Used to drive a few of these back in the day and owned a 220 turbo coupe. Always annoys me to see the keyboard warriors spouting off about how rubbish Rovers were .. its simply not true, these cars were as good if not better than anything else at the time. The K series was so smooth and advanced compared to Ford and Vauxhall equivalents at its launch.
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220 Turbo Coupe... my holy grail car though I never ended up owning one, sadly. When were 16 and at college I remember me and a mate making the staff at Evans Halshaw near the college extremely nervous by actually clambering into a dark metallic blue Turbo Coupe on the showroom floor and sitting there full of want! I did however get to own a 620ti some years later, wish I'd never sold it! White Gold 'facelift' model 😍
ZIGZAG! Yes I had the K series for 4 years and that time it didn’t miss a beat. Those plucky K series were built like tank engines and could really take a battering. I used to thrash mine as I was only 22/23 at the time so drove like a bit of a dick looking back now, lol. Now I have a 2018, 2.0D, VW Passat and I’ve had nothing but trouble with it. It’s. Company car so I’m not really that bothered as all costs are covered by the lease car company. But if it was my own I would of got rid by now, it’s been in the garage that many times I’ve genuinely can’t remember how many times it’s been up on the ramp for repairs, breakdowns etc. Absolute pile of trash, give me back my old Rover 3 door 2020 GTi any day👍
I find it difficult to spot indicators at the best of times now, especially front indicators where a weedy halogen orange bulb is lost amongst a bright white LED DRL, the second generation J11 Qashqai being a perfect example.
Land Rover are still going strong and they own the Rover brand. They are soon to market a new Road Rover so Rover isnt completely gone and could be back stronger and better in the not too distant future.
@@Chaostheory1971 Exactly that reason- kept all the good bits and ran the rest into the ground. I think BMW also own the Triumph name (for road cars only).
Yeah it was all BMW's fault. Of course it was. Its not like Rover had been burning money for years, already had bailouts and multiple owners or like BMW also lost a shed load of money trying to keep them going, is it? I used to go to Longbridge regularly through the 90's (through Honda tie in and BMW ownership). After seeing it it was obvious there was no way it was ever going to be sustainable. When people are doing important jobs like waiting for someone else who's doing an important job (on a break) it just gets silly. The workers wanted to turn up and do no work and the management were clueless. The only reason Mini is still going is because BMW dragged the quality up kicking and screaming until it was actually a viable car.
@@siraff4461 You are right of course. It's a shame that Rover couldn't be turned around into an efficient and profitable company. I'm sad that when it was sold by BMW, they appeared to take all the profitable bits with them (which of course is their absolute right to do), and leave the shell of Rover behind. By that time the writing was on the wall.
@@siraff4461 Absolutely agree - it is churlish to blame BMW for what was obviously homegrown mismanagement and poor work ethics. No wonder they called it The English Patient.
The early K series were brilliant engines, the big issues comes from when BMW took over Rover and tried to cheapen the build of the K series engines, they changed the metal head dowels to plastics, these cracked and caused the heads to move which blew head gaskets
The design award for the engine was thoroughly well deserved and had the engine been coupled to a similarly worthy cooling system and the owners perhaps more attentive to the maintenance regime then the unit would have become legendary rather than infamous. It was almost orders of magnitude more compact and lighter than anything else on the market but this requires sophisticated heat management. It almost lends itself more to outboard engine design than automotive. Lovely looking example of a beautifully styled car. My goodness that car has been cherished. 😊
Not at all. There are a few well known design flaws with the K series and the cooling system. While I'm firmly in agreement that they are basically a great little lump once the issues are sorted you can't try to put the blame on BMW. The rusting radiator, corroding rear water pipe, easy block matrix, lack of a low coolant level warning and so on are some of the main culprits. The over ambitious compression ratio (fine with better quality studs/gasket), poor quality materials and general lack of quality for the tolerances required is the real killer. I've stripped and built quite a lot of them over the years and they always come with one of a few issues - stretched head studs, coolant leaks or the big one overheating. The headgaskets go from overheating or from being thrashed from cold. The nonsense about the dowels is just that. There isn't an engine in history which relied on the locating dowels to stop it going pop and that includes this. The head bolt torque is 20nm then 180deg then another 180deg (stretch bolts that should only be used once - another common mistake is reusing them). When you crack them it usually takes around 90lb/ft which will increase as the engine warms. If you think for one minute the dowels are having any effect on head location once that lot is done up you're kidding yourself. Once sorted with decent head studs, gasket, a proper skim and match then the cooling system addressed they are solid. That doesn't mean they left the factory as a good engine.
