IDRIVEACLASSIC reviews: 90s Rover 216 (Rover R8 - 200 series) 

When I was 10 years old in 1995 we had a crappy mk5 Escort. We went to look at one of these and I remember being so excited on the test drive. It had wood trim, electric windows, electric sunroof, remote central locking! I thought it was great. But no. My parents bought a poverty spec Astra Merit 1.4. I was crushed.

Always thought this model was a great looking car. This one is in an amazing condition. Great video Steph. I do get irritated by the snobbishness over what's a classic and cars in general. I love cars that are really old, old, 20 years old or new. I love all cars.

They were quiet, comfortable, competent cars, but Rover were getting an unwarranted reputation of having 'sold out'. If the powers that be had kept the Austin or Morris name, this wouldn't have happened, as Austin/Morris were seen as 'ordinary' cars, where Rover were seen as something a little greater, a little more elite. So if, say, the Austin name were retained for the cars, Morris for the commercials, and MG for the sporty derivatives, things may well have gone very differently for the group. Still, good video Steph! And it's always a pleasure to see that beautiful smile of yours! :-)

I had two of these, 214 and 414 company cars. My mum had a 418. They were great back in the day. Coin trays were all the rage before they were squashed by the cup holder revolution 😂😂

Last thing we need is another scrappage scheme, that's why so many decent classics were lost.

I really liked the R8 rovers back in the early 90s when they were new, i just remember the wood that made them feel very upmarket. My grandparents had a 216 3 door in dark green a really nice solid car. Still remember the advert in the local ads for free paper saying 'HONDA ENGINE'

The Rover 216 range lovely car trim levels were beautiful, they had a certain smell which was magnificent. Smooth driving. Happy days 😌

by the time you get into the 1990s, internal combustion car development - for the mainstream - had gone as far as it could go; once you get ABS, aircon and so on as standard, there's not a lot more that changes aside from styling and so i think the Rover effectively is a modern car.

I absolutely adore these cars so this was a great video to watch! Back when the badge reflected the engine size - it makes me feel slightly uncomfortable that a new BMW 330i has a 2.0 4 cylinder engine instead a 3.0 straight six! My grandad had Rovers for about 20 years after a string of Bluebirds, so anything 90s Rover always brings back wonderful nostalgic memories!

Great to see the R8 featured on your channel Steph. I will always remember going to the motor show with my father in 1989 and there seemed to be a huge number of the new 200s in the Rover stand. We were totally blown away by the overall package in a way that I can't remember being so impressed by any other model launch, certainly in Rover terms. There really did seem to be a spring in the step of the sales staff. It was great to see at the time. What a pity that only a decade later things had gone awry and you could see the signs of eventual failure. Great car. My uncle had a basic but very nice 214 which he brought new in the launch year. There were no teething troubles that I recall - it was right from day 1. I very much enjoy my Rover 600 which enjoyed some of the collaborative effort with Honda and so me similar ambience to th e car being reviewed here.The Honda /Rover are was great news for customers.

This 200 generation is world's apart in quality from the 200/25 that replaced it. Great review Steph

I always felt these were ahead of their time, especially in 1989 when they were launched. Cheers Steph, nice car! x

Wow I had one of these and I absolutely loved it , it never let me down and always flew through its MOT, I never wanted to sell it, but I was made too (Ex-Wife😑). Maybe it's time to look for a new one 😁

I’ve got this exact model (216) in racing green, I have to say what a machine it is, 27 years old and 110k miles and not one breakdown, just normal wear and tear, got it for £500 in February, absolutely love it, it’s got the practicality of a hatchback, the looks of an saloon and the class of a Rover, it’s still going strong and daily driving 50 miles every day without putting a foot wrong.

Great video, thanks for taking the time to do it. Had loads of these back in the early 00s. Certainly brought back a lot of memories looking at the interior! Brilliant cars of their time and as you said in the video these are a great starter classic. Wish I had my old 220 Tomcat again 😭

Shocked at how many are left they were a popular car in the 90s great review again

Thank you Steph and Matt for sharing this very clean Rover with us!

