Rover 827Si

[solid61]

Bargain for someone.

[Pillock]

Bargain? I was just thinking that was strong money - not overpriced mind, but I thought these were still fairly unloved and hard to move so it's good to see some desire.

 

Good news for Mo if they're on the up, he'll be sitting on a gold mine soon!

[bramz7]

I'm not exactly an 800 veteran, but anything that isn't a 2.0 non vitesse model seems to be fetching reasonable coin now, and the earlier ones are especially valuable within their circles.

 

I'd dearly love an 825D (if anyone wants an 850 TDI, find me an 800 diesel and it's yours), but I love my 820.

[The Moog]

Bucketeer sent me an article saying that 800s were going up in price with s1s being worth about £2.5k for mint ones.

[brownnova]

My Grandad has a succession of 800s... which means I’ve always wanted one!

[Isaac Hunt]

 

Nice car, the intermediate spec as I called it, with the slightly longer bumpers.

 

2.7 Rhonda, very smooth.

 

I'm not a fan of those Alloys though and neither am I a fan of thelastic trims, but that is just personal taste. I would be wanting it on a set of 17inch Vitesse Sport Alloys, give it some stance.

 

Other than that, I'd leave it as it is

[Lord Sterling]

Nice car, the intermediate spec as I called it, with the slightly longer bumpers.

2.7 Rhonda, very smooth.

I'm not a fan of those Alloys though and neither am I a fan of thelastic trims, but that is just personal taste. I would be wanting it on a set of 17inch Vitesse Sport Alloys, give it some stance.

Other than that, I'd leave it as it is

I absolutely DETEST the "17 Roversports. I had a car with on once and simply chucked them away in favour of the original bottle-top "Prestige" alloys as seen on my Mk2 800s above. I mean, I get it, but it really isn't my bag.

 

The 2.7 Rhonda is smooth, but the KV6 is even smoother, it makes the Rhonda feel agricultural. My KV6 still runs, despite leaky rad and questionable cam belts. I last ran it a year or so ago and I know it'll still start and run with some fuel and a battery.

 

As it's the nearest one to the road, it'll be the first to get some attention hopefully.

[dieselnutjob]

That 820E is a proper early one. Don't they have some kind of daft unique fit ECU which shits itself if you remove the battery and which nobody can reprogramme any more, or did I dream that?

I might be able to help if the 800 community want me to.

 

I would also like to work on some other stuff like 800 airbags and alarm.

[Austin-Rover]

That 820E is a proper early one.  Don't they have some kind of daft unique fit ECU which shits itself if you remove the battery and which nobody can reprogramme any more, or did I dream that?

 

820e (or 'E') depending on model year, is Austin Rover's own in-house single point fuel injection (cars badged 'i' or I' are multi-point fuel injection). It does get amnesia if the battery goes flat, or if the battery is disconnected. You need the Austin Rover 'Fastcheck' diagnostic gear to reset the mixture. It's a really simple job, as the system and the diagnostic gear is so primitive. It is essentially a glorified carburettor.

 

Here's mine; (The Fastcheck equipment lives in the boot!)

 

[Lord Sterling]

820e (or 'E') depending on model year, is Austin Rover's own in-house single point fuel injection (cars badged 'i' or I' are multi-point fuel injection). It does get amnesia if the battery goes flat, or if the battery is disconnected. You need the Austin Rover 'Fastcheck' diagnostic gear to reset the mixture. It's a really simple job, as the system and the diagnostic gear is so primitive. It is essentially a glorified carburettor.

 

Here's mine; (The Fastcheck equipment lives in the boot!)

Good to know. Might need your Fastcheck assistance if I want to get my 820E back on the road.

[Zantimisfit]

Djb;

 

Most Rover cars, particularly the 800s were Rover 'owned' probably as a dealer demonstrator. "UY" at the end of the plate suggests a Worcestershire registration, there *may* be a connection to possibly a lower manager type company car at Longbridge as it's not far from Worcestershire (I live in this area too) but my money is on pre-reg at a dealer for figures, Rover were known for this.

 

Price? Sadly the price on these are all over the place. Quick sale £950. Willing to wait? £1250.

 

I know that these cars are advertised at £2k plus but what they are advertised for and what they actually change hands for are two completely different things.

