Any one had experience in Rover 220 Turbos?

[UZZ30]

Although not a toyota, im looking at buying a Rover tomcat and wasnt sure where to ask... so ill try here on toyspeed.

Any way ive heard they are a bit expensive on the maintance side of things and prone to leaking head gaskets.... etc

I asked my mechanic about them and he reccomended to stay away.

so any one had one before? Should i go for it or stay away..

[CaM]

based on integras (same shell etc) , engine is also by honda....
that's all i know haha

[flygt4]

one of the welly toyspeeders got one a while back and recieved a fair bit of ribbing for it i have heard all sorts of horror stories bout em

[mr pad]

Only heard bad things.

A girl I knew had one. Didnt have high kms and wasn't driven hard. Had to get a replacement motor. Id stay the $&#$% away

[Elmo]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[UZZ30]

Yeah... i think i will stay away. Even one of my brothers pals also mentioned his dads two tomcats broke alot... Plus as i said my mechanic recommend to stay way.
So really thats telling me alot! Plus what every one else here said.

Earlier today i viewed the one i was considering to buy, looked great and drove well but the interior was very flimzy mainly, door trims and glove box. Not major stuff but after having a soarer it seemed little cheap!

Hmm bit of a shame how the tomcats dont have the Jap reliablity... They look nice and have pretty good interior too...

Any other similar cars like this i should look at, that are more reliable?

[ezy10s]

Friend of mine and Stu's had one for a while.
It spent most of its time in his garage whil;e the gearbox was getting rebuilt or replaced- bit of a shocker. dunno if it was just his one or if they all like that though.

[Stu-]

Ah yes, beavers tomcat. 4 gearboxes in 6 months, 2 of which were brand new from the uk.... tut tut

[Leon]

Don't buy one.

My boss had an immaculate, low milage (30,oookm I think) example. It killed a gearbox and the head twice. He spent a fortune, and then pretty much had to give the thing away when he sold it with 50,000km on the clock.

They're a dog. Avoid.

[ATAl]

The one I've been in many years ago was very nice, quite quick too, but the boost was wound up a lot.

But the big problem with these is that the head warps easily and I know the guy who got the last one in the southern hemisphere (it wasn't cheap either).

[UZZ30]

Hmmm no more rover then!

Looks good tho. To bad the engine and gbox are not good
..

[RAZA]

I also used to know someone with a seemingly tidy, low mileage tomcat that blew a head gasket.

I'm pretty sure there are a few people on the www.performancecar.co.nz forum who have experience with them - maybe try there if we haven't put you off yet.

[Mr Revhead]

the engine is NOT honda. if it was it wouldnt have so many issues!

[RS13]

Don't buy it!

I spent 2 hours lying underneath my workmates' Tomcat the other day, trying to find a seemingly non-existant oil leak!

Honestly, they're just rubbish, awful crap! His is low km's too (70,000km) and he's done driveshaft, CV, rear main seal (!), it has a random water leak, and it looks as though the distributor drive seal has gone, also has electrical problems.. The interior is awful, falling apart, badly fitting.. and parts cost $$$$... he paid $1300 for a new clutch installed!

The thing is, they look good on paper, really good. The Tomcat has 200hp, FWD, light.. leather interior.. you'd think it was fast! But in reality, they're crap. I too have heard of them doing heads, my mate's gearbox bearings are as noisy as $&#$%.. the kinda shit you'd expect from 250,000km cars, not 50,000km.

Moral of the story = STAY AWAY!

[Mr Revhead]

wheres gary?

but his is hardly stock

[edwagon]

mate bought a really tidy one for a 'bargan', then bought it around for me to listen to a noise which had developed. Big end bearings. no sooner was it back on the road ($$$$$ later) and the gearbox shat tself. also had to put up with all the "when your does mum want her car back?" comments wherever he took it.
sold it easily enough (lucky) but wasted quite a few $k on the damn thing.
stay well away.

[UZZ30]

yep well im not going near those again! Ill have to stick with jap cars i guess

[Lloyd]

Come on, choose a car and buy one already other than asking about every car ever made

[The Wombat]

now from the welly toyspeeder who own's one.

Yes the cost hurts but if you do what i've done and look around and do your reserch you can build it up strong.
the reason i have not been going down to the welly meets is i've just spent 3k doing a full engine rebuild (befor i blew it up) and strengthing. which has been...

1.Full replacment of all the engine gaskets with steel lamited kits and replacment of seals and rings. and re-seating of the valves and piston sets. aka full rebuild
2.full port and polish
3.pressure test of the block
4. high flow thermostat and water pump and new lines
5. A/c removed and new larger front mount installed (a/c line were damaged)
6.new bov
7.new boost controller
8.battery to the boot
9. custom air intake
10. full dyno tune (results to be found out)
11. reprogranmed EMS

befor i had done any of the work the car was like shit of a stick crazy fast nd i can't wait to get it back.

next on the list is .

1. new box to build up (found one but at $1270 i might have to wait a bit)
2.new suspension set up
3. new ehaust system set up 3inch all the way thru and new dump pipe with waste gate
4.600cc injectors


at the end of the days all cars have problems at some stage with some things .

[vvega]

now from the welly toyspeeder who own's one.

Yes the cost hurts but if you do what i've done and look around and do your reserch you can build it up strong.
the reason i have not been going down to the welly meets is i've just spent 3k doing a full engine rebuild (befor i blew it up) and strengthing. which has been...

1.Full replacment of all the engine gaskets with steel lamited kits and replacment of seals and rings. and re-seating of the valves and piston sets. aka full rebuild
2.full port and polish
3.pressure test of the block
4. high flow thermostat and water pump and new lines
5. A/c removed and new larger front mount installed (a/c line were damaged)
6.new bov
7.new boost controller
8.battery to the boot
9. custom air intake
10. full dyno tune (results to be found out)
11. reprogranmed EMS

befor i had done any of the work the car was like sh*t of a stick crazy fast nd i can't wait to get it back.

next on the list is .

1. new box to build up (found one but at $1270 i might have to wait a bit)
2.new suspension set up
3. new ehaust system set up 3inch all the way thru and new dump pipe with waste gate
4.600cc injectors


at the end of the days all cars have problems at some stage with some things .

'



funny dosent matter how much you mod a POS it will always be a POS with extra's

with your nice new motor i give your gearbox a week

v