The Rover 220 GTi is a Brilliant '90s Hot Hatch 

As Rover/BAe manager in the 90s we (many 1000s of us) had the option to lease any car in the Rover range from Metro to 800 for a small monthly fee. And the best bit was that we could change the car every 6 months ! We were in our element choosing the model and colour every 6 months. “What are you getting next ?” … “I think a 416Si in Kingfisher blue …… you ?” …”623GSi in Nightfire Red.” Happy days. I think the most I spent was £200 a month.

I still reflect on and feel my 220 GTi with fondness. My late wife drove it fearlessly with a touch of insanity that it obeyed.

I really admire the skill, effort, dedication, research, planning you put in to these videos. Bit jealous tbh lol

For me the Tomcat is the best looking car of the 90s. I just love it!

I had a 220Gsi Turbo for four years. The reason they sold so few was that it was £19.5k in 1996. Genuine 146mph and 0-60 in 6.4, still torque steered even with the Torsen diff. Devoured brake discs like crazy as I believe they were the same as those on the 1.4 ABS models and slowing down from 135mph warped them easily. Gear changes were 35mph, 70mph, 110mph, and 135mph into top so you could sneak 3rd down changing for a fast bend at 100. Took mine to the Nurburgring and did 35 miles in convoy with a 911 on the autobahn at speeds ranging from 130-145. Ultimate Q car as they upspecked the 1.4 into a special edition using the Turbo alloys and kept the half leather interior. 😎😇😱

Nice too see the Rover brand getting recognition! MG Maestro very capable car! Big shout out too all T16 Turbo crew still rocking the old power plant in 2022 and beyond!

Ed, since you have been able to drive the cars, your channel has gone from strength to strength, well done buddy

Great video! I bought a 220GTi in 1997. I absolutely loved that car! To this day, it's the best car I've ever owned. Nice to see it getting some appreciation all these years later.

220 and 220 turbo are real beasts but even the 1,6 twin cam is quick, very good and vastly underated motors.

As many other viewers have commented, your research, delivery, is spot on. Back when I was yet to be a teenager, a family friend had a jet black 220GTi and I just adored it.

Best range of cars ever from Rover. Had the 220 turbo coupe... serious licence loser ... best video yet Ed, top work

glad that 90s rovers are getting appreciated.

I love this era of Rovers. I like them more than the bubbles.

I had a 416GTi and a work colleague had a 220GTi, we raced many times, he always had the edge from a dig, but the top of 2nd gear I was always in front.

Great stuff. I worked in Longbridge for 11 years and loved it there. Rover-Honda years were the best and they would still be around if that continued. BMW made some big strategic mistakes as history has shown.

I've worked for a large corporation and the teams of people who can design and build something even when their job is in doubt is a remarkable thing. Those people love what they do and should be recognized for their passion. Keep up with the history side of it all; it's the people behind the scenes who make the cars what they are. Liking that you are now driving and reviewing the cars. Seeing your expressions says a lot about these cars that sometimes words can't. Excellent review. As much as you appreciate our support, we appreciate your passion for cars.

Great video as ever. If you don't end up reviewing cars on TV in the future as a career I'll be very surprised. Great review. When I was 17 in 2000 a Rover was not the car to have, but now I have a little hankering for a 90's Rover. The R8 was actually a nice car. And people forget how advanced Rovers engines were in the early 90's, everyone harks on about Ford fitting 16v engines to the Mondeo in 94, Rover were doing it years before. The Rover story is a really sad one in the motoring world, it could have and should have been great, but in typical British fashion we drove it into the ground then let all the good bits go.

I had a 1997 tomcat coupe with a 1.8 vvc ' slightly tuned'... engine, I chickened out at 140mph, and it still had more! god I loved that car!

