Which choice

uk_viper

uk_viper

uk_viper

Soldato
Joined
30 Jun 2003
Posts
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Location
Berkshire
I've been car hunting a lot recently and stuck between a choice of two cars,

Rover 220 Coupe Turbo
Volvo 850 T5 Manual Saloon

Obviously each cars have it's ups and downs, just trying to find a good one can be a challenge.

Anyone know of any particular things I should be looking for when considering purchasing either of the cars, i know the typical checks etc but was wondering if there's anything more known to those cars.
 
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easy, 850 T5 (R if you can fine one). Looks better, probably goes better and will not fall to bits.
 
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£1500 will get you an absolutely mint 220 Coupe Turbo.

Rich1988 on here recently bought a lovely example which I had the pleasure of driving. It was mint and felt excellent to drive.

Depending on whether you're a dab hand with a spanner would be the deciding factor. The Coupe will in no way be unreliable but the youngest cars are now 13 years old and time (and unsympathetic owners) will have taken its toll. I'd expect the Volvo to outlive the Rover :o

Gearboxes are the main weak spot on the Rovers, especially when you start upping the boost and increasing the power. Best to keep it off boost in 1st gear to help prolong its life... not that there's much point in 1st gear in a 200bhp FWD car ;)

If you're seriously contemplating a Coupe Turbo, try and find one at the top end of your budget with lots of history and take it for a drive. You can find them for as little as £500, but expect to spend a bit of money tidying it up.
 
I've had a lot of experience with the 220s before and very well aware of their prone to HG issues. I got no intention of upping the boost unless i get the head upped first as a min.

The volvo would be a very nice option, though from what the guys over vpcuk say, they claim to be very thirsty cars and expect about 20mpg.
 
The headgaskets don't tend to fail as such, they just tend to spring an oil leak from the front right corner. Unless it's been abused, it's very rare for a gasket to fail in such a way that you get coolant/oil/exhaust mix.

The oil leak from the corner of the block is usually fixed by fitting a multi-layer Headgasket with a raised reinforced ring around the oil way and you'd be hard pushed to find a car that hasn't had this done already.
 
Well do you want a small Coupe or a big Estate/Saloon?

The T5 is not some sort of mythical Lambo saloon, so unless you particularly want an estate just get the Rover.

Do feel free to pop back to help us decide if you want a Boxster or a Mondeo as your next car ;)
 
If you do look at a Volvo T5, do some research on the crank case breather system ! Has a habit of causing a few odd problems
 
[TW]Fox;16366381 said:
The T5 is not some sort of mythical Lambo saloon, so unless you particularly want an estate just get the Rover.
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It's not, but it does reach very silly speeds very quickly. I've driven one several times, it just seemed to go and go. The worst part was the car was so quiet it was easy to achieve speeds that would seriously get you in trouble unless you constantly looked at the dash.
 
Yeah did notice that too when i got driven in my mates one, before he sold it.

Forgot to add, if i did go for a 850 it would have to be a saloon edition.
 
Not sure what they're like to drive, but a friend of mine had an 850 T5 auto. I had a passenger ride in it against another mates Renault Laguna 3.0 V6. The Laguna weed all over the 850 because it couldn't make up its mind with the gears off the line (not that that really matters). It was very comfy and felt well bolted together though.

He didn't keep it for long because fuel consumption was dire, and general running costs hurt too much.
 
That's another consideration of mine running costs I don't know what they're like, but been a 4wd you'd expect to pay more. The one I got my eyes on is a manual as i dont like autos.
 
uk_viper said:
That's another consideration of mine running costs I don't know what they're like, but been a 4wd you'd expect to pay more.
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Most of them are FWD?

I really think the T5 picked up a rather undeserved reputation of being some sort of giant slaying rocket. It really isnt that quick in the form you'll find for £1500 - IIRC some of them barely scrape under 8 seconds to 60 - and if its turbo rush you are after, the Rover is probably a more suitable car.
 
yep forgot to add that to the list, seems to be a lot of 216s on there atm, and some nut thinking he can get 3k for an fdh model,
 
Go for the Rover, they are cheap to buy, not extortionate to run and parts are easy to come by.

The torSen "LSD" is addictive, and they are (and feel) positively quick.
 
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