Hello from Bristol thinking of getting an 800 coupe

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Joe86
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Hello from Bristol thinking of getting an 800 coupe

Post by Joe86 » Mon Sep 01, 2014 9:46 am

Hello everyone,

Been thinking recently about getting a 800 coupe as a daily driver (20k a year) is this a wise decision or is the 800 now more of a weekend car?

I really do prefer large 90’s cars with a soft suspension set up, hence a few 5 series and omegas in the past, but I have always been an MG/Rover fan. I had an ZT cdti which was nothing but trouble, but my 400 sport was spot on. Leads me to think older = better?

In short my omegas MOT and Tax is up at the end of September and I fancy a 800 coupe, which engine and gearbox is the most reliable? Will even finding a decent coupe be possible (for a realistic price)?

So yeah just saying hello and looking for a good 800 coupe.

Cheers
Joe

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Re: Hello from Bristol thinking of getting an 800 coupe

Post by SJG » Mon Sep 01, 2014 12:48 pm

Hello Joe, welcome to the site. The Coupes are lovely cars. Hope you can find a nice one.
Simon

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Re: Hello from Bristol thinking of getting an 800 coupe

Post by dollysprint » Mon Sep 01, 2014 5:19 pm

Hi Joe and welcome to the Forum.
Because of your high annual mileage and the need for reliability I would steer clear of the 96-98 2.5 KV6 engined cars, whilst beautiful to drive that engine is more likely to let you down than not. Whereas the other 2 engine options are more likely to be reliable than not or though both do still have issued if neglected. Clearly you spend a lot of time on motorways and so the obvious choice would be the 2.7 V6 Honda derived unit, the manual option can be quite hard to find, most were automatics. One drawback with the the Honda engined cars is that they were only fitted to the early Coupes from 92-95 and these can tend to rust quite badly so careful inspection is needed. The 2 litre cars were only available in this country from 96 on and tend to be better built but can still suffer rust in the sills and wheel arches. You can have the engine in 2 states of tune, standard Sterling 136bhp or Vitesse 200bhp turbocharged, both are reliable if cared for during their life and these are also the easiest engines to work on. Vitesse can only be had in manual form sporting a PG1 Honda derived box with Torsen diff, and this is its achilles heel as its at its limits dealing with 200 ponies. Most will have some "whine" in operation ranging from hardly audible to outright annoying. The Vitesse is quick and handles better than any other 800 but some find the ride out of step with what an 800 should be, its personal choice and of course any 800 can be upspecced to Vitesse handling or down-specced to standard ride if you wish and can find the parts. Both manual and automatic boxes are available on the standard tune engined Sterling, again PG1 but without the Torsen diff or ZF 4 speed. The standard manual box is slick in use and seldom gives any trouble and because of the 2.0 litres torque characteristics it doesn't need to be overly used on any road other than town driving. The auto is a different story however and whilst you can live with it once you realise its limitations it can also be somewhat annoying because of its preset change points, these being upchanges at 10, 30 and 50 mph with torque lock up soon following. From that you can see that in town it can sometimes be diffcult to get into 3rd gear and in steady A road traffic then getting to 4th can be an issue. The change from 2nd to 3rd is too far apart resulting in the revs dropping too far after change up and adding to the feeling that this is not a quick car, although its still a nice place to be once at 70mph on the motorway. The Honda auto fitted to the 2.7 and the Jatco fitted to the KV6 are ecu, solenoid controlled boxes and both feel light years ahead of the wholly hydraulic ZF box, and both offer a sports mode change pattern.
In terms of economy then the manual 2 litre cars have the edge here but using the power of the Vitesse (tempting) will see the mpg heading south. None of the autos will exceed 22ish mpg round town with mid thirties being available on a leisurely run.