@@siraff4461 Thanks for that. I don't recall seeing a Rover like this (rebadged Hondas yes) here in Australia. I have been interested in the K series because of its use in Caterhams. We did get the rear engined MGs here and they had a bit of a reputation for overheating but that may be due to the reasons you outlined. Best wishes from Oz and stay safe
The plastic dowels were introduced with the 1600 and 1800 cars, the enlargement of the engines and change of the dowels was signed off in the later BAe years as the Honda relationship cooled before the BMW takeover, BMW never had much oversite of the K Series during their ownership, it was for them a "sunset" engine to be replace once the Hams Hall facility would come online with a new generation of BMW 4 cylinder engines, so remained very much undrr Rover management regarding its development which included a quite extensive reworking of the K6, to cure its head gasket issues in the 800 for the 75, K4 engines after 2000 reverted to steel dowels but still suffered from head gasket issues.
This is a nice one! Absolutely immaculate car, clearly very well looked after. Rare to see such a nice example, should attract many admiring looks at a car show.
Honda said repeatedly that they couldn't afford Rover and that partnership was their only offer. Otherwise I agree. Subsequent owners did not serve the company well. Honda always played straight.
@@timhancock6626 I may be wrong but that's not how I remember it. I thought Honda had made an offer which was more or less assumed to be the way to go. Honda even stated their long term plan to be to see Rover as an independent company sometime on the future.
@@evo5dave It does make you wonder why Rover management decided to partner with BMW, considering that all the models at the time were Rover/Honda hybrids, using many shared parts, and with Rover's suppliers actually providing Honda with parts for their cars aswell. Whereas BMW bought a company which it shared no designs, components or suppliers with, in a completely different market sector, while still having to negotiate with Honda to supply parts for most models, not least of which being major things such as the dashboards for the R8, and later 400 & 45. Absolute madness.
@@woodrow_mayes The idea that BMW "abused" Rover is, with respect, utter nonsense. BMW buying Rover was the best thing that ever happened to Rover, the problem was BMW were too "nice" - they stepped back and let us get on with it, partly cos they were worried about the offence a German company taking over an English one might cause and partly cos theyd seen some of the surprisingly good results we d got on ridiculously small budgets in the past, so figured that we d be able to get really great results with decent funding behind us. As usual us Brits effed up and carried on with our distinct and unique skills of gross mismanagement, arrogance and blatant stupidity (which got even more out of hand with MG Rover). By the time BMW realised we needed to be properly managed and that the light touch wasnt working it was too late. Had BMW stepped in and taken more control early on Rover would still be around today.
_(edited because of Primary 2 spelling)_ - Now, I have to say, that's a superb example. Lovely colour. Spotless inside and out. That engine bay is a mechanical dinner plate. Inside is bright and very well kept. This is a credit to the previous keepers, and the current one. A show piece if ever there was one (probably even museum quality!). The steering wheel at first seemed an odd design to me, but when you were on the road, it dawned that the open design at the top was so you could get a clear view of the instrument panel/clocks. Damn good idea!
I had a Metro Gti as a driving school car.165,000 miles no issues. Original clutch, and only 3 disc and pad changes.Written off by a knob in an uninsured Transit, the engine was sold and ended up in a Caterham . Cam belt, Antifreeze, water pump change every 50,000,and radiator changed at 100,000. Great car.
The K Series as said doesn’t tolerate coolant loss very well at all, a low coolant alarm would have helped mitigate this. It also didn’t help that head gaskets were often changed without investigating the reason for the loss of coolant assuming that it was always the head gasket in the first place, the replacement would pop soon after.
I used to have a load come in saying they had the headgasket replaced but it hadn't fixed it. Usually the metal pipe running along the back of the block would have corroded and be leaking. Unfortunately a lot of them had already boiled past the point of no return by the time I got hold of them. Almost always needed a head skim, thicker gasket and the usual flushing of everything. They hold up pretty well once sorted properly though. A good engine overall once the minor issues are addressed.
