i did MG training for this model, british car, with german electronics, american engine, mexican gearbox, + australian diff. we sold the 224th to a good customer, hence my training... the weak link is the HVAC system, it was seriously chopped about to get it to fit around the massive gearbox tunnel, [check out the glovebox] the engine was a crate motor, the sump + RH manifold were specially made, but the original RH manifold was fitted to the LH head. the engine came from america at a cheaper price than building the normal V6 in house... NEVER leave them parked in gear, if you are on a slope, and the engine rotates backwards, it jumps the timing chain... this motor was seen as a stop-gap until fresh funding for the bigger motor [with the necessary revisions] came through, alas never to be keep it up young man
Thanks for sharing. I always wondered why they went for this particular engine and not an LS. I guess it was an engine Ford were coming to the end of life with ( much like the Buick/ Rover V8) which made it cheap to buy.
What was the Diff? If it's a Borg-Warner, they are a pretty tough diff, they seem to put up with 1000hp Barra Turbos and Chevy V8s in big heavy Falcons and Commodores no worries.
@@markwalton8644maybe the size difference? I dunno as I've never seen a 4.6 out of the Mustang or Crown Vic in the flesh to compare to say LS or even Windsor V8
In actual fact there is another car that went through the exact same process (FWD to RWD), although for entirely different reasons: that is the Triumph 1300/1500 which was re-engineered into the RWD Dolomite!
It is even more bizarre than that - before the Dolomite it became the longer boded 1500TC which was RWD alongside the 1500 with the longer body which was front wheel drive but otherwise looked identical.
It was the ford modular. Dont know if was known as Windsor. It was in every Crown Vic, Towncar, Grand Marquis, Mustang GT, some F150s and probably a few I forgot about. Super reliable. Super easy and cheap to fix. If you really beat on it, you can get 150k out of it. If you take care of it, 300k easily.
@@matthewlok3020Windsors were the older Pushrod Ford Smallblock engines that were incrementally replaced by the OHC Modular starting in 1991. I think the last car to use a Windsor was the Australian Ford Falcon XR8 in 2002.
@@mrspandel5737 i had a 2000 explorer with a old school pushrod windsor (302 in this case) v8. I thought it was crazy it still had the old school 5.0 and not the 4.6L. I was told its because the 4.6 wouldnt fit in the engine bay and the v8 option was a after thought. By the time they decided they needed a v8 model the trucks were already in production and they had to use the 5.0
I am I long time owner of a ZT V8 and can tell you with a slight remapp the ZT V8 is a totally different car to a standard one. It not only goes a hell of a lot better but is also way more economical!!!
Did MG use a bespoke management system ?, or did they use what ever Ford USA were using for that engine ?. Just interested as im a Engine Tuner here in the UK.
@dj_paultuk7052 I had a bespoke remap, I used a company called DC Remapping UK based in Warrington which was a bit of a trek for me as I live in Gloucestershire but it was well worth it 👌
As an American car enthusiast, watching this is really cool. I had no idea about this car, but im very familiar with this engine. I had a 2000 Mustang GT with the same engine! Not the absolute fastest thing in the world but it has great torque and sounds great! You truly learn something new every day online haha
I have a facelift version of the ZT V8. It’s definitely a car that gets under your skin. Yes there are cars out there which are faster, and with more advanced engines, it’s not just about that, Every time I drive mine it makes me smile. On a run I can get mid to high 20’s mpg. My son had a supercharged version with a forged engine, ( which it needs when adding a super charger). It was putting out 541 bhp with a 6 speed box. It was absolutely bonkers. There’s a guy in the States called Steve Schrader who fitted a Coyote V8 in to a ZTT. It reached around 1000 bhp. There are videos online of his car doing the quarter mile.
HOO thought that putting a two tonne pickup truck engine in an allready unsuccessful rover,woz a good idea(rover Buick,make slightly more,ally block)sence,called sports cars,but never in race's,has twin light one bin crashed,bonnets got bigger gaps than single headlight model you showed, horrible looking car,rovers are long dead & gone luckily.
@taunuslunatic404 Yes your correct. MG-Rover (Phoenix consortium) bought Italian car maker Qvale Mangusta in the early 2000s which used the Ford Mustang V8 they renamed it MG X power.
