NZ division of the Dr Alex Moulton Appreciation Society - Rover ‘Metro’ 114 GTI

[Honey Badger]

Top class update Phili, it was well worth the wait.

 

Hope the arm is on the mend as well.

[dollywobbler]

Quite remarkable.

 

I had the same bouncing issue with my miniMetro. My suspicion was that the displacers were rather low on gas. Not much fun.

[Eddie Honda]

DSCI0006 by E Honda, on Flickr

 

[nacho man]

Three days, and two nights in a dingy well spent. It drove home without any problems.

 

 

 

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

 

Enjoyed reading that, cheers big ears.

[Pillock]

You've got a way with words, I could almost imagine myself under a small car with a big engine, getting grime in my eyes and skinning my knuckles.

 

Thankfully, I'm sat on the sofa with a beer and that was your experience not mine. Happy days! But well done

 

What's the odd little quarter-wheelarch-trim things it's got going off?

[Ghosty]

For anyone that doesn't know, the Honda Domani is the non-EU name for the the five-door 95-01 Civic. It comes in hatchback, and saloon like the Rover 45.

 

Enjoyable reading - NZ is such an intriguing place and somewhere I'd love to visit one day.

[Jon]

OK, here's my take on this piece. 

 

 

 

Phil arrived in the Japtro on Sunday for an NZ shiter's day out, so I was hoping to take it out for a spin on a favoured local back road at some point. Apologies for the above photo which I've bandied about in two other threads but for context, the 205 and Visa GTis above are mine, so I was interested to see how a hot Metro fared and, as far as I could fathom, I was yet to pop my K series cherry - I don't think passenger journeys in my Grandad's 214SLI as a 9 year old really count.

 

 

We made it back from a heavy day's chod spotting not long before dusk, so STUNO and I took it down the road for a quick go, having been given the green light by Phil to 'drive it as hard as you like', which I must say was probably not as quick as Phil would drive it, since I've a feeling he's an enthusiastic right foot. 

 

 

 

 

I'm certainly no motoring journalist but I tried to remember to take some mental notes, especially as I doubt I'll ever get to drive one ever again - they hardly litter the streets round these parts (unlike the MG Metro trim I picked up a couple of years ago, which was doing precisely that). It only took until the end of the driveway to discover what my abiding memory would be - it's bloody bouncy! Phil says he took precise measurements to ensure the spheres were gassed up to spec but the rear does look a tad tall and the ride is laughably bad at low speed, so I think something's amiss. It does improve at higher speeds, so at least once the engine's warmed up, you can overcome this issue somewhat....

 

 

 

There's still only 97000km on the clock, which for a New Zealand car is very low. It's therefore in very good nick and the gearbox in particular really surprised me - it's a much shorter throw than the 205 and Visa and the gear selection fell to hand beatifully. Not only that but I thought that the ratios were perfect for my type of driving style. I don't think I'm very good at being a hooligan in a car (barring the Clio - that's why I'm glad it's not mine), so I don't think I exceeded 5000rpm but the gears were perfectly spaced in making progress and not bogging down the engine. I thought it had PAS at the first turn of the wheel out of the driveway but then it weighted up quite nicely which made me suspect it didn't but whatever the case, I'd score it highly on that front, too. I had hopes of a comically angled steering wheel as that's what I've read about older Metros but either it'd been revised by this era or it wasn't as absurd as made out to be. I did wonder why the clutch pedal was so firm but then I looked down and noticed it was the brake pedal I was trying to depress, so echos of driving a Citroen AX in that regard.

 

 

 

The seats were very supportive but I think the 205's are wider and the Visa's are certainly more comfortable. Whereas you sit low and feel cocooned in the Visa, particularly with its shallow windscreen, this has a much higher driving position - or at least, that's how it seems. From inside, it feels much smaller than the Frenchies and now I can see why Phil wasn't too bothered in joining us! I'm sure these had red seat belts to match the bumper inserts at some point but this one doesn't, sadly. The dash seems quite antiquated compared to the 205s and less idiosyncratic than the Visa's, which is in itself not a patch on the wackiness of lesser, earlier models.

 

 

 

So, how does it fare overall? Like I say, it didn't feel lacking in power but I think that my cars handle better and are faster, though the Visa's a 1.6 and the 205 a 1.9 so by rights they should. I reckon Phil would be quicker in this than I would be in the 205 but that's to do with the driver, not the car. I've no idea how good the tyres were on this, so there may well be room for improvement there, although I'm pretty sure the Visa's are slightly wider; the 205's definitely are. Aesthetically, if this were a little prettier, Mrs_Jon may well have been happy to take this on to replace the 205, had I not spoilt her by mentioning a 21st century Clio instead. I'd be very happy to accept it in to the fold, too but I think that this relates more to low mileage/condition than anything else. If the Visa felt as tight as this for instance, there'd be no competition.

 

Mechanical nightmares aside however, I think Phil's bagged a right bargain! However, none of us are any the wiser as to the tiny front guard covers - probably some Japanese rule about exposed tyres or something.

[STUNO]

I can only agree with Jóns thoughts, loved being a passenger in this. The bounce was bad at low speed but seemed better at speed.