I remember driving my brother's 220 GTi for the first time back when it was new in the early to mid 90s and being very impressed by how quick and responsive it felt. This was before speed cameras, so it was possible to test things enthusiastically. It was a great piece of design with an equally great engine. Until recently I had its successor - the HHR 420GSi - and I'm pleased to see the merits of the T-Series engine being recognised. The way that engine could pull at 70mph in 5th was always a joy. When it hit 4000 revs it really kicked in in and would surprise a lot of other drivers. Sadly, average speed checks and other forms of monitoring mean those days are gone, but it's still a great engine.

I used to think these genre of cars stood for every bit the definition of mundane, but auto literature and media like your channel proved otherwise and really helped open the narrow mind

I drove a 216GTi for a while in the day - good car, wonderful engine. That Honda unit was like a turbine once you got used to revving it. The range should have been the basis of a solid future for Rover, sadly history tells us otherwise.

The Tourer , in my opinion. is better looking than the BMW 3 Series tourer.. But as usual the british press did their best to bad mouth their own company .

I've owned a Black 220 GTi Turbo, a 620Ti and a 420 GSi Sport Turbo. Awesome cars. Shame that the bad reputation BL gained during the 70's haunted Rover when it was producing well built and very competitive cars.

Ed, that was a brilliant review. An object lesson in clarity & thorough research, wrapped up with infectious enthusiasm for the car. A really enjoyable and informative 29 minutes! Thank you! You've made me start scouring classic car sites and Autotrader for an R8 Gti or Tomcat. Norty norty 😉😉😍

The very best ever commentary on the Rover/Honda adventure. It’s a shame that it was not continued instead of the BMW takeover.

This is a really good video. So well researched and accurate. The 220 GTI was a great looking car. The R8 Rover was a great car, so much so that Ford copied the styling of it in the MK5 Escort. The Focus has always claimed to have had the first independent rear suspension in a car that size, when in fact Ford were beaten to it by Rover.

I owned a 220gti turbo hatchback back in 2005 She was 93' l plate but on a private plate. J13 DJH..looked so unassuming but after some diy power mods and handling upgrades from motobuild I then would go on to have proberly the fastest car locally. I loved it showing up the impreza and evo boys. 150mph was no issue for the rover and it capable of pulling 75mph in 2nd gear. Fun days they were. I've read somewhere that there are now only 27 turbo hatchbacks registered with the dvla. Mental cars...

You’ve got to love a Rover R8.

I was working for a Rover dealership during the days of the 200\400 series and everyone loved them. They were really classy.

Test drove a 216gti twin cam back in the mid 90's. It was in tahiti blue and I wanted it badly! My insurance company said absolutely no way as I was only 18 at the time!

I used to work at a company called Tooling Products in Langrish in Hampshire in the late 1990's as a Model Maker. The company made the plastic injection mould tools for car bumpers and dashboards etc. I remember my first job was to do some work to the model for the tool which made the plastic wings on the first Land Rover Freelander. But we also made the tool for the dashboard and the bumpers. The bumpers on this car (220 GTi) are actually very familiar to me, because I can remember seeing the models for them stored on the shelves outside the model shop. In fact this video is the first time I found out what car they were for! I was in my mid 20's then and once we had a delegation of Japanese Honda engineers come round to see the model shop and the machine shop where all the tools were made. I was tasked with putting one of the models onto the barrow (a medieval style wooden pull along cart) and taking it from the model shop up the top, to the machine shop at the bottom, for the Honda engineers to inspect. So I trundled along with the model on the barrow down the road at the side of the factory. And with all the vibration on the cart as it was being pulled along (no suspension), the model, er.....how can I put it??? Slightly ......fell off. Honda had already broken ties with Rover by then. Can't think why they didn't have any ideas of re-igniting the partnership with the UK car industry....

I Had a rover 214 as a company car. Above 70 mph I could not shut the front windows, because the window would come off its runners! I hit a deer at speed on the M4. It completely demolished the front end. However I was still able to drive it home. The Engine was brilliant revvy as hell and a lot of fun

I had a J plate 220gti in BRG, my favourite car I owned.

Had the 216 twin cam Gti. It had the old Honda engine on it. 130 bhp. Such a great car.