I've had mine for just over ten years and no plans to sell. There are a few things you need to keep an eye on most importantly the front shocks. Do NOT let them rust, they collapse! Luckily mine did at only 20mph. Scary. A few parts are hard to get but the owners club is great and you should be able to keep it on the road for reasonable money with the odd big hit like the clutch Most problems you get warning of. Don't be surprised if it pops a hose if you dont keep an eye on them! Engine parts are readily available as millions were fitted to USA cars; taxis, pickups, police cruisers ... But a practical classic, costs acceptable compared to similar performance level vehicles and a lot better than many. Mine has been hard driven, rain or shine, thundering around southern England. On full throttle its a howling, rasping wall of sound. Round town a burble like distant thunder. Handling is great but its not chuckable. Best on long sweeping A roads. As others here have said it always puts a smile on my face and on many watching, many of whom think "what the hell is that?!" A street sleeper Q car classic.
Interesting you mention the car could handle more power. Yes, it was built to take up to 450hp in standard form, running gear etc. This was to allow for the Roush engine (385hp) which was going into the Xpower V8's but the MGR sinking put paid to that. A few xpowers were built with only one 'officially' making it past the administrators. Interestingly there are more Kenne Bell supercharged cars than Roush, mine being one of them. With other bits installed, I have around 430 - 440 horses and confirm the chassis can take it.
I used to have an MG ZTT 260 SE with the X-power exhaust option. It was bonkers fun. The sound was incredible. It was slower than my 3.2 Vectra but sounded awesome. Quite a few things did go wrong with it but no more than to be expected.
The 75 with the V8 is even more funny to me, it's such a humble looking car but it has a stonking great V8 in the front. The Rover engineers were absolutely mental.
That's how it should be. Love when manufacturers make these things. Take Volvo as an example, the 140 and subsequently the 240 were all designed to be able to use a V8 but that never happened. Yet, the space is there for the aftermarket to do whatever they want. Can't do that in any modern car.
@@philhawley1219 You mean the phoenix four bandit horsemen of the apocalypse? They had a rye old time of it, making cool but utterly ridiculous and unnecessary cars like the SV-R and doing stupid stunts like competing in Lemans and thr BTCC when they should have been spending cash on developing new models.
This MG reminds me of Lancia and what they did over a decade earlier with the Thema, re engineering and producing that wonderful low production Ferrari powered "super saloon". This MG sounds truly amazing!! Great post Jack as always!
At our local 75&ZT Owners' Club a member whose own both MG and Rover V8s said he preferred the automatic gearbox on his Rover to the manual on his MG... to the extent that he usually just used 2nd and 5th on that car! 🙂
I was working for MG Rover in Swansea when these came out. The DP (unknown to head office) was using it as his company car, I had the 160 1.8 Turbo. When he needed to go to HO, he'd swap with me. Interesting experience.
I was involved with the transport packaging for the engine, gearbox & differential for this and the never to be released supercharged version. I went to Prodrive who were developing the car. there were big plans for this model, There was a crazy prototype there with huge arches and talk of 475bhp. Prodrive said their brief was simply "Build us a car to beat the M3"! Imagine what could have been!
As a biased 75 owner (an oil burner like yours), I loved this Jack. However I think the best bit was the fact that you never stopped smiling the whole time! So glad I found this channel, your enthusiastic, eloquent, articulate reviews are a pleasure to watch 👍🍻
My Dad had one in a colour called bitter sweet. It was a monogram colour. The car was ex- Kevin Howe’s and had x-power exhausts and the x-power side sills bought from I think SMC in Slough. Apparently he would bring this ZT and the SV he had down to the x- power building just down the hill from Longbridge for various fettling. Would love to know where it is now? It was traded in for a Vauxhall Zamia VXR as he got fed up of waiting for a part from America that took 3- 4 weeks to arrive. Might of been a mass air flow filter or something. The owner of Summit Garage an MG Dealer near Birmingham has one in the bitter sweet colour. I always wondered if it was the same car.
I remember these being released in Australia and I lusted after one. There has always been plenty of V8s on the market but this MG was something special.
