point about it being a Rover ? If anything they've improved the quality of their cars since BMW departed. I think once some of the new cars hit the streets like the TCV, I for one will be looking forward to a lot of people eating their words.

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Mon 28 Oct 2002 12:30

MG/Rover Supercar ? - volvoman

Thanks for clarifying 3500s. I think it sounds great and I hope it is.

My 'comment' about Rover is based solely on my own personal experience of owning a Rover 800 which was pretty poor and very costly ! However there's nobody who'd be prouder than me if a British company like MG/Rover started producing world beating cars. So far they seem to be doing quite well with their range but I'm not ready to take a chance just yet.

It's a pity 'cos my father owned a 2200 (tc, I think) and I grew up always wanting a Rover. My first very painful experience put me off though.

ps I was thinking about starting a thread called 'Your most/least reliable cars' and my Rover 800 was going to feature in it as my example of the latter.

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Mon 28 Oct 2002 14:06

MG/Rover Supercar ? - Cyd

can't help wondering what age & type 800 you had. It's true the early ones (pre 1990) were pretty awful, but they improved the original no end for 1990MY and further still for the facelift in 92. Of course, the damage (in terms of image) had been done by then. I had a 91 827SLi for 4yrs. I sold it 2 yrs ago with 123k up and it was still a superb car. I replaced it with a 97 Vitesse Sport which now has 120k up. Both cars have been superb. The VS in particular puts a grin on my face fit to cut my head off pretty much every time I drive it (in the current range only the ZS180 has performance figures to match the 820 VS). I intend to keep the VS for many years.

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Mon 28 Oct 2002 14:34

MG/Rover Supercar ? - volvoman

Sadly it was only a 1989 820e Cyd (hatchback).

It was a real shame 'cos the car looked good and it was nice to drive with plenty of room in the back. It was just so unreliable - a Friday pm car perhaps !!

ps. even the indicator repeater lights lost their 'orangeness' and failed me my MOT !!

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Mon 28 Oct 2002 16:27

MG/Rover Supercar ? - madf

My 1946 Rover 16 saloon was in superb condition and very comfortable. Cruised at 60mph..And reliable.Only problem was front springs shook at 30mph when you went over a bad bump: worn shackle pins I believe.. But I'm not nostalgic: I could not drive it now: the steering required a weightlifter's muscles at low speeds. (I was a student and weighlifter at the time:-)

A long series of Rover 800s (company, not choice) ruined the brand for me.. 1992 to 1996. ALL without exception were bad, just how bad was a matter for each model's peculiarities.

When the turbo inlet hose falls off after 500 miles from getting it, you know you've got a piece of #### and so it proved. And so on and so on.

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Mon 13 Jun 2011 12:18

MG/Rover Supercar ? - Jenefezy

There's a known type of jaguar that is able to adjusting its spots. Supercar companies have long been assumed to disdain the eco-conscious, and would hold out on “going green” until the end, as gas guzzling high performance is what they specialize in. That’s far from the case, as hybrid supercars are likely to become popular fairly soon. The proof is here: Porsche and Jaguar lead change for hybrid supercars, cardealexpert.com/news-information .

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Mon 13 Jun 2011 12:23

MG/Rover Supercar ? - Sofa Spud

QUOTE:...""That’s far from the case, as hybrid supercars are likely to become popular fairly soon. ""

In future energy recovery systems, i.e. some level of hybrid-ness, will become the norm, just like anti-lock brakes and power assisted steering have done.

In fact most diesel cars and quite a few petrol cars already have an energy recovery system, in the form of a turbocharger.

But really I mean recovering energy from braking. There will come a time when there will be no good reason for not doing this.

Edited by Sofa Spud on 13/06/2011 at 12:25

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