Thanks Ed for a Wonderful review of these Amazing cars , appreciate the research and time you put in to make such an informative and professional video. I owned a Japanese Imported 1993 Rover 220 GTI in New Zealand back on 2009 an Awesome car 🙂👍.

Another L-Plate stunner 😍 Hi Rover friend!

Nice reminder of these, my dad had a couple of R8 214s. They were classier feeling and felt more substantial than most of the similar sized competition - Escort, Orion, 309, 405, Astra, Cavalier, Renault 19 etc. The decent models still look classy today, such as the 214SEi models and the 3 door GTIs and Coupes. Engines willing too, miles ahead of the Ford CVH for power and driving experience.

I still have my 220 gsi Turbo bought it 1999 real wolf in sheep’s clothing so so hard now to get any parts for it thou, great review love the enthusiasm for a old classic

I had the saloon version (420GSI) and it was a beast...overpowered with a hair - trigger throttle & limited rear traction , especially in the wet, - it used to torque-steer out of junctions and scare the hell out of me! Your research & presentation are superb Ed! 10/10

Great review. You need an R8 along your Metros

Fantastic review. I had an R8 in 1992 and loved it! Seeing this beautiful example makes me want one again. Your enjoyment driving it was evident. Fantastically researched review as always.

I have one of these Rovers back in period. It was a black 220GTi and was a really great drive but alas the head gasket blow at 80k so traded in for a much more solid ( but less fun ) SAAB.

I had a 216Gti and it was a smashing car. Also, had an 820 Coupe Vitesse which was a fantastic drive.

Ed, Your excellency increases with every episode! It was expertly and cleverly edited, obviously thoroughly researched, professionally presented, and now actual road testing is included, the truth of the car is enthusiastically given: I have not seen you smile so much! Continue to enjoy cars and please us! Rob

Fantastic, enthusiastic review. Entertaining and informative, without being bookish. And I totally agree with you on all counts, having worked in a Rover garage in the eighties. I remember my first drive in the 220 GTi. Totally blown away, and then later in the various turbo versions. That T-Series was such a good engine. That is a lovely example of the GTi, too. Subbed.

I had an ex demo L Reg in BRG back in 1994. Great motor! 😃

Had that body in a 1.4si with those wheels which look gorgeous in silver

What a great and well researched presentation. Been with you from your very early days and I must say the quality of your productions are really up there. I had a 216GTi with the Honda twin cam engine, a really classy car with fantastic performance and remains in my top ten of cars owned to this day. That says a lot, I’ve owned a serious amount of cars, from Citroen AXGT’s to modern Porsche Cayman’s along with Spitfires, TR7’s and a plethora of cars in between. Loved the 800’s too but the 216 GTi was special.

Love the Honda Concerto 1.5

Great review, the older I get the more nostalgic I become especially around hot hatch cars from the 90's. I had a white one mid 90's and it was rapid at the time. Keep up the good work!

I remember one of these in a magnificent blue/purple colour. Which we all thought of as "Cadbury Blue". We all wanted one.

i have owned a 220 gti for more than a decade and it has performed faultlessly. i wholly concur on all the points made. thanksforthe review.maybe the mgzs 180 is a worthy successor. p.h.

I had the 1.6 216gti version. brilliant car. mine had 169k on the engine and it still ran like a swiss watch.

Another great video Ed, getting slicker each time. Tommy's car is one nice motor. 👌

Being the owner of a 92 416 gti has been a joy, amazing to drive and so well built, and that d series is a beast

All these small Rovers were great, they rotted less than the Escorts and had a lovely airy cabin, I bought, repaired and sold a lot of 214's, 414's and the odd 416 with the Honda engine. Scrap yards were full of them so panels and bits were cheap.

3 door for me. You need to get one yourself, you enjoyed that hoon session.

I had a rover 216 GTI 3 door hatchback, now I have a 220 Turbo tomcat

My dream car garage keeps getting bigger! Another great review. 👍🙌🤩

I've owned 3 R8s and loved every one of them.