These are great looking cars and this one looks in amazing condition, Thanks for bringing one to the channel Steph nice video on it!! 😎

Another excellent and entertaining video, Steph! I had a K Series Rover 214 R8 when they were new - an excellent class-leading car which I was proud to drive. In the 3 years that I had it it was totally 100% reliable. No head gasket trouble at all!

I had an M-reg 218SD and absolutely loved it. What great cars. Simple yet classy and yes it is a classic as you don’t see them anymore. Great review Steph!

You are SUCH a historian, Steph, and that makes your videos all the more interesting. My favorite was the late-80's Rover Sterling. I felt at the time that these were very much ahead of their time and top of their class. Very much in line with Honda's Acura line. The interior looks so lovely.

I actually drove one when it was first out, on a company business trip. It was a revolution in motoring. Thanks for the video. Sunday isn't Sunday without you.

Hello, I greet you from Spain. I have a 218 SLD Turbo from the year 94, it has 533,000 kmts and I am very happy with it. Here there are almost none walking and I can’t find any spare parts anymore, but I’m going to keep taking care of it. It’s a very good car. Greetings.

Nice example. The R8 really was a huge cut above the contemporary Escort, Astra and Golf. They feel well made and refined in a way that the competition just didn't.

My parents had 416sli auto, my dad loved it, very reliable and really nice car, when I sold it in 2008 it only had 54,000 miles on it.

Another excellent video Steph. Can't remember ever seeing an automatic version. Take care and stay safe x

The targa top 220 turbo tomcat was a really cool Rover back in the day, although still quite rare. Especially in Tahiti blue. I would have one today if I could find a nice one.

Thanks for this. I remember the 214/216 well. I had a 220 turbo 3 door for a while. I was in the motortrade back in the day, and we sold loads of used 214's. Can't believe there are only 1000 of these left!

Hello Steph always loved a Rover very well made cars. Classy too. Thanks great car great show.

Great vid as always Steph 👍 I've always loved the Rover 200 Mk2. I 'borrowed' a 218TD from my dads friend when it was 3 years old and I remember thinking at the time how luxurious it felt compared to other cars of its time. It drove really well and the Peugeot diesel engine was really powerful, although it had the inevitable diesel rattle. Fantastic motors

Wow, what a tidy example! I remember when I was growing up, seeing Escorts, Astras, 205s and various Rovers, all but gone now unfortunately. Definitely much more flair than the sea of not quite 4x4s you see nowadays! Steph,

Such a pretty looking car . Unbelievablely maintained. Just awesome .

Certainly well deserves to be called a 'classic'. What a beautiful example of a very fine car. Thanks for sharing Steph.

I had an 87 Honda Ballade which was sold with cosmetic differences as the first Rover 200 series. 1.5 Honda engine. Went very well and handled very well. Always liked the look of the R8 models, especially the facelift ones with a proper grill.

Good choice for a video, definitely an up and coming classic. This one is in lovely condition and look at how sparkly the paint is!

Excellent video and choice of car Steph! :-) My M reg Rover 214 is serving me very well as my everyday car and is actually very reliable. Parts are easy to obtain and are actually quite cheap. The 216 version usually had the Honda engine, and they are reknowned as being very reliable, but actually the 1.4 K series engine in mine is great, the headgasket did go at 100k, but was replaced for less than £300 five years ago, the car is now on 124k and is still performing well with no HG issues. Once the HG has been replaced for the upgraded kit, I think you are normally (touch wood) good to go for many more years of trouble free motoring. Regarding the scrappage scheme, my Rover was saved in 2009 as it was taken in to be scrapped, but it never was because it was swapped for my friends other Rover 214 that had been involved in an accident and that once was scrapped instead, and my friend had this one. I have a feeling it was an 'unofficial' swap! ;-) Great video, really enjoying your choice of cars at the moment! :-D

I own a 1994 (since 1997) Rover 416SLi manual and its a great car. Fantastic to see you driving an R8 👍🏻

Just come across your channel and I’m loving your content!

Iv had more k series engined rivers than most would admit and I love the engine lost of power for size good torque, but every one has had head gasket failure. The r8 is a great looking car.

Hi steph love your vids very informative like the way you doing them

I've never liked those 200 series but I appreciate deep the excellent condition of this one!! Congratulations!