I consider this car as the MK 2 Jaguar of the 2000s and a car that Jaguar never built. Good buying now and they will be very much in demand in the future. Excellent video Number 27.
My youngest son bought one last year and had to sell it after a few months - we both regret the loss! Great car, with a lovely soundtrack. I am being tempted by three that are for sale by friends....but I think my wife would lynch me :)
I absolutely love these. I remember sitting in one at a local car show when they were launched. Could definitely do with at least another 50bhp but still a great piece of British motoring history, just without those horrible wind deflectors!
Really interesting car - bonkers maybe but they wanted a middle finger at the time. We supplied the dampers and had great fun with the MG Rover (and Prodrive) chassis engineers. Happy times, just before the sad and unfortunate end. Also worth noting the pair of small dampers on the diff.
They went after the GM V8, but GM wouldn't sell it to them as they were just about to launch the Monaro. Ford Modular V8 was all they could get (old Rover V8 being uneconomic to bring up to then current Euro4 standards). Car was engineered to have 385ps (like all Zeds, chassis set up for most powerful model, even on the smaller engines). ZT385 was less than a month from launch when MGR folded (crated engines, complete with Roush superchargers in Longbridge ready to go). ZT260 is the 'core' model, ZT385 would have been the 'extreme' model, ZT500 X-Power prototype is the 'ultimate' model. 32v Cobra engine also not available to MGR (Ford wanted to much money, 16v engine was in budget) Oh, and as a coincidence, i own a ZT260, guess what VIN it is? Nuber 27. 😊
So glad you drove this I have just purchased a 220S the Oz specific Supercharged ZT and a free 190 Parts Car . In OZ there was also a 360S which was a supercharged V8 260 . There's one for sale here but it's a little rough and exe . Nice to see the video .
I was lucky enough to be allowed to borrow a brand new dealer demonstrator. I agree with your review, the clutch was heavy but the sound was biblical from the exhaust. I didn't find it as fast as I'd have liked, however being quite a large car it was never going to feel as fast as a smaller hot car like my Seat Toledo v5. in comparison to the v6 petrol it was way ahead. There were issues with reliability even on a car with less than 2000 miles on it, clutch failed along with an engine mount. that said it was fun and you could get the back out easily
Funny thing. Sounds like a FORD truck hauling it down the road. It's not a Sports car, so the lazy/tedious shifter isn't a huge surprise. Also, Torque. Torque is often left out even though it's how power is measured. With a redo of this video adding 3 more Adults, You'd find the speed never drops off. That's torque! Keeping those R's lower helps engines live. Great work as usual.
Technically, the Renault Clio v6 was also converted from a FWD to RWD but they cheated by repositioning the engine too. Ditto for the Renault 5 Turbo & Turbo 2, Leyland Metro 6R4 and Peugeot's 205 T16 but rally homologation was the root cause for those.
I had one with the uprated cams fitted by its previous owner and it gave it the 'old skool' lumpy idle, sounded awesome! Sold it for house deposit but when my finances allowed I jumped at buying another one. For a car that was given such a change with 50p budget and an angle grinder from the what we now know dodgy management, I think it turned out great. So much so it was great to be behind the wheel of my 2nd one :)
I suspect the owners of cars with 2 litre, 4 cylinder turbo engines, take great delight absolutely destroying these old sheds. All mouth and no trousers as we say.
They probably knew this was the end and that people always waxed lyrical about the old Rover V8s from the 60s and 70s. For the last hurrah that's what the company gave the people.
...Dio quanto mi piacerebbe!!! Purtroppo qua in Italia non sono mai state importate.. io mi accontenterei anche di un V6, ma pure quella e' introvabile! Bel video Giacomo!
I had a 2003 ZT-T 180 auto here in Aus a few years ago & loved it, but hard going getting bits from the UK (Rimmer's were very good though). Years before that I had a 1982 Rover SD1 3500SE from 1982 that had been my dream car as a kid. But the 260 combines the best of both...makes my heart yearn. Wish they were over here & could find local support.
