polarbearit

Hmmmm...

The scooby goes tomorrow and I've been p!ssed around with a couple of skylines which either weren't what they said they were or suffered from sudden price rises due to over valued private plates [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Anyway as a temporary measure I've bought a '96 Rover 620 Ti. Which I as far as I can tell is a Honda Accord with a Maestro Turbo engine, from an age when BMW missmanaged Rover Sounds like a recipe for dissaster. I was looking for a fairly generic car to blast up and down the motorway for a while until I find a nice skyline (or maybe supra), all the Rep mobiles I looked at in the price range had crazy miles and felt fairly slow. Once moving the Rover pulls hard and cruises effortlessly at speed

Anyway all I need to do now is fix the shockingly light steering and I'll have a nice little second car when the right skyline arrives. Oh and the insurance is sensible too, about 40% lower than a UK scooby, 55% less than my Japan import, or even less if I go for TPFT.

So the question is are there any good Rover BBS? Also Is there anywhere local I can buy a flat cap, pipe and slippers ? And mainly how do I fix the steering?

BTW - I'm picking the car up tomorrow, provided it HPI's ok. No DVLA hassle hopefully this time

Cheers,

Jon

rs125

i worked for rover for about 4 years and they are good cars - the only things id advise you watch out for are the bloody oil leaks--every gasket leaks and also the gearboxs can go but apart from that there all right for the money and very quick...have fun with the understeer

polarbearit

Well the car's had loads of bits done lately, gaskets etc. Surprised for a car on 68k...

JGRIFF

try looking for a set of 17" wheels from the Rover 800 Vitesse, they will solve your light steering.

MattN

my mates 220 turbo needed a new head gasket after 30k - they seem a little fragile.

Mark Jackson

I had an 800 Vitesse, I replaced the engine, it lasted 130K and the rest of the car was mint, engine was 400 and fitted it myself.

The rad had silted up and killed the big ends by overheating. I bought it as a stop gap and loved it, nice black leather Recaros and it was quite quick (197 bhp), the 620 ti is the same engine and it is not the Maestro/Montego unit, it is the 'T' Series engine
which is a sixteen valve unit, the reason the get broke a lot is that people tend to abuse them as they are Rover products and not give them the required maintenance, it is in the end a high performance car, the 220 Coupe is Scooby quick if not and acomplished handler

This is a good site, mainly 800 stuff but a lot applies to the 600,

www.davep1.freeserve.co.uk/rover/800.htm.

Put it this way, nobodys going to car jack you for it, and its only 11 bhp short of a uk turbo, how much slower can it be ?????

There is a mod involving a bit of fish tank tube that can give you big hp increases (till it pops), about 240 bhp possible with this method.

I paid 800 quid for my 800 with knocking big ends, put the new engine in it for 400 + 150 for bits = , ran it for 12 months with leather and air con and sold it for 1450......

MattN

they are quite quick but not scooby quick. In standard form a good 6 seconds slower to 100. Still not slow tho!!!!!

polarbearit

At motoway+ speeds the car is just as quick as the scooby. Infact I got home rather quickly today, the thing is 4500revs in the scooby was about 90mph, whereas the in the Rover its quite a bit quicker Only on the private motorway, where I had a bit of fun with a merc E430, don't think he expected me to keep up

RON

You could try asking Motobuild, i think they're in Hounslow, they played with a lot of Meastro's so might be able to help, they're more into old MGB's though so it might be a waste of time.
Good luck,
Ron,
ps, great q-car

Mike123

MattN,

Which Scooby is 6 seconds or more faster to 100 than Rover 620ti?
Are you talking about an Sti or 22B? How long do you think it takes a 620 ti to get to 100/how long for Uk model Scoob?
Is this in dry or icy conditions?

skiddusmarkus

There are a lot of rover owners on the 200plus club yahoo site and they know lots about this car/engine and making it quicker/better,as Andy Robinsons 12.3sec quarter@117mph in a maestro will testify

MattN

Mike123

Standard UK vs Standard UK

620ti 21.1
Impreza 2.0 turbo 14.9

polarbearit

It doesn't really matter how fast the rover is, the point for me is it cheap motoring and I can keep and still afford a nice skyline... Then sell it when I have got the skyline to the right spec

Scoob99

iTrader: (1)

Motobuild are the people to sort it, (they wait for it) sorted out my M.G. Maestro they are in Hounslow, ask for Darren.
Cheers
Colin

Mike123

Aaah I see Matt, you're quoting the Autocar test figures. There was actually something seriously amiss with that car they tested as the times were not anywhere close to what other mags got and although they couldn't find anything in particular wrong, they did say when questioned in a later issue that the times were much slower than expected (reverse of the Skoda RS !! )
I.E. With the same engine:-
Rover 800 (heavier car) -> 100 in 19.7secs
Rover 220 Coupe (lighter car) -> 100 in 15.9 secs

Above from Autocar.

A more average figure is actually about 17.5 -18.5 secs for the 620ti.

Most of the time lost to the Scooby is from below 40 mph as they have difficulty putting the power down.
Once rolling AND in a straight line you will find that a standard UK Scoob will have difficulty pulling any sizeable gap on a standard 620ti.

MattN

autocar wrong, never

the only reason I said it was based on the fact most people say it's a great Q car but from what I've seen and read it didn't seem to be much faster than your average V6 rep's car - which is I guess the market it's aimed at.

But if the 100 sprint is circa 18 seconds I stand corrected.

I always considered it to be a class above the scoob being that much bigger, heavier, refined etc etc.

And by class I mean size and projected market.

now I want a fast car again.......what to get????

[Edited by MattN - 3/20/2002 11:59:09 PM]

polarbearit

Well its bigger than the impreza, kinda full size family car like mondeo etc Its a bit of a barge compared to the scooby, but on country roads it doesn't feel too bad, integra Type R was all over me, but I could keep up with a 205GTI ok...

rev counter

Polarbearit

I've got a 620 Ti and suprised many of performance cars 0-60 in 7 secs, top speed of 143 mph standard spec. mines got a bleed valve, powerflow exhaust, decat pipe, 220 bhp approx at 12 psi boost 0-60 in late 6s top speed nearly 150 on your motorway LOL. As for a good site try www.rover200.com quite a few 620 Ti's on there....