I had the head gasket changed on both a Tom Cat (1.8vvci) and an MGF (1.6). The gasket was changed by specialist ex MG/Rover engineer who used to travel the UK in his van changing head gaskets on these engines. He told me the gasket failure was due to nothing more than a poor gasket design. When they eventually developed a steel sandwich construction gasket (much later on) this put an end to any failures and as a consequence eventually put him out work.
@@charliepragnell5791 The gasket is a weak point but thats on purpose. If you use the MLS gaskets without sorting the other issues you're just sending the problem elswhere - usually to a cracked head/liners. This isn't new tech and wasn't developed later on - it was just less expensive to use cheap ring insert gaskets than multi layer metal and the rings were considered "good enough" for mass production. Total saving around £10 per car. I'll leave you to decide if that was a wise choice or not.
I remember the first time I drove one of these, after owning a Maestro, and I was amazed at how good they were in comparison. It has dated very well and is still a good looking car. Nice review Ian, and some happy memories.
Honda had a longstanding corporate policy of not engaging in foreign acquisitions, they were willing to double their stake in Rover from 20% up to 40%, but not buy the whole thing, and BAe wanted to sell all of it, and BMW were pretty much the only ones interested in owning the whole thing by 1994 (Ford had expressed some interest in the late 1980s, but the UK government insisted on selling it to a British company, and so pressured BAe into taking it on, by the mid 90s, Ford had their hands full turning around Jaguar and Aston-Martin and were no longer interested in all of Rover Group).
Absolutely love the acres of beige, good engineering, light and flat Eric! The R8 to me was the perfect blend of modern and traditional sensibility and no stupid computers or useless tat found on modern cars. Great review Ian!
Touching a huge lump of wood here, but I've had 5 K series (Still have a MGF) and a Kv6 and I've never had HGF. The R8 was a cracking car when you compare it with its contemporary Volvo 440. It was a thoroughly well appointed car at launch in 1989. My Dad was tempted out if a 1990 Volvo 740 into a 94 214 SEI. It was a wonderful little car with very period Frey half leather interior. Well built but my Dad quickly fell back in love with Volvo. It was swapped for a late model 940 Wentworth Turbo.
In the rover 25 and 200 when the engine really suffered... Check the metal cooling pipes for corrosion as they can rot thru. remove the thermostat from its housing and fit the upgraded part which fits at the top of the engine thus easier to change in future but more importantly reduces heat shock to the head. heat shock to the block due to thermostat failure and placement one reason they go. Another reason is the very thin single wall inlet manifold gasket between the coolant passages that enter the head they can leak outside and down the rear of the block, or internally as pressure builds into cyl 1 or 4, or both, leads to running lumpy on startup till the coolant burns off, if it gets really bad the engine can't crank from hydrostatic lock. Replacing the inlet gasket does not always cure it as the plastic manifold tends to pinch the gasket more at the fixings, this can be remedied by fitting the vvc aluminium inlet to get a better flush seal. Another issue is resovior caps are crappy and are not always airtight after coming on and off a few times, this causes the coolant to boil as can the above gasket issue causing the head failure not desirable after just doing the head! There is a ball bearing valve in the plastic inlet manifold, the tiniest bit of crud in the coolant blocks it and then coolant flow around the head is massively reduced. Removing the ball bearing from the brass housing solves this. Most garages do the head work and dont even address the causes, that is why a lot fail again and again. The radiators are so cheap after hgf they should be replaced, all the hoses and expansion tank should be flushed or replaced and the ball bearing removed from the inlet to avoid the tiniest bit of mayo blocking the system again. Do all these things and change the coolant regular and it's not too bad an engine. as you can see I've been there and done it a few times. The worst thing about the k series is finding someone who actually knows the engine well and it's flaws to solve them, the mpg was never as good as stated and the fact it couldn't pull the skin off rice pudding In 1.4 guise, zero torque! Thats why although it can be made reliable the cars they put it in are, to most, not worth the repair bill, unless you can d. I. Y it. The early k series like this one are slightly better reliability I hear. My advice is buy the 1.6 Honda unit save yourself the trouble, and enjoy the revvy, perky, quick responsive fun nature it has in comparison.
I've owned 2 in my life the first was a two tone K plate 214 and the second was that colour, M plate 214 SEi with half leather. Both cracking cars and great fun to drive.
Having lived in the UK in the 1990's I remember seeing these everywhere. They were very popular, just not able to compete with Ford and Vauxhall in the fleets. I got to ride in some of these and also the 200, and I remember being impressed by the comfort, ride and quality. I had a 1.3 Escort which felt a lot more plastic and thrown together. What an amazing example your friend found, it looks showroom fresh. My favorite of the entire range was the estate.