Hi from Russia. It turned so, that a great stock of these cars, as I remember, was blocked by VW Bank or VW group as mortgage. And then, after 3 years, these old but not used cars were sold to Russia. Most of theme were sedan, 1st generation. 1996-1998 as I guess. And they were regarded as a "cheap jaguar". For me, it was a nice small-size modell. And the 1st generation was the finest looking from the point of design. Also, a wagon was a good idea. But in Russia it's very rare. From my childhood I was interested in autos. And that's why knew about Rover. Although, not many models of this producer were a success.
From Canada: I love these videos of cars we never got! On this one, maybe MG was going less for British M3 and more for poor man's Bentley Turbo with lots of effortless V8 torque?
I do recall now being quite excited that Rover had pinched the Mustang 4.6 engine. However that was mainly because I had, and still have, a ‘99 Mustang so I thought spares could be available in the Uk! I can testify that the 4.6 Ford engine at 260bhp (probably more like 230) is very disappointing. It got overhauled over the years to produce the 500hp Mustang of later years although supercharged. But yes a blast from the past. So funny that you are using the same bit of road as Harry’s garage. Since 1990 I loved that bit of road from Fromebridge to Charlbury. Quite funny that clearly other people have liked that piece of road due to its bends and dips, and a series of yumps. I managed to get my old Granada Scorpio 2.9 fully airborne over one of the 3 yumps.
What a car sounds amazing as well. There are many supercharher kits available if you wanted more power. Also one thing to note size wise this closer to a e39 5 series or an M5 than an E46 3 series
In a way you cannot blame MG Rover for making this car. Those bean counters and the bosses probably knew that it was all going to end soon so why not go out with a bang? I agree that the twin headlights are better than the single ones. The interior does make it look a bit more 'sporty' as well. A V8 with plenty of grunt is always a welcome sound even if the gearbox is a bit reluctant. Interesting though to think what might have been. Great review Jack thanks. 👍👍
I don't really agree. The amount of money they wasted on Lemans, the BTCC, and the lunacy of developing the SV-R. You can't blame the bean counters but you can absolutely blame the Towers shower who also incidentally all walked away very rich.
Trade yours for this one, there's an absolute plethora of aftermarket performance parts for the Ford 4.6 Mod motor, hell, you could either get a stroker crank, some forged pistons and a nice little supercharger, or, pull that out and swap in a 5.4L Mod motor and build that up for even more lol.... and while Tremec makes great transmissions and that specific one is good (just clearly not taken care of if it's giving you issues), you could also buy and swap in a Tremec T56 6spd along with your performance goodies and have the ultimate sleeper 😅🤣
I remember back in the early 00's on a work trip just off the M42 one winter drizzly night while refuelling my SAAB 9-3,hearing a V8 warble and a series of down shifts and one of these (a mule) appeared. Indeed lunacy yet genius! The world now is worse without thinking like this
That has exactly the same power and torque as my remapped JaguarX358 diesel, the difference is I get an average 35mpg and a less ruinous tax bill. Wonderful things these and a real one off, I can see them being worth big money in the future.
It’s worth noting that whilst it was too easy to knock MG-Rover, people forget their ride and handling was always very good. The large number of ex-employees who migrated to what is now JLR, goes some way to explaining why they excel in this area too.
I had a MGZT V6 190 in British Racing Green - lovely looking car and a sweet engine too. It had the rear spoiler - in fact it looked identical to the V8 you drove including wheels. I agree the single headleight facelift was a retrograde step. Great video jack - keep them coming
I've owned one of these, and while i can say that they are a magnificent car i personally found it a tad underpowered for my liking.....great cruisers though and really comfortable - very pretty cars too. I sold the MG and went back to a Vauxhall Monaro. Having said that, i would have another one!😊
This wasn't an M3 competitor. It more or less was a 328 - 330i competitor. Maybe even an E320 - E430 competitor, though it's likely thoroughly outclassed. The good news is that thousands of performance parts are available if you wanna make this thing quicker because that's what we here in America do with v8 mustangs. I used to own a 1991 Mustang GT convertible that was highly tuned (it likely got single digit mpgs around town because of that), but even the 4.6 modular v8 has lots of performance support. It's not an M3, AMG, or even Cobra competitor. Taken for what it is, it's pretty cool.
