WHY YOUNG DRIVERS SHOULD BUY AN MG ZR+ 1.8 160bhp - Insurance, Running Costs, Pricing Review 

Is it just me that thinks these are beautifully underrated? Like these things are actually gorgeous!

I think you can squeeze another advert in

In fairness if I was a young lad and I had as many ads on my videos I could probably afford the sky high insurance.........

I think this whole "WHY YOUNG DRIVERS SHOULD BUY" series needs a rethink

Yes another shit young driver suggestion. Fun cars but not good to insure for 95%+ of young drivers.

Had one for my first car in green i loved it, Never had a problem with it, actually made money on it when i sold it 👍💪😂

Strongly recommend a MG ZR, if you are buying for a first car, go for the 1.4. I have had mine for 3 years and hasn't missed a beat. These cars will start to rise in value, and are likely to become a future classic.

Too many adverts, I switched off after the first 5. It was enough, video ruined.

Perfect car for any young enthusiast! Got one for my second car that I'm doing a build series on! Had high lift cams on the 1.4 and now it's a tuned 1.8 on coilovers with big brakes. Great to see the ZR getting attention!

I love mine, 5 years later never missed a beat 🤙🏻

An add every minute 😂😂

One of my mates bought one of these in blue on a Y plate when they first came out in 2001. Very fast and made a great sound.

New drinking game! The FYD challenge, shot of jäger every ad, bet you won’t last a video! 🤣😂

I had an 03 160vvc le man's green , lotus Elise engine in them , I had the janspeed full system. It flew I had 145mph out of it racing a bike (in Mexico) few months later the head went so I replaced it and got it skimmed polished and ported and it was an animal after that , nice cars for their time

They're really not that cheap to insure for younger drivers. Especially if you have no NCB.

Nice review, I love my modified 25. This is a ZR 120+ though not a 160. :)

This whole video was filled with ads i couldn’t even watch it all😂

I wanted one since I was about 6 years old and just got one for my first car, a 2005 1.8 160 facelift in really good condition. Has been taken to a lotus specialist for the last 5 years, and about 6 years ago it had a mls headgasket upgrade with new head bolts etc as a precautionary measure and has gone strong ever since so I'm hoping this is a great buy for only £1400.

I've owned 2 and I'm currently looking for a 3rd. Still look a gorgeous car even today

I bought a 1.4 trophy in the summer, I only wanted something cheap to get me to work and back. For £380, I’ve spent £25 for a new radiator, £45 for a new starter and it’s the most fun I’ve had to drive since my corolla 1.6 twin cam... Saying that, it had around 75000 miles so very low mileage for car of it’s age and it does me for 300 miles a week, so it saves me a large payout when my new motor is up at the end of its finance agreement

nice to see one of these again, i replaced my nova sr with a zr 105+ may years ago, that then ended up being built as a high compression forged 1.8 on vvc head with jenvey throttle bodies and piper 285cams made a tad over 190bhp and was great fun. My only gripe with them was the seating position was awful felt like you were sat on them and not in them if ya get me. Land rover mls headgasket is a must as you say. My old one had a blueflame system on it that sounded fantastic coupled with the janspeed 4-2-1 manifold and decat. And im sure it may of been pointed out already but thats not a 160 its a 120 fella. 160s had the pg1 gearbox also

Had a 1.4 105bhp can vouch for the leaky sun roof but was a good car to drive nice direct feel from the steering

So much shite info it’s laughable. This is a 120+, not a 160. There was no such thing as a 160+, the 160 came with all of the good stuff as standard. The ‘+’ gave you a leather steering wheel, front fogs, electric windows & mirrors, seat height and lumbar adjustment and the electric sunroof. The wheels and skirts were options regardless of if it was a ‘+’ or not. This particular car has the poverty spec Matrix seats, the better seats were the Monacos. Head gaskets aren’t quite as bad as they are made out to be, they are easy to fix and only need doing once. Leaking sunroofs can be fixed without buying new glass. Body rust is the worst issue to fix on these cars. They handle very well and have always given a great performance per price ratio. As well as being a lot of fun.