You go girl I love your reviews they’re awesome

I learned in a '90 214Si my dad bought new. I absolutely caned that car for years and it never missed a beat. Part exchanged in perfect running condition with almost 120k on the clock. The head gasket trouble was a fault with the gasket itself for a limited run of these engines. An escort/golf 1.4 of the time had 60bhp, the Rover had 95 and was properly built. Great memories of a genuinely lovely car.

I loved my rover it was the same colour of this, and a turbo diesel and still the fastest car i ever had still to this day, remember getting into it one day turned the key and the dash started smoking, got it toed home got a new dash instrument panel put it in turned key and started smoking again, end game got scrapped, thank u for the memories ❤

Nice to hear nice comments about Rover, thanks Steph

There’s not many old British cars on the road now thanks to the Gordon Browns Labour Party and the scrapage scheme.

Got ride in a G reg in my teens (so it was 5 years old). Did well up few hills with 4 in. Loads of go. Nice.

A classmate's mum had one of these 1.6 and I liked it very much. I remember well padded seats, quiet and calm, and British car ambience. Japanese sourced early 90s Civic and Accord may have one of the best quality components but their seat base had no padding, high tyre noise, the whole car feels cold and functional. The Rover Honda partnership must have spent a lot of development into it to make the car feel European.

Great Vid Steph :), im gonna be getting an R8 when possible either a 200 or 400

Definitely a classic Steph. The fact it’s a 20-year old car makes it a classic. However it’s a surprisingly modern looking car still now, especially on the inside. Rover got this one spot on.

Intriguing comment about how affordable these cars are. I imagine the combination of that low price, plus the Honda engines/parts involved should in theory give good reliability, means this could be quite an underrated package? Fab video as usual, Steph :)

I agree with you about this age of cars. They are perfectly usable for most people and will easily cope with modern traffic. As there are far less electronics, if any, involved you are far more connected to the car which makes a huge difference to the driving experience. The Rover is a much nicer car to use than an Escort of the same age too. Thanks Steph, cool review. You should see if you can get hold of a few Japenese cars of that era, you may be very surprised.

Thanks for your interesting videos and I love your hairstyle 😍😍

Back in the 1980s, we got a Rover car. It was sold as the Sterling. I've never owned one, or driven one. But I remember seeing quite a few back in the day. I thought it was a handsome looking car, better looking than the Honda it was based mechanically on.

Definitely a classic I would love that car great review.

I had a 216 Vanden Plas as a company car. It was quite lovely with its leather seats and trim. Also pretty quick compared to many family cars of the day. The 216 and 213 cars were a result of a collaboration between Rover and Honda. The 213 had the Honda engine whilst the 216 variants had a Rover engine. I really liked the car.

Beautiful scenery by the way!!

We had a 216 SLi Auto as our family car in the mid 90s. Had it from new in ocean blue. Lovely car. I'm 41 now and look back on that car really fondly. Well made, reliable with Honda's influence throughout. Really sad that less than 10 years later Rover was no more, because this car should have set them up really nicely as far far better than the equivalent escort of the time. Happy memories of being driven in one of these 😀😀😀😀😀

Roy Axe also designed the Chrysler/Talbot Alpine, Solara and the Horizon. He also penned the Talbot Arizona which became the Peugeot 309.

I forgot about them nice clean motor great video

Great Video .. Lovely Car..well presented

I remember these being brand new in the 90’s, they were quite popular, and I think the last Rover cars made in collaboration with Honda, in fact Honda had their own version of this car which are probably more rare than the Rover version. It’s difficult for me to think of the 214 and 216, 220 series as a “classic car” as it’s still a pretty modern car, but I guess the oldest ones now are over 20 years old. The K series is a great free revving engine, but yes head gasket failure is very common, from experience if you keep an eye on the engines coolant and oil levels and not let the engine overheat it can last longer. Great vid once again👍

Great video , really informative thanks 👌

I had the 214 SEI, loved that car. Clutch was stiff as you like but the gear throw was really short. Even though the engine only had 100 bhp it reved well and the short throw gears made it fun and feal you were going faster than you were. 80 mph you were at 4k rpm. Now I'm running an M240i lol.

