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Classic MG Cars

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.