Dave
1988 Sterling saloon 2.7 Auto Pulsar over gunmetal
1990 Sterling Saloon 2.7 Auto black over storm
1993 Coupe 2.7 auto white gold 1
2005 Ford Transit 2.4 lwb, Club van
2007 Jaguar X Type 2.2 manual Estate

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Re: Hello from Bristol thinking of getting an 800 coupe

Post by Bert3 » Mon Sep 01, 2014 5:33 pm

Get a PG1 gearbox from a 200/400 diesel, swap the speedo drive with the petrol version. Whlst the box is open, swap the diff bearings(the weak point) for steel caged ones, and then bung it in a NASP 2L ........ 60mph = 2,000 rpm in 5th :D

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Re: Hello from Bristol thinking of getting an 800 coupe

Post by vito » Mon Sep 01, 2014 6:20 pm

dollysprint wrote:Hi Joe and welcome to the Forum.
Because of your high annual mileage and the need for reliability I would steer clear of the 96-98 2.5 KV6 engined cars, whilst beautiful to drive that engine is more likely to let you down than not. Whereas the other 2 engine options are more likely to be reliable than not or though both do still have issued if neglected. Clearly you spend a lot of time on motorways and so the obvious choice would be the 2.7 V6 Honda derived unit, the manual option can be quite hard to find, most were automatics. One drawback with the the Honda engined cars is that they were only fitted to the early Coupes from 92-95 and these can tend to rust quite badly so careful inspection is needed. The 2 litre cars were only available in this country from 96 on and tend to be better built but can still suffer rust in the sills and wheel arches. You can have the engine in 2 states of tune, standard Sterling 136bhp or Vitesse 200bhp turbocharged, both are reliable if cared for during their life and these are also the easiest engines to work on. Vitesse can only be had in manual form sporting a PG1 Honda derived box with Torsen diff, and this is its achilles heel as its at its limits dealing with 200 ponies. Most will have some "whine" in operation ranging from hardly audible to outright annoying. The Vitesse is quick and handles better than any other 800 but some find the ride out of step with what an 800 should be, its personal choice and of course any 800 can be upspecced to Vitesse handling or down-specced to standard ride if you wish and can find the parts. Both manual and automatic boxes are available on the standard tune engined Sterling, again PG1 but without the Torsen diff or ZF 4 speed. The standard manual box is slick in use and seldom gives any trouble and because of the 2.0 litres torque characteristics it doesn't need to be overly used on any road other than town driving. The auto is a different story however and whilst you can live with it once you realise its limitations it can also be somewhat annoying because of its preset change points, these being upchanges at 10, 30 and 50 mph with torque lock up soon following. From that you can see that in town it can sometimes be diffcult to get into 3rd gear and in steady A road traffic then getting to 4th can be an issue. The change from 2nd to 3rd is too far apart resulting in the revs dropping too far after change up and adding to the feeling that this is not a quick car, although its still a nice place to be once at 70mph on the motorway. The Honda auto fitted to the 2.7 and the Jatco fitted to the KV6 are ecu, solenoid controlled boxes and both feel light years ahead of the wholly hydraulic ZF box, and both offer a sports mode change pattern.
In terms of economy then the manual 2 litre cars have the edge here but using the power of the Vitesse (tempting) will see the mpg heading south. None of the autos will exceed 22ish mpg round town with mid thirties being available on a leisurely run.

Dave
Very interesting Dave, feel enlightened and educated .............
Gaz (or Gary if we're being formal)

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Re: Hello from Bristol thinking of getting an 800 coupe

Post by traineefarmer » Mon Sep 01, 2014 10:11 pm

Joe86 wrote:Been thinking recently about getting a 800 coupe as a daily driver (20k a year) is this a wise decision or is the 800 now more of a weekend car?
I love my coupe, but at that mileage your weekends may well be spent repairing the car for the next weeks usage. :lol:

I use mine every day, but look at it realistically as a driveable project. It is not always in a useable condition and before a long journey (further away than 30 miles - as far as my wife is willing to come and rescue me) I go all OCD on mechanical checks.