I know Matt and his cars are a credit to him. I've driven his 416GSI and it's in amazing condition, it drives and feels like new. I've had four R8s, all Honda engined, my first car was a 216SLI. I love them, and they're fantastic daily drivers. Despite what people say the Honda engine isn't all that for reliability, I've had to do head gaskets on all but one of the R8s I've had, as well as a Civic. They need good maintenance, but treat them well and they're utterly fantastic cars. I drove mine up and down the country effortlessly.

I’ve had a few of these, they are surprisingly quick for what they are and quite fun to drive.

I quite like these and at the time they pushed the market on. Trouble was, they got an image problem due to being bought by the the older generation and as they started to stop driving, there wasn't the customers to fill their places. The final nail was Ford brought out the fantastic Focus and Rover didnt have an answer. Their answer was a car that straddled between the Fiesta and Focus class, priced as a Focus or Golf. If only that K series was more reliable, the story could have played out a bit differently

Steph, I used to have a 1994 214SEi in blue (L815 PWW) with THAT K-series engine back in 2001. It was a nice car to drive and aside from HGF and gearbox issues it was fine. I'd have another one in a heartbeat. The K-series issues can be easily resolved these days so it doesn't worry me. Matt of "furious driving" has a couple of R8s in the shape of a Tomcat and a cabriolet.

I had a Rover 216 SE Cabriolet. Great car, cheap to run, never let me down.

Lovely modern classic credit to owner . I like the chrome grill and the wood that's some of the many reasons I love about rovers

Great informative video. I had a 414sli on a H plate, it looked and drove really well, bit revvy at 70mph due to the lower gearing but very comfortable to drive. Mine didn't have power steering, 4 turns lock to lock in carparks made a good workout on the arms! Once upto speed though the steering was well balanced.

Nice 🙂 I would love to see a review of a Rover from the P4 range. Or a P5

Makes me feel old steph watching this i served my apprenticeship with a rover rover garage when these were new fantastic selling cars night & day above the competition they used to be everywhere, Bet your not old enough to remember the launch advert for these with jemma redgrave ? it was filmed up t north lol still gota be one of the best car adverts to this day. If you ever get the chance try an earlier 216 gti twin cam or even rarer 416gti twin cam they were something else, I had one of the last of the line tomcats with the honda engine back in the day that was a really nice car for its time

i worked at rover in the early 90's and loved the 216sli! with that superb single over head cam honda engine,it was very nippy, especially the pre catalyst versions in 1992..

Interesting review. I owned two tomcats, one after the other. They were really good cars to own and run.

The legend of rover , miss those car

Totally shocked that there is only 1000 left used to be on the roads everywhere. Another fantastic review, this later became the metro/100 replacement when it downsized again. It's got some kick down as well. Would you consider test driving it's replacement as a comparison?

Another good one steph ... my dad viewed a solid red 1991/1992 J reg diesel one but never bought it cousin owned a. 420 d on a 1995 M reg in in metallic blue another cousin had a blue 1994 M reg coupe that was once owned by a footballer a guy i know who used to buy and sell cars sold a J reg diesel one in solid red my neighbour had a silver 1992 K reg 400 series and Metallic Red 1993 L reg 200 series which Im sure Replaced a red maestro on maybe an H reg so once a very common car as you say .. arnold clark used to buy them in there hundreds only 100 left Wahl interesting my uncle had a burgundy D reg maestro that was a great car and my friend who has sadly passed away now had a couple of diesel montegos an f reg in metallic red and a burgundy G reg both estates remember saying an h reg burgundy montego diesel estate in burgundy that had been stolen recovered with no engine at a salvage auction .. think it was a common engine they were all good cars to be fair Also remember a story of a new at the time L reg being used on Taggart on the tv being jumped on by neds and the new owner complaining in the paper memories this morning . Mum had a newer 200 d the next model from it on a T reg in blue the neighbours had an s reg in red a 200 1,4 that replaced there K reg .brought back memories this morning hope you and josh are well keep up the good work .. ..

