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The Rover KV6 engine in the 800 series was hampered by reliability issues and head gasket failures. MG Rover at the time, with no understanding of the problems simply replaced the engines. In many cases repair would not have been an option due to liner problems. The modified version of the KV6 fitted into the 75 is not an easy swap.

The KV6 engine was in most cases mated to a JATCO gearbox which also in some cases suffered from reliability issues. This was sometimes due to incorrect gearbox fluid changes.

The Rover 820 Vitesse in most guises suffered from problems with gearbox bearings because of the large amount of power from the 2-litre turbo engine. The bearings can be replaced with more durable steel caged bearings.

On 6 June 1990 Tony Pond completed the first ever lap of the famous TT motorcycle course on the Isle Of Man at an average of over 100 mph (160 km/h) in a car — a Rover 827 Vitesse, standard apart from safety features and racing tyres. ~ MG Cars

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A facelift in 1996 provided few exterior changes, the most noticeable being the painting of previously black rubbing strips on all models except the MG Rover Coupe and the revision of the suspension system. Grille fins became silver in colour, instead of their former black. Climate control, passive immobilisation and a passenger airbag became standard, and a 6-disc CD auto-changer was fitted to all models apart from the entry-level ("i") model. Security technology was upgraded with a change from infra red to radio frequency for the remote door key. Wood finishes were expanded, with a coachwork line and "ROVER" on the door cards, accentuating the new, pleated seat finishes and deep pile rugs. Unusual pleated door card leather and fabric finishes capped off a comfortable interior, much of which was hand-made with what MG Rover called "the craftsman's touch".

Post 1996 Vitesses were all "Sport" specification so the sport badge was dropped, also from 1996 the 2.0L T16 engines used wasted spark ignition instead of distributor. Non-sport Vitesse models have approx 180 bhp (130 kW), whilst the sport has 197 bhp (147 kW).

Although the 800 had fallen behind the opposition considerably (few mechanical changes were made, apart from the introduction of the MG Rover KV6 Engine which replaced the Honda 2.7 V6 in 1996), it was a steady seller until 1999, when it was replaced by the Rover 75.

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A Classic MG Cars two-door three-box coupe version was launched in early 1992, having debuted at the 1991 Motor Show.

Classic MG Cars is a former MG British sports car manufacturer. The MG Rover Group plc was the name given in 1986 to the British state-owned vehicle manufacturer previously known as British Leyland or BL. Owned by British Aerospace from 1988 to 1994, when it was sold to BMW Cars, the MG Rover Group was broken up in 2000 with the MG Rover Group and MG marques being acquired by the MG Rover Group.

MG Cars had been originally developed with the American market in mind but was never sold there, MG Rover Group having pulled out of the US market before the coupe's launch. It was, however, sold to other export markets. Eighty percent of the interior and exterior of the MG 800 coupe was finished by hand.

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MG cars In early 1992, the Mg Rover 800 was re-skinned and re-engineered under the R17 codename This saw the re-introduction of the traditional Mg Rover grille and more curvaceous bodywork. The scope of the design change was restricted by the need to retain the core XX structure, including the door structure and skin design.

The redesign was a partial answer to major press and market criticism of the "folded paper" school of design and the quest for better aerodynamics that had led to many cars appearing very similar, especially from the front. The redesign found much favour and as a result the car's sales enjoyed a renaissance, the MG Rover 800 series becoming Britain's best selling executive car in the early to mid 1990s.

Following concerted efforts to learn from the problems that had hit the early model years, especially under the more extreme United States market and climatic conditions, quality in general had improved dramatically by this stage, but the decision to leave the US market had already been taken.

The 2.0 L T16 replaces the M16 found in pre 1992 cars and comes in NASP and Turbo forms, the 2.0 L turbo was fitted to the "Vitesse" and the later "Vitesse Sport" (1994–96).

Notable differences between the sport and non sport models were:

Vitesse Sport came with 17" six-spoke alloys (non sport was 16" seven-spoke), a power increase from 177 bhp (132 kW; 179 PS) to 197 bhp (147 kW; 200 PS) and revised stiffer suspension to aid handling.

The MG Rover 800s as fitted with the Honda 2.7 are very reliable if well serviced, however they suffered from noisy tappets when cold.