I’ve had a few zr’s over the years. They make a great induction noise with the right cone filter fitted. I would have another one in a heartbeat except for the fact that it’s hard to find a decent one these days for less than £2500-£3000 which is mad because for not much more you can get a slightly ropey ep3 which will probably be more reliable and more fun. The mg is a lot more rare though

Hi could you tell me if this MG ZR model has a top tether anchor latch? thanks :)

Iv had too many rovers znd mg cars to recall. I still own a zs, i had a 1.8 zr, great car

Watches two ads at the begining of the video and then sees almost an ad for every minute... *Puts RU-vid train in reverse*

Think you should do a video on the 260 v8 zt and the zs 180 :)

I’ve had 2 since I was 17 made the mistake of crashing the first, second blew the engine (both 2.0td) then decided to finance a seat-I really do miss driving one though never cost me anything and never broke down, I did 38K in my first ZR

No disrespect to the owner or Jamie but none of them have any clue what they’re talking about. They really don’t know the cars. Firstly it’s not a 160bhp version from factory, they didn’t have heated seats, they have a choice of 3 different gearboxes and the 160bhp didn’t come with the short ratio box (might be wrong on that) and you definitely get a lot more than 25mpg out of them. They also don’t all have a magnex exhaust, it’s janspeed or xpower. They are also very costly to insure.

This was my first car and i miss him. I loved him so much❤

ive got an mg zs 120 with the same 1.8 but non vvc. its my first car its very cheap to insure and they're pennies to buy so that would be my recommendation.

I have a 1.4 ZR, Weirdly reg starting with BF03! And it was 8500 to insure, Now undergoing a full strip down rebuild ;) And my Dad drives a 160, And its cheaper, But 4500 isnt cheap.., Rolling in a Orion now ;)

Had MG zs very fast car Did have to get rid of it when had 3 head gaskets . Spent 450 pounds and within 4 hours I could smell petrol again inside car . But drove Rover 800 Montego and many other cars . They made some good cars in there time.

Very fast cars for what they are had a silver 1.8 160 vvc with a straight through exhaust and an air filter did 140 in it on the autobahn before it over heated

As said before it's a 120hp model as I don't believe they made the zr+ in the 160hp model only standard trim, a much better car for the money/economy and insurance I would say is a corolla t sport? Can be got for sub £1,000 aswell and 190hp from a 1.8 n/a

So got this a matter off months ago this EXACT model! Red ZR+ 1.4 though! After just 4000 miles my head gasket has gone, only found out today and I truly devastated 😭 had someone properly check my car out as well in the lane next to me appreciating my little beauty and now I may have to say RIP after not even a year off owning it!

Nice mirror change the colour!!! Headlining falling down gotta be cheap!

£450 payed for my ZR+ last weekend. 100k miles, head gasket done ,similar to this one. bit better sun roof condition,, great fun , great sounding exhaust but addictive hammering through 2nd and 3rd gear, so really you can drink the fuel. Im getting Brembo disk and pads fitted next weekend for £200 for all four corners. so not too pricey for brakes My head gasket was done at 80k miles. As the video says these cars do suffer with paint lacquer peel. especially in THE Colour red , on the roof and spoiler. Another thing to note is just the general build quality. given that its at 20 year old car nearly. there is quite a few cheap sounding rattles in the cabin. contrary to popular belief these cars do not like being raced around. the engines really don't been driven like a rally car because of the reliability issues. if you get hold of a good one for under £500 its worth it. as if its in good condition it will be worth more in parts. Edit, pretty sure this isnt a turbo, but the 1.8 twin cam 120bhp

Sell the rear lights & fit standards would look so much nicer! Would make a good track car tbf

whats that on the back seat?

Not a 160 either it’s a 120.....

Just for any young drivers get the 1.4 it’s cheaper and the 1.8 is same engine with more power hence why they break so often the 1.4 is a lot better for young drivers in every way

But the head gasket 😂 had the rover 200 and it happened twice. Scrapped it in the end. Although that was the 1.4 twin cam model.

I had one of these when I was 18 fun little car for the two weeks I had it only cost me 800 pound to buy and 1200 to insure then went back to my 1.4 mg zr until I was twenty since the 160 died two weeks in to owning it 😂😂

Nice! I own a MK1 ZS 180. 2.5L V6 should definitely look at one of those next! Would even bring mine down..

How’s the insurance on this

I was 19 had seat leon curpa r on 2004 plate was driving for like 4 months when I got it cost £1000 for years insurance fully comp with no black box and I live in a pretty shity area.

2:12 South of £1k 😂 Just bought a 160 MOT'd 117k miles for £550

I wish they had these in the States, they look so badass

I miss my old my zr 160 fantastic car handles great 😄

If most you think similar power cars are “ cheap “ then please tell me what insurance companies your using I’m 20 soon and will have 2 yours no claims and looking for quotes for in next few months most quotes are £2500+.

Damn damn cheap to insure with FOOTMAN JAMES.... its a classic... costs me 155 quid per year for 4000 miles

All the people upset about ads. Adblock+desktop=no ads.