Those big American V8s are really something different, especially because of the torque. A friend of mine had a 1967 Pontiac GTO with a 6.6L V8 that only put out 335HP and 441 ft-lb of torque. It had a four-speed manual transmission, and you could smoothly accelerate from a stand still up a fairly steep grade in fourth.
An enjoyable video. It just goes to show that even captains of industry can make weird judgements. On another note, the Triumph 1300, with front wheel drive, became the Triumph 1500 with rear wheel drive, .These led to the Dolomite and Toledo. All with basically the same upper body shell. The Toledo bore the short nose and tail of the original 1300 while the 1500 and Dolomite had a longer tail .
Nice! That MG ZT is very interesting car! I actually like the looks of the Rover 75. It's a shame that Rover died out like that. As far as the engine goes, I used to have a Lincoln Town Car that had the "base" version of the 4.6L. Even at just 200hp top end, it remains strong and smooth low-end - and it's basically unkillable. The only thing is coupled with the 4speed auto (unkillable too), it was a bit thirsty (even more so that my current SL500 5L V8)
If you like an automatic but are conscious of fuel economy, you can get a custom-made torque-converter with an ULTRA-LOW stall speed - that's the opposite direction most custom-made torque converts go in when people want them for racing. You may need to sign a disclaimer that you will have no comeback on the company if the engine stalls as soon as it's put in gear, because they may well believe that's what will happen. When I had one made for my car they supplied it to the mechanic, and then news of it gradually filtered up the company chain and the torque-converter manufacturer asked for it back as the senior engineer was so certain it would be unusuable and they had not got me to sign a disclaimer. However, I was determined to find out whether I was right or not, and so I had it fitted. They were wrong, and I was right. It did pull harder at tickover, but driving in urban traffic was significantly more economical and just much more ENJOYABLE to drive. By the way, the reason they're wrong about it stalling is because it's likely to be outside their normal envelope of experience, and they aren't fully taking the maths into account. The drag on the engine at tickover is related to the cube-root of the drag on the engine at a higher speed (It's not exact, but the underlying formula in relation to fluid velocity and force on objects is that the energy involved rises in proportion to the cube of the velocity of the fluid, which is why at tickover, even with a low-stall-speed torque converter, the drag on the engine is very low)
I can remember while watching classic car racing at snetterton years ago the organisers used one of them as a safety car. It was definitely one of them as the sound of it is unmistakable.
Easy-to-maintain Ford mill and Getrag gearbox... and those ultra-bolstered seats! What's not to love? Just because a man marries and has offspring, doesn't mean he's got to trade in his cajones for a Camry. Back in the day, I used the Turbo T-Bird Coupe and Taurus SHO to cope... strap in kiddos! 🤣🤣 #Gforces #3rdPedal
MG certainly did a better job managing that engine than ford. Had you been driving a FoxBody Mustang with the same engine, you would have been in the Hedges backwards in true Mustang style !. One of my old Bosses had one of these, and he had LPG fitted which made it more manageable in the UK.
I wonder how easy it would be to stick an LS1 into it? Some big brakes, decent coilovers, and a bit of Android dash tech and you've got a very capable car... I did the same with an 820 Viteese back in the 90's. Had a CarPC as Android didnt exist at the time. 230bhp, as fast a a Sapphire Cosworth (my pal had one)... And tech nobody had seen at the time! Loved it, but it eat diff bearings!😂
Sounds like a bit of work on the breathing is in order, although that exhaust doesn’t sound standard. Bit like the SDI V8, lots of torque, but needs more air if you want some power. A good old 4 barrel Holley should get that mpg nicely into single digits 😅
It you remove the " restrictive trumpet" from within the 75 airbox(180) , you get a lot closer to 260 performance. Less weight, Aircon that works ( they removed half of it for the V8) and no driveshaft. ( Which breaks).
I think you were probably thinking about the Audi S4, that's a V6 twin turbo. I like the ZT V8. I had a ZT CDTi about 12 years ago. Good car until the abs pump failed. Sold it on, started to use my Vectra 3.2 again and then bought an E39 M5 to daily. Great days.