My late dad had a M reg flame red 218 it was lovely and virtually brand new at the time, I almost bought one as my first car which was a L reg 214 in navy blue but regrettably I didn’t buy it I bought a Peugeot at the time in the 90s which I regretted afterwards because after the Peugeot broke the Rover I was going to buy was still out there.

Lovely looking practical car that would do the job just as well today.

Excellent,, had a 216sli auto, well built and reliable (Honda engine)

Beautiful late R8 216 SLi Automatic, only the 5 door R8s from the last year or so have a driver's airbag like this. I have owned two of these, a 1996 216 SLi Automatic (registered October 1996 on a P plate, so even later this this, but probably made in 1995), and a pre-facelift 1991 216 SLi Automatic. Honda D-Series engines in R8s never normally look like that, this looks showroom! The D-Series suffer from cam cover gasket leaks, but this does seems perfect. Just sold the 1991 R8, very much miss it already.

Beautiful car. Well appointed especially with the Honda underpinnings. Richard and Hyacinth would approve.

I had the 214Si 16v with the infamous K series motor . I bought it in 1994 at a year old. Must say it was very very reliable and had good performance for a 1.4 . No power steering though ! It never had the head gasket issue either . I gave it a good service once a year and kept it until 108,000 miles, when I sold it to a friend who put another 30k mileage on it . He traded it in for something else but it was still running and driving well at the time .

We used to have a 214 as a family car back in 1994 up to 2003. Classy and powerful car. I miss it. What a misfortune Rover doesn’t exist any more... Note: make a video for Rover 620ti. Incredible car!

R8 is like the peak of Rover in terms of build quality. Shame they lost their way with R3 onwards, also that distinctly Honda starter motor sound

Forgot how much I respected the second generation of 200/400. Used work part-time for Avis, these were quality. I think Rover made the mistake of pitching them at the class above, Vectra/Mondeo sector. It was Escort/Astra/Golf in size and that should have been where it should have been marketed. It certainly could compete, always found little difference in performance between 1.4 and the 1.6.

This was a classy example of almost every hire car in the 90s! Eurodollar. Avis! Etc. It's a Honda with a ROVER badge though surely Steph? Nevertheless it was a beautiful drive! In those days my job dictated I use hire cars! Oh! Btw I notice you mentioned ASDA! CURRY SAUCE CONNECTION RIGHT? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Great little cars.

When I first saw the Rover R8 I wasvery impressed.

Love you Steph!

It's a youngtimer At least in the Netherlands 🇳🇱 it is. Beauty. Little quality car.

There's a 216 GTI near me that's been sitting since 2009, and it's not in the best shape. Cool video

One of my mates had one of these, he worked for his dad & it was a company car. He didn’t like it as he said only old people drove them & joked that they came with a free trilby hat attached to the parcel shelf 😂 I was quite jealous that he was driving a brand new car whilst I had a leaky Fiat 128, it was like a sieve but the engine was superb.

Such a great video. That 216 is so pristine, that Honda engine sounds racy at points :-D . Was tempted by the 214SEi back around 2014, but ended up getting another 414 and a few of the Tourers. I've resisted buying anymore for a few years now. Great cars to drive and the K-Series wasn't bad until BMW ruined it (along with Rover Group). Comments about 70, 80. 90's progression and better than a modern car are spot on.

Great video about a neat car. The only two things I don't care for are fairly minor. Hand crank window lifts on the rear doors seems like a cheap cop out to me. The other is more annoying, and that is the auto gear selector. There is no position for selecting 1st gear and licking out all the others. My one bug bear with most auto boxes is that if you select 2, the car still starts in 1st. My old Fords were an exception, and it really helped when starting off in slippery conditions.

I had a red M reg 1995 218SD Turbo. It was fast and I'm not sure what other cars were using that engine . When did classic change from 25 years to 20 years?

That car is beautiful.

That’s a great car. Matt, all that wood and chrome don’t say old fashioned say “classy” 👍

poor K-series! the HGF is often over exaggerated tbh. Being an Owner of an MGF with the 1.6 K series I can tell you it runs like a dream. HGF is only likely to happen if you hoof it through the rev range if its not warmed up properly, pretty much the same as most older motors, also the introduction of multi layer gaskets its far less likely to happen these days. Great video !