I've only gone and done it - I've bought an MG! (Pics inside)

[ajgoodfellow]

Hi!

After looking at various cars I decided that I wanted an MG after all!

I was going to go for the ZS but on reflection I bought a ZR!

It's a 2002 52 reg MG ZR 1.8 120+ with 37,000 miles on the clock. I love it!

Pics:

EDIT: 8,000 post!

 

[ajgoodfellow]

 

[ajgoodfellow]

Hi!

Thanks

There aren't many 4 door ZSs with the 1.8 (and the 2.5V6 is too expensive to insure) and I really don't like the 5 door ZS

In all honesty I actually prefer the looks of the ZR - it feels more like a hot hatch if you know what I mean. It's also £400 cheaper to insure than the ZS even though it's quicker! (Same engine, smaller car)

It's a good example. I saw some real dogs - a 51 plate with 20,000 miles with ripped leather on the interior, rust all over the bonnet, smashed gear stick, etc! Makes you wonder what people do with their cars!

I went for the + over the standard spec as the standard spec is very basic - wind up windows, no central locking, etc. The + has electric windows, central locking, sunroof, leather steering wheel, etc. It's just a bit nicer

Went all the way to Oxford (about an hour and a half from my parent's place) but it was worth it! I've just picked it up and driven it back but for that short time it does feel nicer to drive than the Astra I had before - you seem to get more feel through the steering wheel. I haven't thrown it around yet!

It's a fair bit nippier too (had a 1.4 Astra)

Going to vacuum the interior, treat the leather and give it a wax and polish tomorrow I think!

 

[ajgoodfellow]

i dont get these mg's they are good value for money i gues,but they are just bubble shape 200's withstuck on tat. o well whatever floats ya boat i gues. i wouldve rather got a coupe turbo myself

They're a little more than just stick on tat - they've reworked the suspension too so they're said to be far nicer to drive and handle better than the 200/25

 

[ajgoodfellow]

and thats worth the premium over a 200/25? like you could not get a better aftermarket set ?

Don't know - it would cost me a fortune in insurance though as the car would be heavily modified.

Nice car, is the white stain on the drivers seat yours?

Nope - it was there when I bought it!

How much was it? Does it have aircon?

£4800. It doesn't have aircon

Fair bit? I'd imagine so! They go from 0-60 in 8.6s, compared to, at best 12.0s, or even as worse as 15.5s for a 1.4 Astra!

I had a Mk4 16V so I think it was about 11.5 but it's still rather noticable!

 

[ajgoodfellow]

Thanks!

I would have preferred a 3-door but there really aren't that many 1.8 120s - there's loads of 1.4 105s and 160s though. I wanted a little more power than the 1.4 and the VVC was twice as much as the 120 to insure!

I could always add sideskirts later

Thats a lot of money for a Rover 25 with no aircon. I thought these things were supposed to be cheap now Rover went bust?

Drive it. That's what I say to you - you'll find out that it's more than a Rover 25 with MG badges

 

[ajgoodfellow]

interior is nasty, very dated but other than that looks tidy on the outside

Oh yes - it's almost enough to put me off! It was much improved on the facelift though

I laughed when I found heater controls from my Mum's 1994 216 and indicator stalks from my Dad's 1984 213!

 

[ajgoodfellow]

uh oh 37,000miles? best get a spare headgasket for when it goes

I was just waiting for someone to say that!

 

[ajgoodfellow]

Nice car, I really liked them until what happened to my sisters boyfriend one, which had the power cut out at ahem mph and left them soo close to being killed. The RAC guy got it going again but the engine was really weak, so they sold it on the way home.

Sorry to hear that - at least they didn't get hurt!

 

[ajgoodfellow]

A friend of mine got one of these. She wrote it off within a week. One down, how many to go? (she's ok btw)

Glad to hear she's OK

Hope that doesn't happen to me - I've only just written off my Astra in Jan!

 

[ajgoodfellow]

I like it!

Its a small sporty looking car, which does not look tarted up, looks like it should look like it! (unlike other cars... Fiesta Zetec Sport thingy, sorry for people who have one!)

However, what is the preformace actually like? And whats the difference between a normal Rover 200/25 and the MG versions?

I think the interior looks bad in the pic, my housemate has the old 200 bubble shape, and the interior is not that bad in real life.

Congratulations on your new car anyway!

Hi

Thanks!

To me, it seems rather quick. It's rated at 8.6 seconds to 60 I think which is pretty quick, and a lot quicker than my Astra 1.4. It's a torquey engine too - you get a roar when you put your foot down which is nice

It's got harder suspension, uprated brakes, uprated steering and a few other things to turn it into a drivers car over the 200/25

I'm tempted to buy a brushed alumium silver trim for the inside to replace the fake carbon fibre - what do people think?

Very nice
You might want to get in the habit of checking there's warm air coming through the heaters

Cheers

lol

 

[ajgoodfellow]

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/65671/driver_power_2006_worst_reliability_and_build_quality.html

Fair enough that's other people's experiences. My car has no rattles or loose trim at all, there aren't any large panel gaps and everything is screwed together well so I guess I'm just lucky!

Nice choice AJ

ZT 4tw though....

Let me explain.....

It's a nice car but just too big for me. The 1.8 is a little underpowered for a car of that size and the V6s are rather expensive to insure too

A fair few cars were launched sometime ago and only recently replaced - the Peugeot 406 anyone?

 

[ajgoodfellow]

That would only be a fair point if the 406 was a 405 with the 5 changed for a 6, and the 405 was a 504 with the numbers reversed.

This was not the case.

I meant that the 406 was released in 1996 (same time as the 200/400) and it wasn't replaced until 2004

The 25/45 was in need of replacement, this is without a doubt, but it was only really a few years out of date. It was a catch-22 situation really, developing a new car costs £100s of millions which Rover didn't have. They couldn't raise this as sales were dropping as their current models became more out of date

 

[ajgoodfellow]

Yeah, it's not too bad. Coming from a '98 Astra though you can definitely see it!

It's got soft-touch plastics on the dashboard and various other more modern touches but it's an odd mismatch of styles. The facelift (2004-2005) models had a far more modern interior

I did laugh when I saw the switchgear though - the heater controls were from the early '90s and the indicator stalks were from the '80s!