I had the exact same shape which was the 220 turbo edition, bought from a doctor and it was a beast. Also had the 220 coupe turbo, quick again. The first one though was super rare, just a usual problem with the heads and a heavy right foot

Great review. The early 1990s were peak Rover IMO. They were building better cars than most of the competition, the interiors were much classier and the engines were great. I owned a 1991 216 GTi Twin Cam (with the 130 bhp 1.6) from 1996 to 2001. One of the best cars I ever owned and such a shame that most of them are now long gone. When I sold it to a friend I then bought a 220 Coupe which was also very nice although I did have a few reliability isses with the 2 litre Coupe that I never had with the GTI. Performance wise the 216 GTI was almost identical to the 2 litre coupe although it had very different characteristics as you had to rev it very hard due to the the power being all on the top end (above 5000rpm) unlike the 2 litre which was much torquier in the low to mid range.

I'm glad I have the best thing rover ever made. The t series turbo is a peach. Just need to save the money to get it swapped into my zr then I will be very happy. Great video

Brilliant video. I had forgotten all about these. But now I remember that I thought that these were so cool and gorgeous looking. And seeing this video, they haven't lost their looks!

Great review and great memories. I owned the 214 Si 16v. Such a good comfortable car until the head gasket blew. On the way to get it looked at, someone rear ended me and wrote it off! Such a bitter sweet day.

This is one of your best produced videos. It is documentary quality, well done! When you closed the sunroof blind, the light projection it caused triggered a flashback to my late father's Rover 825i.

We had a 400 tourer, great car

That brings back some memories, Loved mine white 220 janspeed back box 1991. Eventually on later wheels. I kept it mint.......unfortunately I lent it to my apprentice to go home in and the next time I saw it it hadn’t gone well. Hitting a cyclist and 3 parked cars😔. No more car and quickly followed by no more apprentice. Sad times. Cyclist I believe made a full recovery.

This is one of the best reviews I've ever seen! And finally you were able to have a drive in one of the cars you review. This was an absolutely excellent video essay about the R8, very well written, very enjoyable and extremely brilliant. Absolutely top job twin cam 👍👍👍

Fascinating video and info. Really enjoyable ! Mark.

I remember this car when I was younger,my brother had one and he absolutely loved it really quick for the time, great video bye the way keep up the good work thank you.

So love all these videos well done, I have 2 R8s myself a 3 door and 5 door so really love this

The car still looks great today. It was so unfortunate that Rover couldn't make it. They had some wonderful cars and an interesting dealer network! Mainly old salesmen smoking cigars that jaws would drop if you asked for a discount! I'd love a 216 GTI 3dr. and an 800, and a Montego clubman diesel estate, !

Great video I own a 1990 216 gti I love it

Brill video dude!!!! I believe that this Rover earned the nickname “TOMCAT” ‘cause it was as you say a fast and spectacular road car!! Regards Ian Scorey 👨‍🎤🇳🇿

Good video thank you. I had a 1995 220 Coupe from 2000 - 2010 best car I ever had.

Remember the R8 200 launch in 1989 as an 15 year old Ed a great hatchback very nice GTi example here👍👍👍👍

Great video, thank you so much. At the turn of the century I was living and working in Thailand. Rover had been selling Honda derived Rovers in Thailand and were effectively sold as luxury Hondas, prior to this some Honda cars had been sold under the Isuzu badge (eg Isuzu Vertex) . For many years they remained a prestige marque, till the Rover dealerships closed and local dealer changed into a KFC. A more surprising story from my experience is that GM sold a version of the Vauxhall Frontera in USA with a Honda badge, it was called the Honda Passport. Badge engineering is more common than many people expect, I always loved the Honda derived Rovers.

Great video. This was a much better car in every way than the wheezy XR3. Ford's seem to attract fanboys who think everything with a blue oval is a cosworth though.

Great video, Owned 3 R8's, 214sli , 220gsi n/a and my favorite 220 coupe turbo. sold the coupe in 2006 and regreted it since. 🙁. All great cars for pennies at the time!