I had two R8s. The first was a 416GTI. For the day, it was fully loaded with leather seats, electric sunroof and electric windows. You could cruise in comfort and if you wanted to thrash it, it would take on Golf GTIs and XR3is. Had it for 5 years and nothing went wrong. The second was a 216 GSi which was my station car that I picked up for a hundred quid from the salvage yard but with nothing wrong but a broken rear light. The 8 valve engine was nowhere near as good as the 16v but it still ran like clockwork. My mother in law had a 214 with the K series and that was a money pit. I definitely think the Honda powered cars were way better than the Rover powered ones.
No, never rubbish! Great car and a cut above anything else on the market at the time. I’m getting one early 414 soon, so I can’t wait! There was far too much publicity in regards to HGF and everyone else forgot that engine from other cars also had their pitfalls. On the power, that engine being a multipoint injection, would have 102/3bhp. The earlier single point cars had 95. Also, the reason why they had an adapted Peugeot gearbox for the 1.4 cars was because it was cheaper than developing a new one. The 1.6 had its own Honda gearbox, hence why autos were only available on the 1.6 too.
Wasn't the gearbox being a Honda in the 1600 because that engine was the other way around, as it runs in the opposite direction. Didn't they also use a VW gearbox in the maestro?
Paul Queripel Yes, the Honda engine was mounted the other way round because it turns on the opposite direction compared to the Rover one and also, it was the one that has a specific manual and auto gearbox designed for it, so there was a saving in development costs. The Maestro and montego had VW boxes, but they weren’t great.
My dad had one of these in white in the early 90's when I was 10ish I think. It seemed a bit posh. He replaced it with a BX that quickly developed a squeaky suspension noise at low speed that used to embarrass me enough that I used to make him drop me off around the corner from the school. I sounded like a bed that being vigorously used for adult purposes.
We used to hire these Rovers back in the 90s to follow tarmac rallies in Ireland and I can tell you after a weekend of hard driving they were a dam good car good reving engine and not to bad handling on Irish lanes easy run as well
I bought and sold loads of these, 214/414, they were great, never had any bother, bought most with body damage and fixed them, didn't rust as bad as Ford Escorts and were generally nice to drive, with a light airy feel, Ialso had a 416gti with the full leather, different engine I know but was fun to drive and quite quick.
Great video, I had a MGTF 160, 18 months old when purchased in 2004. The head gasket failed at 24,000 miles. The car was serviced correctly. The garage that repaired it replaced the plastic Rover cylinder liner shims with metal ones and an upgraded head gasket. No more problems. I’ve uploaded a video to my channel after watching your video on the risks of running older vehicles. Appreciate it if you take a look and share it. Possibly help save lives.
Wasn't aware that the front suspension was different in the Rover and the Honda. Exemplary 3 point turning skills. Hint of what could have been possibly, but don't ever stop showing these Austin, Morris or Rover gems. Love them all. I'm sure the people who designed them and built them had a love for them and a pride in them.
Not just a case of looking after them sadly. They need the dowels replacing on the cyclinder head but once this has been done it is indeed a great engine
Miles Finch my sis had the 1.4 k blew head gasket x2 no prior coolant loss so it had to go, she liked the car but could not afford the engine gasket appetite,i would not wish that engine on my enemies
@@SimpleOldGaming i can only vouch for a 214 that my sis had and it popped its gasket x2 the second time it didn't get repaired by my sis she sold it. Now i had the deisel 218td great car no mechanical issue whatsoever. but i also was freindly with a few mechanics who said avoid the k series nuff said
The test car engine was very reliable. Metal inlet manifold and the piston liners were a different design. It's the later one's with plastic manifolds that only leaked when the engine was cold, and the wet liner design that were troublesome. The water pumps were prone to weeping a little to. They only hold around 5 to 5 1/2 litres of coolant with the expansion tank holding 1 litre so any leaks and it would overheat causing the head gasket to blow. that was the most common failure. Sometimes the engine oil would find it's was in to the coolant. I've replaced more head gaskets on these than i've had hot dinners lol. They are a cracking engine though when looked after, very revvy, and would pull like a train from 4000rpm. I once had a brand new 2001 Rover 25 1.4, the 103bhp version, do over 130mph. It was at 6000rpm in 5th gear. Was a very quick car, would race anything with it.