 

It is a very nice and very clean car (not mad keen on the floor mats) especially havibg lived in the Isle of Man (Tony Pond did a 100mph lap of the TT course in the IoM on a Rover 827 Vitesse fastback on 1988 and 1990)

 

As Rover were owned by British Aerospace thousands of the 'Rover registered' cars hit the road as BAe employee lease cars. My brother worked there and you could them ultra cheap and get a new one every six months. He had a succession of MG Maestros, Montegos, 200s, 400s and 600s. They must have shifted loads that way.

[Sir Snipes]

820e (or 'E') depending on model year, is Austin Rover's own in-house single point fuel injection (cars badged 'i' or I' are multi-point fuel injection). It does get amnesia if the battery goes flat, or if the battery is disconnected. You need the Austin Rover 'Fastcheck' diagnostic gear to reset the mixture. It's a really simple job, as the system and the diagnostic gear is so primitive. It is essentially a glorified carburettor.

 

Here's mine; (The Fastcheck equipment lives in the boot!)

 

19 Aug 2013 (13).jpg

I do like an early fastback.

[Austin-Rover]

I do like an early fastback.

 

That's good - as you can't get older than this one.

[RoadworkUK]

820e (or 'E') depending on model year, is Austin Rover's own in-house single point fuel injection (cars badged 'i' or I' are multi-point fuel injection). It does get amnesia if the battery goes flat, or if the battery is disconnected. You need the Austin Rover 'Fastcheck' diagnostic gear to reset the mixture. It's a really simple job, as the system and the diagnostic gear is so primitive. It is essentially a glorified carburettor.

 

 

I wonder how much of a difference the Fastcheck gear would have made on mine. E-reg Series 1A 820e Fastback. I disconnected the battery and let it sit numerous times over the years, and it always seemed to run okay when fired back up. Reasonable economy, not bad on acceleration (I reckon Rover's quoted 10.0 seconds was rather pessimistic).

 

It was unquestionably the best-looking car I've ever owned.

 

 

Here's a scanned photo of the two 800s that have been in my life. This was taken soon after I got the 820e in '99 - I had already swapped its wheels for Mk2 Vitesse items simply because tyres were easier to source (the original 195/70/14s were pretty much van-only even by 2000.

 

My grandfather gave it to me, replacing my previous Triumph Acclaim, as a bigger car for runs to uni. I was 18. He replaced it with the car in the foreground; which is the 825Si I own today. He had asked Lancaster Rover in Colchester to find it for him - he specifically wanted the V6 with a manual gearbox.

 

Last year I drove it from Essex to Orkney and back, and enjoyed every nanosecond behind the wheel. And there were many.

[Austin-Rover]

I find mine runs pretty well on the 'default' ECU setting, yet I know of another that overfuels and runs like crap on the default ECU setting. Odd! The Fastcheck needs a good quality exhaust gas analyser present to really make the most of tweaking the settings and getting everything tuned spot-on.

[dieselnutjob]

Old lambda sensor?

Thermostat stuck open?

False temperature reading?

Bad airflow sensor?

[Noel Tidybeard]

the carb version was fastback only 820

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I seem to remember that you could only get automatic with the e when they first came out as the massive power of the i was too much for the gearbox to take .

The one D reg 820Se auto I drove when new was very slow and ended up being bought back by the dealer that supplied it as a gesture of good will after 6 months.

I have fond memories of later 800s including many 827Si fast backs that Rover were almost giving away to fleets in 1992, you could have either a Vitesse spoiler and 16" 5 spokes( same style as His Lordships TWR) or automatic transmission for no extra.

We used them as security chase cars when there were threats from across the Irish Sea against senior Directors, and there was many a night that the drive back from a Guvnor's house became a race between an 827 and a Jag, LS400 or S Class. The Rovers never got left behind even though they'd bottom out a lot and cause some impressive 3 figure speed spark shows.

I even used one to drag my massive old Bessecar to St Tropez one year, again it was a bit saggy on the arse end but it flew on the autoroutes and that one was an auto. Luckily my fuel card worked in France.

 

Much later I bought a KV6 Sterling for a £1000 out of Letchworth auction, turned out it had got burnt valves so it went back through Wellinborogh auction 2 weeks later and I was glad to only lose £200- put me off them a bit.