Bear in mind that even the latest of these cars is now 15 years old, some critical parts are becoming scarce and let's face it, rover never had the best reputation for build quality. But, if you have the patience to care for it and you buy carefully, an 800 could be the best car you've ever owned.

Mine is. :D
Tom.

'97 Vitesse Coupe
'03 XC90 D5

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Re: Hello from Bristol thinking of getting an 800 coupe

Post by guru » Tue Sep 02, 2014 10:59 pm

I can't see any reason why a well maintained Coupe couldn't do 20k per year. The biggest challenge will be fuel consumption which even on the 2.0 will be fairly heavy however it you're doing 20k then it might be worth considering an LPG conversation which would reduce the running costs down to more sensible levels.
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Re: Hello from Bristol thinking of getting an 800 coupe

Post by Richard Moss » Wed Sep 03, 2014 11:41 am

Bert3 wrote:Get a PG1 gearbox from a 200/400 diesel, swap the speedo drive with the petrol version. Whlst the box is open, swap the diff bearings(the weak point) for steel caged ones, and then bung it in a NASP 2L ........ 60mph = 2,000 rpm in 5th :D
I did exactly that on my 820 Sterling and apart from having to drop down to 4th on some motorway climbs it was a great success.
Out in the desert with a 1998 Grand Cherokee V8, 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4L and a 1997 Chevy Tahoe V8. Back home: 1969 MGC GT

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Re: Hello from Bristol thinking of getting an 800 coupe

Post by Bert3 » Sun Oct 05, 2014 12:47 pm

I've finally had a chance to get an accurate check (fill up, drive 'til near empty, then fill up again) on m.p.g. since fixing all the sensors on the diesel boxed coupe...... I've deliberately only used it for shorter journeys (all under 10 miles, and daily commute is only 3 miles round trip!) yet it's returned just over 26 mpg ... and no, it hasn't been driven slowly.

That's a lot better than I expected from such a big car - and bodes well for mileage returns if it ever gets any long distance use.

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Re: Hello from Bristol thinking of getting an 800 coupe

Post by BlueRover » Sun Oct 05, 2014 2:25 pm

A properly maintained nasp 2l manual will serve you well as long as you don't want to do more than 100 mph and get to 60 in less than 10 seconds. I had a fastback which I called Stella (due to stellar mileage), was up to 303,000 miles when the nasty DVLA collared her for no tax (long, painful story).
Gordon:-
Only two 800's now,white 1991 820i with TWR and full special order leather (been stood for 15 years) and now a Nightfire red Tickford with 135k on the clock
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Re: Hello from Bristol thinking of getting an 800 coupe

Post by Richard Moss » Sun Oct 05, 2014 6:56 pm

Bert3 wrote:Get a PG1 gearbox from a 200/400 diesel, swap the speedo drive with the petrol version. Whlst the box is open, swap the diff bearings(the weak point) for steel caged ones, and then bung it in a NASP 2L ........ 60mph = 2,000 rpm in 5th :D
Whilst it gave me a small improvement in MPG, the real benefit was in correcting the standard car's ridiculously low gearing - after which it ax much more civilised on a cruise
Out in the desert with a 1998 Grand Cherokee V8, 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4L and a 1997 Chevy Tahoe V8. Back home: 1969 MGC GT

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Re: Hello from Bristol thinking of getting an 800 coupe

Post by Raider » Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:34 pm

I am thinking along the same lines.

It's possible I will lose my company car (Audi A4 2lite diesel) in the New Year as I am doing too few business miles due to a new job.

My employer will probably compensate me with some cash and I have in mind an 820 Fastback to do something like 12000 miles a year the vast majority of which would be motorway driving - but stop start of course :lol:

I am thinking maybe 40mpg instead of the 55 the Audi gives me but a good 820 well serviced should be capable of doing the job :?

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