Ian you are brilliant excellent video what a lovely old car it's a shame they don't use colours in cars any more instead of bloody awful black and grey
You ought to watch the China car crash videos. You know it's a car because it's either black or white. Medium trucks are blue and large (artics) ones red.
Incidentally, I owned a Rover 200 of similar vintage (k reg), It had the old indicators but had the grille. I paid £275 and it was utterly reliable for the entire time I owned it, a brilliant car. I loved it despite the lack of power steering & only 3 working speakers, great engine too!
A rRover 214 was my first ever company car. Ran like an absolute sewing machine and I covered a LOT of miles in it... but, of course, I never had to do any mechanical work on it. Had a few "niggles" (electric windows failing, central locking failing etc) and the headlights were TERRIBLE. I recall driving the A66 on a rainy night and I had to stick to around 30mph cos I simply couldn't see corners until I arrived at them. FWIW, most of my colleagues went for the bigger 400 NON-turbo diesel instead and they were like driving a tractor uphill through porridge with flat tyres... while towing a heavy trailer. If you want a laugh, try and find one to review. It's the only car where you'll ever need to change up into 2nd/3rd gear on a petrol station forecourt or in a car-park. Due to the dreadful engine, 1st & 2nd (and, to some extent 3rd) were incredibly low-geared, with a massive gap to 4th and 5th so if you ever lost momentum on the motorway you had to slow all the way down to about 40mph, change down into 3rd and then claw your way back up to 70mph.
@@ferrumignis IIRC, the MG ZS was a newer "generation" than the original 200/400 series. The ZS, again IIRC, had headlights similar to the Rover 600 - a sort of "dual-headlight in one pod" design. The original 200 series had teensy narrow headlights (which looked really cool for the time) that, only lit up about 10m of the road. Basically, they just produced a really, really, narrow pool of light that only illuminated a 10m length of road. You could twiddle the adjuster so you could light up a bit of the road 100m away but then there'd be a huge patch of darkness between you and where the pool of light started. Alternatively, you could twiddle the adjuster so you could see the road right in front of you but then it'd be complete darkness 10m in front of you. Scary either way! :-S
HubNut looking for Clannad album, finds Simply Red instead. "You cannot be Sirius!" As TDS123 says, the early K series engines were cracking units, but in a different way to the later ones! I remember hiring a 1.1 Metro and marvelling at how much more grown up it was than my 1.0 A+ series powered Metro Mayfair. A bit like certain versions of Windows, I wondered how much better the Metro would have fared with that engine/'box upgrade a lot earlier.
Thanks Ian, and it's in decent condition, too! That clutch travel is definitely excessive, and might indicate a developing problem. All three pedals should rise to about the same level, if everything is in order. We had a Rover 111 with a fuel-injected K Series engine; one of the last ones made. It lasted for almost 19 years of standing for several days, then working quite hard, repeatedly. 16 of them were under our ownership., That little car went all over Central England, including going up and down rural North Wales hills on holidays each year, fully loaded, often with 4 occupants. That's hills with gradients of 1:4 or even steeper, on some of those Welsh farm lanes. That little car could hold a true 70 mph on motorways for as long as you liked, and averaged over 50 mpg during its lifetime. It did a steady 53 mpg on long A and B road runs at up to 55 mph. We never revved it really hard, except for 2nd gear on the steepest Welsh hills. The head gasket went at the end of our ownership, and it ended up as one of the last 200 of that model on the road, before we traded it in. Happily, it did go to another owner. We didn't know about the need for thorough warming before working it hard, so took no extra precautions to cater for that. Coolant levels were always well-maintained. For once, rust did not kill off a small Rover which had a design life of only 7 years, even though it stood on city streets for nearly all of that time. 😉 I've only seen 1 Metro and one other Rover 111 over the past 5 years. They're becoming as uncommon as hen's teeth. (Hint, hint!)
My son had a 414 and then a top of the range 416 auto when he was a student - they were 10-12 years old at the time and still very comfortable and pulled well. No engine bay troubles but the brakes were terrible- binding and dragging and needing numerous replacements of disks and other costly bits - maybe this was unusual?