Get a N series gasket set with uprated bolts and head gasket problems will go away

Drives like a lotus Elise great car for the price 👌

I’m 16 and I’ve got one of these, the insurance is going to be about £2100 but I mainly use it for the track, and I’m getting a new Audi A1 to drive daily. the zr’s are good fun cars but they aren’t very reliable or comfy

Haha dont be stupid guys ;) there is no add, i dont have it :) i have also MG ZR 160 HP, but is chipped on 180hp and is GREAT car !!

I was looking forward to this but it was unfortunately spoilt by the constant sound editing clips.

Good car, but I couldn't get insured on it as a first car. Ended up sucking it up and getting a 1.2 03 clio

The 1.8 plus model is 120 bhp. The 1.8vvc model is 160 ps not hp

Don’t these have head gasket problems?

I have the same car !!!! ilove soo much this car y have 23

Headgaskets only cost £350 to replace along with timing belts etc, £50 if you’re doing it yourself and haven’t cooked the head (without timing belts)

Way too many advertisement recently I haven't watch a video in ages and ain't gonna start now but good luck with future I'm unsubscribing

Only going up in value

Got a 1.4 zr mk2 it’s gonna cost 3700 to insure

This car got a proper walk around and twice as long video as the ecobeast....

title just doesent make sense, i bought one of these before i passed my test as a project and when i passed i went to insure it and it was like 2.7k with a black box and over 4k without.... you cant just assume every young driver can afford these cars your saying they should buy.

They should of put the BM diesel in the this out of the 75, would of been ace

Thats a 120 not a 160!

They are nice..a classic now...🚙💨😀🔝👍

And if you bring the engine to me I can get 500bhp+ out of them so you can add power as you get older and more experienced

They are expensive for young drivers spaz, i tried to insure one at 18 was 4500

Think you will find that isn't a 160 only a 1.8 120.

Blue window mirrors add 5hp each

glad I didn't turn my ad blocker off....brake discs aren't standard btw....don't expect too much from an MG ffs

get rid of the blue mirrors, and we got a deal

Not even a + is it? Im sure the + has a differant front end and dash

high insurance though

I really wanted one of these as my first car but I saw sense and stayed away.

My mate had one of these when we were 18-19 back in 2004. It was a fucking shed then. Fun to drive, vastly unreliable, expensive to run / insure... and the old guy opposite my house had a Rover 25 in maroon. Recommending this (and other cars you've done so far) is fallacy. As is the number of ads on your videos. Come on Jamie, ffs.

This is my favourite series because every car that’s been featured in this car for first time or young buyers is going to be far from an affordable drive and it makes me laugh

It sounds like a k20 that never actually kicks.

My grandad has a blue one lol

First car?? Cheap insurance?? Fuck off most young drivers (17-20 yo) won’t even get a quote and if they do it’ll be like £400 like I got quoted 😂

Same had 1 in grey first car shame head gastkets are shit

I own this car and I want Jamie to review this car again it is now running around 160 bhp non vvc and I feel this review does not do this car justice at all it has been off the road for a while getting some much needed TLC and still needs more especially the bodywork

I had a mg zr160 what a complete heap. The bloke I bought it from spent upwards of £1000 having the engine rebuilt after the cambelt snapped. New head which turned out to be cracked the engine when I bought it lasted 3 months before it blew up. They are rust buckets they go round the rear boot lock and the front wings. They probably go in other places but I didn’t keep it long enough to find out

I love your vids Jamie but the adverts bro 😢 please stop!

I've heard somewhere that albanian ricers drive this car

Clearly not done his homework on the MG range. So many errors.

A skimmed gasket? lol

9 ads in a 10 minute video LOL

zr 120

What a nail. Couldn't even be arsed to clean the thing.

That's 400 quid

The + isn't a 160 😅 It's a 120+ All 160s came fully spec'd with, or without a sunroof. Easiest way to tell if it's a vvc is the solonied cylinder by the rocker cover, or the second mini belt on the other side of the engine. The 160s come with slight bigger brakes as well, alloy inlet manifold and purple power push bushings from factory 😁. Probs a few more differences as well I've missed lol I believe the 120 and 160 both use a pg1 gearbox, as the drive shafts are exactly the same

Vehicle Details ManufacturerMGModelZr+ColourRedVehicle TypeCarFuel TypePetrolEngine Size1796ccBHP120 BHPVehicle Age16 years 7 monthsRegistered Date18 March 2003Registered NearBirmingham / BirminghamYear2003 😂😂😂This guys a complete melt you got sold a 120+ for just under a grand there worth fuck all. That's the details of total car check. 160s are rare now and not under a grand.

It’s a 120 bhp one dead asf loool