Good luck getting one on that condition...the coupe was cool too

My first company car was the 1993 Rover 218sd. Utterly asthmatic but what a car. The R8 was the car both my Dad and I turned to when replacing our venerable but by then outdated Volvo 340s and the first cars we had with power steering. My dad had the 414SLi with the wonderful K series engine and it felt like it lived up to the old Rover engineering feel. To go for one of these after 20 years of Volvos spoke volumes. I had two 218 SDs, which were great fun to drive, just avoid side winds, they couldn’t cope with them. They were very comfortable and the French Diesel engines were solid. They needed the turbo though. A colleague had one of those and the car was so much better for it. Everything oozed quality and the only car to compare it to was the Golf. When they replaced the R8 I ended up with a 414i. I finally had one with a bit of power but it was without a doubt the worst car I had ever had for the time. I wanted my old car back. It was at this point the Mk4 Golf arrived and although it took me 4 years before I got one of those the Golf was light years better than the Rover, even the R8 I adored. Sadly for Rover my Dad went back to Volvo after his 414 R9. I think he took on board my complaints about my 1997 414 being pretty crappy. As always you produce a very informative video and for someone who wasn’t born when these cars were around I love your enthusiasm and energy in reviewing them. I must admit if you asked me to name my favourite cars for their time the R8 Rover 200 / 400 series were amongst the best cars of their time. What scares me I was your age when these cars were new. Keep bringing us more videos.

I had one of these in the 5 door 1.4 si. It was my first proper car as such and I was in my early 20s. I have to say that it was one of the best cars I have ever had. Yes it did blow the head gasket but it was sorted with no drama. One of these over an escort of the time is a no brainer. Another car I should have kept.

Good vid . Had one of these on a J plate as a company car . they do go really well . i had 6 points on my licence to prove it . its a shame that all that was the R8 really did not move on up with the next set of Rovers into the late 90's and to thier demise in 2000's .

Loved the under the radar 220gti and gsi turbo, the 420gi and gsi turbo and the coupe and 620ti......all rapid cars back in the day

I had two Rover (R8) smooth nosed 214 GSI's , one in white and one in silver. Excellent cars for the times that should have sold at even higher numbers.

Terrific video, thank you.

Had one of these , when i didn’t know much about Bhp surprised to see it was 130. It was fast AF. Mine had a hell of a sound of vibration on the gear stick always wondered what that was.

Personally, I always preferred the 420 because it looked so understated.

Awesome Ed rare beast I had 3 of em

220 GTI & latterly GSI always lived in the shadow of the Coupe which was a bit of a shame really. I always fancied a GSI Turbo, quite a rare beast though.

Glad you finally managed to get the film sorted mate werid seeing my car on RU-vid! Great video

Damn, I've got even the same radio in my 216GTi. Awesome car and review!

now thats a car !

The reason they didn't sell in the numbers that things like the XR3 did is just image, the sort of people that bought hot hatches were all about image and the Rover image was old and stodgy, Fords "yobbish" image helped it sell sporty cars to younger buyers and still does.

Severely annoyed I’ve only just come across your channel..!! FairPlay fella shall be following throughly enjoyed your trip down memory lane 🙌🏻

This is a brilliant video full of interesting facts and enthusiastically presented. Magic.

Despite being far too young to drive, I remember when the R8 was launched. It seemed like a revelation compared to the Maestro and Montego it replaced. Such a shame that Rover floundered from the mid 1990s. Has anyone else noticed that the side profile 3 door Rover 200 series looks a little bit like a Sierra XR4i? Without that strip of metal behind the B pillar it would have resembled a 1985-90 Toyota Celica. which wouldn't have been a bad thing.

Nice review of the R8 bud, very underrated car. Poor old Rover group, such a shame they are no longer with us 😢

We had a blast back when i was 17 . I had a williams clio one friend had a 205gti and another had a rover 220 gti and the rover would keep up no problem with the pair of us across snakes pass in glossop england . A very impressive car for the time . My clio did a gearbox , driveshaft and timing chain in the time that rover had a oil change haha . 80s cars were great but crap all at the same time .