Here in OZ you could get them fitted with a SUPERCHARGER via Sprintex in Perth - utterly bonkers and fantastic! (back in the day the MG ZT (V6) 180 was also available with a Sprintex supercharger making it an MG ZT 220).
Whoops... it was the MG ZT 190 which was also offered with the supercharger. The MG ZT 180 & 190 had a big problem with a dead spot on acceleration. A company in Perth, together with Sprintex developed a unique low boost supercharger to get rid of the dead spot. The resultant vehicle was taken back to the UK, where MG / Rover put it through tests of there own, and subsequently endorsed the fitting of the Supercharger. The designation being the MG ZT 220S (with the S being for Supercharged). MG / Rover then sent 50 completed MG ZT cars to Perth where they were fitted with the Supercharger, dyno tested and released for sale. There is believed to be only 7 or 8 of these vehicles left.
Thank you for this video. Great engine sound! These cars were proof that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone! They are still a practical classic though, with good parts availability! 🙂
General Motors Holden in Australia did the same thing to the front drive Opel-sourced Holden Commodore when they dumped a 5 litre V8 under the bonnet driving the rear wheels. This car was not for sale to the public, but only to racing teams to race in the Australian V8 Supercars rounds.
You need to get your hands on one of the sports vehicles MG / Rover produced in the De Tomasso factory in Modena, not many were made. Hopefully someone who has one will give you the keys for a video !!
Of course a torqy V8: rapid from zero to 65 miles. And above 65 miles a cruiser. Numbers would be different than mentioned but you get the picture: it's not a high rev. engine. Just power. Which is more fun nowadays with maximum speed limits etc.
A few years too late, but the 2005-2010 Mustang GT 4.6 3V engine had 300 hp and good torque, and was actually slightly narrower across than the 2V version these cars had.
Hi Jack just been catching up as I've been busy for a few days. Superb fair test on the ZT 260, I'd love one of those, and been a Ford man I'd pop a tasteful Mustang/and or powered by Ford badge on it! The car was engineered by prodrive, so I guess the proximity of yours and Harry's test route isn't very far from Banbury, despite my northerness I've visited Oxford/Leamington spa a few times as our eldest son has relocated there. Whilst not been auto and not supercharged the comparisons with the XJR could be ideal, I'm surprised you didnt consider the ZT with the XJR. I would like to see the MG with some real power and as you alluded it would appear it can handle it, as can the gearbox. With the vast performance parts from America for the Mustang surely someone with a ZT must have gone a bit mad?, I envision a supercharged version with Sierra Cosworth bonnet vents! Also of course there was the 75 V8 with auto box, a real baby jaguar and bizarrely (and very very rare) is the 75 V8 LWB, further to this I wonder if there is a 75 tourer V8 or the MG equivalent?? Having watched a few of the Rover enthusiasts channel s, I also wonder what the 75 coupe V8 (+mg edition) would have been like?!!!. It's so very sad that a nice car like the 75 didn't save mg, the blame can't be just on the 75, as I think the Qvuale (check spelling)mangusta that spawned brutush V8 coupe x power thing must have been a Anglo Italian money pit, but as said the Rover sites in particular toms have highlighted the Focus/Golf rival based on a cut n shut 75 chassis which deserved to have been built. Thanks for doing the test I always wondered what they were like. Best wishes, Ben
I owned a ZT260 for 15 years. Great car, then I sold for more than I paid because of it's rarity. The Rover 75 V8 was far better though being an auto. Incidentally Jeremy Clarkson slated the Red Aurora coloured ZT 260 on the test track & said some dirogatory things like: This engine (Mustang V8) is made of Pig Iron & Volcanic Ash ! The cockpit is like a Wheel house on a ship ! They (MGR) should have fitted a wood burning stove in here! *The truth is that this ZT 260 V8 Loan car covered quite a few 1000 miles while Clarkson had it & rumour has it, this loan period was one of the longest of all Press Cars kept by him * But he just had to "slate" it in Front of Camera. You could tell he liked it if you watch the Top Gear MG ZT 260 Vid clips.
Always wondered why the rear drive - An all-wheel drive probably would also have costed less to build. Still find fascinating this process, practically they re-engineered the floorplan to transition it front- to rear-drive.
