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MG ZR ZS ZT Technical - Big Bangs For Your Bucks

Modern cars, eh?

Electric windows, door mirrors and sunroofs, heated seats, power steering, airbags which are more likely to kill you than save your face, carbon-fibre-effect plastic mouldings etc. ad nauseaum.

I don't want MG-R to make cars with any of the above. I'd rather have a bigger engine than any of these market-driven features. And in the UK, the market is driven by the distorting influence of the fleets.

If you're in the market for a Vectra or a Mondeo, then a) you shouldn't be reading this and b)you would need all of the above features to make your car look the least bit interesting.

Hell is a mid-range car. It always was (c.f. Austin A55, Ford Cortina, Nissan Bluebird.)

I want a stripped out 1.8 VVC ZR for £10,995, a 2.5 V6 ZS for £12,995, and a ZT 190 for £17,995.

Less is more. The Land Rover Freelander 3-door makes a designer statement of painted metal on the inside. So should MG-R

Please, MG-R strip away the bullsh*t.
JH Gillson

Mate had a Mitsubushi Evo 6 RS on import- electric windows removed, air con gone, no sunroof, manual mirrors, stripped interior and a built in rollcage. Car sold like hot cakes in Japan and demand out stripped supply, so there IS a market for that kind of car. Having raced a standard Evo 6 and an Evo 6 RS from a rolling start the difference was staggering - and the car is cheaper to produce!
Stephen Murphy

>>sold like hot cakes in Japan

There's a very different car culture in Japan though - just check out some of the modification sites. Make the Max Power kids over here look like children... er...

E
Ed Clarke

Same in New Zealand with modifeid Jap cars. They drivers aren't known as boy racers though - they are all called rice boys for some reason..... Though it is illegal to have a roll cage unless the car is used for racing and you have a Motorsport Authority card to prove it. Same goes for race harnesses.
Currently building an MG Montego turbo rally car with some 200bhp - will be interesting to see how that goes with it stripped down to the bare essentials :o)
Gary
Gary Boxall

Interesting then how many companies are producing mods for the Mustang Cobra engine. Bloody hell the sky will be the limit for the V8 ZT!
Nicodemus

Nicodemus, Melbourne, Australia WROTE:

<< Bloody hell the sky will be the limit for the V8 ZT! >>

Yeah - Good eh! ... :O))

JMcF.
John McFeely

JH Gillson WROTE:

<<Modern cars, eh?

Electric windows, door mirrors and sunroofs, heated seats, power steering, airbags which are more likely to kill you than save your face, carbon-fibre-effect plastic mouldings etc. ad nauseaum.>>

Hmmmm .... My old 1980s MG Montegos and my wife's 1990 1.6LX have most of those things but I dont regard these cars as modern now. Although they more than keep up with more "modern" cars'standards of reliability and performance. Ford Focus and Ka, yes, very modern but both Ford and GM here in the UK, have produced fleet cars for the vast company car market.These fleet merchants want all that stuff because they dont have to pay for them. We all who use the services or buy the goods of their companies do! It's a "Mondeo/Cavalier Man" status thing. Witness the recent Honda Accord TV advert where three obviously company car drivers discuss cars' equipment and extras - "SatNav" and all that stuff. Their parting shot: "Yes, but does it have those plastic hook thingies to hang your suits" ... nuff sed! Bullshine sells! This has distorted the car sales market here hugely for the private car buyer for several decades now. If those drivers of company cars had to pick up the service, component replacement and labour charges for those same cars as they would have to they been private buyers, those specifications JH Gillson lists would be much less in demand. But, never forget, if those Company Car Punters want this stuff, manufacturers will supply that demand because they purchase huge numbers of cars.

Gillson also WROTE: << I don't want MG-R to make cars with any of the above. I'd rather have a bigger engine than any of these market-driven features. And in the UK, the market is driven by the distorting influence of the fleets. >>

This last point is so very true and confirms my observations over many years. Your demands for a bigger engine are of less importance than all those "desirable" extras from the volume sales point of view. So, Gillson, get to the back of the queue here and maybe later be able to help you. Meantime we're selling lots of cars..... And when that desirable larger engine does become available, it's usually slotted into the top of the range model at a price out of the reach of most private buyers.

Yes, I too would yearn for a "no fuss" large, understressed lazy engined version of the ZS or ZT. Remember the MG B GT V8? Remember too the first B V8s were private conversion efforts. In the final analysis, there really is no substitute for cubic capacity. If MG-R survive and more importantly thrive, they may have sufficient spare capacity to be able to fulfil that particular limited niche later. Keep your fingers crossed ... we shall see.

John McFeely.


John McFeely

What happened to the promised diesel versions of the ZS and ZT ? I would have a diesel ZS (without the tea tray on the boot please). Need that for ecconomy and towing the racing MG ! We also have in the family a diesel Rover 75 with the BMW engine and that is a super car.
Having seen the showroom launch cars I am a bit concerned about the build quality on the ZR and ZS. The 75 based car is good though.
Graeme Forrester

ZS and diesel is not available in the UK market, not for a little while anyway. ZT has no diesel option listed yet.

Rog
Roger Parker

This thread was discussed between 11/08/2001 and 12/08/2001

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