Kenneth_Mc_Testes' ROVER 45 V6 JATCO JUS KICKED IN Y0

[Ghosty]

If anyone else fancies a piece of 75jr there's one on eBay for £325 classified ATM.

[HH-R]

45

Saloon

V6

High spec

Coronet alloys

I need a cold shower.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

It's only flippin PASSED! What a car!

[rml2345]

Ace! The booted 400s/45s look loads better than the hatch, which is quite an achievement considering how little Rover were really allowed to fiddle with it originally.

[bub2006]

Looks great in that colour,cleans up grand also. Well done on the pass too. Mr boll

[Ian_Fearn]

How did Rover go under when making such stunning cars?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I don’t get it either. (well, I do). I drove this thing to work this morning and it was a total joy. Its seriously like a little Rolls-Royce this car, the engine is amazingly smooth and the gearbox is fantastic. The steering is pin-sharp and basically it’s just a great drive, a great package. I’ve only driven a 4-cyl manual Rover 75 but this is far better to drive than that was. I know these used to get panned for their 1990’s Honda switchgear but even that is bollocks, the indicator stalks on this 100,000 mile example click softly into position and just work perfectly!!! even they are a pleasure to use.

 

I guess mine is a quite an early one from before Project Drive really got going, I know the seats in the later ones look friggin awful so I can imagine that some of the Rolls-Royce vibe might be lost but I cannot recommend these things highly enough as a shite proposition, you see them going through the bay from time to time for absolutely nowt.

[beko1987]

I've always liked the 45, possibly more so than the 75.

[Lord Sterling]

Nice one Bollz. Still miss the 45 Diesel I had for a week or so a few years back.

[AMC Rebel]

We should starve CAR the oxygen of publicity over that review.

 We should starve them the oxygen of fucking oxygen.

 

 

 

Credit to the late ad much missed Linda Smith

[AMC Rebel]

How did Rover go under when making such stunning cars?

 

Because Clarkson and all motoring journos say "any Brit car is total shit" all the time.  Also many UK buyers are badge snobs who would buy any car that costs a fuckton of cash no matter how wank it actually is (see various BMWs, VAG offerings etc) because they want their neighbours to be impressed.

[dollywobbler]

Yeah, I'm sure it's nothing to do with a horribly dated product line, ridiculous K-series kettling and decades of underfunding. It's just the fault of car magazines.

[sierraman]

Historical poor product planning and development.

 

Diminished target market also.

[dollywobbler]

It pleases me that this car is so good. This thread has seriously turned me onto them. Had a 414 HHR many moons ago, and it was fundamentally a really good car (though I didn't get on with the pedal placement and the long travel clutch). 

 

Sounds like the V6 45 is one of those cars that manages to be a triumph despite some pretty serious constraints. Wasn't it always thus with the British motor industry? Some properly good engineering, that was rarely allowed to truly shine.

[Sir Snipes]

I think a Rover-ised civic estate with the v6 and autobox would be a great idea. Or would have been.....

[AMC Rebel]

Yeah, I'm sure it's nothing to do with a horribly dated product line, ridiculous K-series kettling and decades of underfunding. It's just the fault of car magazines.

 

 

Historical poor product planning and development.

 

Diminished target market also.

 

 

Awww don't go spoiling my fun with reality

[CortinaDave]

I had a ZS i bought for sweetie wrappers and it was excellent. I only bought it as it was so cheap it was insulting not to, and even weighing it in wouldve been profit.

 

Yet I enjoyed driving it so much i ran it as my daily for a full year and got £450 when i sold it. For some reason these are about the lowest value vehicles out there at the moment despite actually being really quite good.

[Vince70]

I think the old 45/400 are fantastic I bought one as my WBOD and it’s been more reliable mechanically than any car I’ve had before it just doesn’t use any oil or coolant but it’s got the Honda engine and looking at the history it hasn’t been touched in 5 years.

 

The brakes are shite though and I’m thinking looking at your thread it might need the ABS looking at as mine has just started pulsing through the brake pedal.

 

The ticket is up at the end of the month so I find out then if it’s worth saving also it has an advisory the last few years for trailing arm bushes.

[mk2_craig]

I think a Rover-ised civic estate with the v6 and autobox would be a great idea. Or would have been.....

Definitely! Nobody's daft enough to build one of those now though, surely?

[Jewel25]

Lovely cars , there's something quite comforting about driving them. Like with many others I prefer them to the 75 especially in Connie spec. I've had mine for 8 years now and have covered over 60,000 miles. It's a shame rust is killing lots of them now including mine to some extent. We simply won't see this size of car again fitted with retro styled seats, chrome trim and lashings of 'wood' .

[Jewel25]

[Mr_Bo11ox]

That's a fancy steering wheel! Looks lovely. Is yours a 1.8? Never understood why they didn't fit the 135 engine in the top end ones of these.

[oldcars]

That interior is class.

[meshking]

I've always liked these, I think they got the tail lights just bang on.

 

Sent from my SGP621 using Tapatalk

[Jewel25]

Yes it's a 1.8 . I know , I actually prefer it to the 75's interior. The 2 tone trim is a little bit too much in the 75 and some of the trim feels flimsy. My 07 Mazda 6 is perfectly ok , but the 45 has so much more class and character.

[Jewel25]

I don't suppose anyone had a copy of CARs review of the 45 v6?

[holbeck]

The trouble with 45's (when new) was the price. 

 

I had to choose a new company car in 2000 at the height of the BMW Alchemy saga and I gave serious consideration to buying a Rover.

 

I had a budget benchmark of a 2.0 GLX Mondeo, yet the only 45 I could get was a 1.6 Si. 

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The trouble with 45's (when new) was the price. 

 

I had to choose a new company car in 2000 at the height of the BMW Alchemy saga and I gave serious consideration to buying a Rover.

 

I had a budget benchmark of a 2.0 GLX Mondeo, yet the only 45 I could get was a 1.6 Si. 

 

 

 

You can blame Bernard Pinchinstrider for that. They wanted to push Rover upmarket, not actually knowing that the Rover brand wasn't worth a wank at that point.

Had they gone the other way and priced every model just below the competition, they'd have sold shitloads. That was Jaguar's secret; the car looks great, goes well and it's amazingly cheap. It had the build quality of a Bic biro but at that price, who cares?

[Jewel25]

I suppose the launch of the Focus in 1998 made everything else in the class looking rather dated. The 45 is hideously cramped in the back too.

[sierraman]

Focus and the Mk4 Astra killed any chance by this point.

 

I'll have a Rover 45 Impression 2.0TD please with the 'Acoustic Kit' and Monogram Brown over Cream finish.