Commuting to Work in a Modern Classic - Driving my Rover 800 Vitesse Fastback Sport Turbo 

I had a P reg 820 Vitesse saloon in British racing green back in 2010 and I loved it - probably my favourite car I’ve ever had. I work in the motor trade and have driven all sorts and the Rover’s do stand out in my mind there’s just something about them.

I have a fleet of Rovers which ive restored been dailying a Mk1 827 Vitesse Fastback for the last couple of years and its never failed me. Even driven abroad in it a few times fantastic cars!

I'm a proud owner of one of the last of these cars. 21 left on the uk roads in my model. Mine needs the front wings sorting out but apart from that she's lush. I've owned 3 so far. My dad was a director for Bristish Airospace who owned Rover for a time so we always had brand new Rover cars. One of my fondest memories was being dropped of at school in a 820 SLI with the vitesse body kit on, loved all the other kids looking out the windows. Thanks for a great video x

Good video, love a rover. FYI, the new e10 fuel will work BUT the higher ethanol content likes to eat rubber seals more. In most cars the rubber will be fine to last long enough but in an older car like the rover I would recommend going for super just so you don’t get any old seals being eaten faster. Fuel hoses etc r easy to replace but it also may eat injector seals, fuel pump seals etc. Hope that helps

I used to have one of these back in 1998 in night fire red. I loved it, so comfy , good performance for those times. It felt more classy then all the BMW'S my Punjabi relatives owned. Good memories

I used to own one of these in BRG. Absolutely loved it. Great video and thanks for upload.

I had one of these, the seats were the best. I drove mine to the canary islands and lived there for two years and ended up selling it there. Great car, best I ever had.

I had 5 of these 820 vitesse sport. Great cars. Very quick car.

Just epic buddy . I restored a white gold 820sli 1997 and the beauty is Google maps where scanning our estate that year ..2007 So when ever someone looks up my address they see it on my drive way In all it's excellence 👍 Ps . Somewhere in Eire

What a handsome car l loved these

Just wonderful to see as a youngster I like you was blown away with the number of buttons in this car when I seen it at the NEC car show many years ago. Looks in stunning condition. Well done. 👍👍really enjoyed this. Look forward to more

I've had my Rover 75 Tourer for a little over a year now and I really love it, it's not a typical car for a gardener like myself but I manage to carry all my tools and, most importantly, avoid dirtying it. I never thought I'd be a car person but I love tinkering with it and getting it all up to scratch mechanically; mine's a standard 1.8 which is a bit down on power but it's reasonably economical and fine for going around in. I think I would consider myself definitely part of the 'Rover Club' now.

Love the 800,yours looks great, my favourite was the sterling, super smooth, luxury and style.

Great idea for a series. Lovely thing that 800. Hope you take the ZS180 on one of your commutes. I take mine to work at the weekends and it always feels a little special.

Beautiful car. Those seats!!!!!!!!! ❤

I've got a white saloon. R reg sport. Beautiful cars.

I had a 820 e 2 litre and also 825 Sterling , love these cars. 😊

Great video, I had a brg s reg great car and I had a night red k plate one before , I miss it . Regards mark

Love watching your videos as we have very similar taste in cars. I’ve always loved Fords but never liked Rovers at all when I was younger and they were current but over the last few years I’ve developed a real love for them especially the big ones. This 820 is exactly what I’d have, prefer the T series turbo over the V6 and love those seats. Keep up these videos!! Ps, I also had a focus ST3 with the five cylinder and it was one of my most favourite engines ever!!

Awesome content idea, man. Do it more

I had a beautiful flame-red one in 96, without a doubt my all time favourite car. On one occasion, I drove from the tunnel at Calais to Herford in Germany, on a cold spring Sunday early morning in 4 hours and 28 minutes, my goodness she was quick and a lovely smooth ride. I changed it for a brand new Mercedes E300 TDi estate...... what a mistake!

Vpower is 99 Ron not 97, and it’s the best fuel you can get, iv used it for 8 years in various cars and it performs brilliantly. Smoother, more responsive, and you get better fuel consumption, also it protects the engine. Iv got a 2005 w203 c180 elegance se which has a 1.8 supercharged four cylinder engine, Mercedes recommends that you use super unleaded fuel. So since iv owned her that’s all I use, and at £1.81 per litre it’s not cheap, but I am willing to spend the extra to get the best fuel. As I know it’s worth it in the end.

Good video. Would love to see a Rover SD1 on the channel.

Also E10 corrodes aluminum fuel tanks, injector rails etc.

Just found the channel, looks good. I used to commute 120 miles daily from Cornwall to Plymouth in a Audi A6 Avant (C5) although it was a 14 year old design at the time it was impressive. Stick with the Premium fuel, given you've only covered 1,000 miles in a few years and the cost of restoration etc. It's peanuts in cost difference and why wouldn't you want to use the best quality fuel.

I always wonder why people think these older cars would not be up to their job. They were then, and well maintained they should run fine for at least 150K Mi. We’ve a Citroen Xm, which is being used on a pretty regular base. In the past 9 years that we own it, it has driven some 55K Mi (now at 150K, another 50-100 is within reason). That’s way more than most people did as a first owner! And harking back a bit further, my dad crunched 30K Mi/yr since the late 70’s, in cars such as the Citroen GS(A), Peugeot 305, 405. He loved driving them, they were effortless long distance drivers, on the highway and on winding roads. My opinion is that the steering qualities of these old frenchies surpass that of many modern cars, which prevents a lot of fatigue. The major issue for long distance commuting: cup holders…

The Vittesse was very reliable. Rotor arms can play up but I it should be very reliable and a great everyday classic That model was a favourite with BA captains.

Diff bearings are your biggest worry. They're made of chocolate. Also ABS sensors are made by children I think..... Had 3 of these. Modded one to 250bhp. Coilovers. Exhaust. CarPC. 7inch touchscreen with satnav and media server. And I used to sell MG mesh grille conversions....

If you put the E10 fuel in,apart from could damage engine,you will have to fill up twice,so the dearer E5 high octaine works out cheaper in the long run.i know through my old car.

I have a stainless steel exhaust for an 800 Vitesse 1995. I think its a Cobra... It's immaculate and with a decat.. its for sale. I've also got wheels heads manifolds and turbos spare too....

There is a Miller’s additive that can mitigate E10 damage as an alternative but E5 (5% maximum but often 3%) is the safe option.

Confort really important. Sits in a 800, sofa on wheels.

It’s an older car put in e5 ,, in Braunton deon the e5&e10 are same price,, nice car

I really hope you get pulled by the police for driving while holding a drinks cup, and for constant taking your eyes off the road to look at the camera. Rover, love them.

Had a few ti’s they’re animals on the juice!

I too run a Rover 800 vitesse on my daily commuter run of 50 miles . Fuel economy is very good even at £1.73 per litre and the ride is sumptious although the decibel reading was 61 and my Series 3 Daimler v12 is just 49 decibels . However the Rover has had problems in getting spares as mostly obscolete , talking about suspension components , engine mounts , all absolutely unobtainable even from Rimmers who are worse than useless . My lower suspension arms had to be made by an engineering co who charged over £1000 !! and now the top ones have gone too . Love the Rover but really think its time for it to be scrapped .

Awesome vid, too bad the brand was never officially sold here in Brazil, at least from what I remember. But every now and then a Rover or MG can be found, here and there. Regarding the fuel, we got over 40 years of experience with ethanol...and I tell you, keep using the premium fuel. Any parts that have contact with ethanol must be treated, no matter what. Not just plastic and rubber ones, metal ones as well. Back in the day, the carburetor of ethanol-powered cars were nickel-chromium-treated to prevent corrosion; if you installed the carb of a gas-powered vehicle in an ethanol-powered one, you'd be guaranteed to have trouble in the long run, as the ethanol would 'eat' the carb out. Even valve seals of ethanol-powered engines needed to be different in comparison. Nowadays, with the advent of flexible-fuel cars, these are no longer an issue, but on these older cars...yeah, can be a problem. Mind you, all what I said refer to pure E100 ethanol, so obviously if you use E10, you won't have these issues as fast, since the ethanol percentage is much smaller, but still might.

To be honest it's safest to use Super Unleaded... But you don't necessarily need to stump up the extra for Shell V-Power. Supermarket, eg Tesco Momentum is a lot cheaper and still E5, not E10 Or, of course just treat the lovely Rover to some Shell V-Power go-go juice 😉😁

I may have missed this, but are these 800 Series rear wheel drive?

Is your daily 75 diesel a manual or auto? Had it long?

I'd stick with the 97 octaine fuel.....especially now regular has gone over to e10 fuel....you possibly will get better to the gallon out of super unleaded as the 95 detonates earlier than the 97 so 97 will give a bigger bang and better performance and offset the cost. We also have a mk1 1986 Sierra xr4x4 that we are having to run on the super unleaded. The police used to use these rovers. Not a very good car due to the handling, and regularly used to set fire to the brakes....I know someone that put one on its roof.

I HAD A ROVER VITESSE 2.7 HONDA ENGINE. THEN GOT A N REG TURBO 2.0 LITRE ONE. NOT A PATCH ON THE 2.7

Not sport, sport only made 94-96. 97 model onwards was LUX model with 200bph, early model was 177.. I know because I had 1 for 4 years. P25LJW. Was 2 years old when I brought it

these are like cheap jags, the T series can be wound up to well over 300 bhp

The dreaded A38 ! Some of the sliproads are laughable on that road.

I presume you mean 1400 Kg, not 1.4 K at 18' 30"

Hello Evans dad

Put your drink down while your driving 😩

Dude that was the most boring performance test I've ever seen. I hung on for that.

PUT THE DRINK DOWN ... Not a good intro was it ?