It brings back memories as a nipper riding around in a red/grey Rover 214 SLi back in the early 90's. I loved the walnut wood it had as well. Engine wise we never had a problem with it. I always thought the head gasket issues only affected the 1.8 but sounds like it effected it the 1.1, and 1.4 as well.
it is too bad the honda/rover alliance didnt continue. honda was and still is known for reliability and rover for was known for great design work. if the alliance had continued, maybe rover would still be making cars in england
Such lovely cars. Maybe because in Aus, the Honda Concertos didn't last very well and you never see them, but I don't see Honda when I look at these at all, just a lovely Rover. They didn't even sell in Aus but I have seen more Rovers on TH-cam than Honda Concertos in real life! What a beautiful example too. Cheers
I passed my test in a K series engined Metro. the year after I passed, BSM switched to the new Corsa. Have to say, I really got on with the little 1.4 Metro. Maybe i have rose tinted glasses on, but I remember it being pretty nippy. and I always remember some pearls of wisdom from my driving instructor. Don't be afraid to use the throttle (which I invariably did!), it will get you out of as much situations as the brakes will.
I’ve got a 1.8 K-series in my 2003 Freelander, it’s been nothing but completely reliable, surprisingly fuel efficient (considering the Freelander isn’t a light car) and best of all, really good fun. It pulls well too, on and off the road, just seems to have a really wide power range. Definitely a better engine than the reputation it unfortunately can’t shake despite the later Ks (post bad gasket and plastic dowels) seem to be quite dependable. I’m at 140,000 miles, I think it’ll keep going as long as it’s looked after. Also remember my great uncle who worked for Rover owning on of those Rovers, quite comfortable.
Nice tour of Talgarreg. Very nice car too, and would be an attractive new buy even today. The gearing is odd considering that my Honda CR-V does 85mph at 1800 revs in ninth gear. Trouble is that it never engages top gear until around 75mph so one has to travel 30 miles to Carmarthen to find the nearest dual carriageway, and another 10 before the M4. In two years of ownership, until last week, it never engaged top gear.
Those K-series engines are quite impressive delivered a lot of bhp for their size. Yes they did get a bit of a grilling over the head gaskets. I do quite like Rovers although both of mine gave me nothing but trouble, but they weren't in there 1st flush of youth. If Honda hadn't backed out of the deal with Rover, it would be very interesting to see what Rovers of today would look like under that same collaboration. BMW just wanted to nick the 4x4 system and pull out.
Yes it does..kinda like to know which parts have been restored tho ..a car that is nearly 30 years old just doesn't look like that ..unless it has been stored somewhere.
@@Luke-PlanesTrainsDogsnCars yes, amazed how clean it is under the bonnet, no signs of its age at all. My Rover is 26 years old (owned for 23 years) and it shows its age under the bonnet
I had a 420GSi Executive in Nordic blue as my second car. I secretly loved it (as a 23 year old I didn't let my friends know that). It had every option available on it except Aircon.
I had a 1992 214Si and I still miss it--absolutely fantastic car, well built, comfortable, and fun to drive. And yes, I did manage to blow the head gasket on it, which cost £400 to fix!
We had one of these at work as a pool car back in the day. It was easily the most popular car in the pool and the step change in quality from things like the Montego was huge.
"Lovely gear change, that's what throws you". Wonderful pun; intentional? I have driven a 214Si and I didn't get on with it at higher motorway speeds. I found it fidgety and vague, maybe it was the particular example I had, but I didn't find motorway speeds that confidence inspiring? The wood-on-everything-including-poverty specifications always made me laugh. Neat design, my pick of the crop of R8 was the 220 GTi 3-door, I love the MK1 Sierra XR4iesque rear quarter windows and those lovely chunky 5-spoke wheels on the pre-facelift cars. 400 series of the era really is a mini 800 saloon.
@@tallblokesam Yes, Amaranth was another great, also Kingfisher, don't think I ever painted Amaranth, painted a new coupe shell in Tahiti blue, Marine blue was a pain as the cars from the factory had a grey ground coat and literally half a coat of blue, then clear, when you painted a panel for coverage it wouldn't match! Only Rover could turn a straight blue into a 3 stage! Happy days.
Mr Hub nut, had 2 k-series engined rover R8 1.4 & 1.6. Rock solid, no gasket issues. Kept serviced. Only issue was the steel coolant pipes rotted that went around the back of the engine.
A friend's parents had a brand new 1984 rover 213SE as a lada 1500 driver at the time,I was blown away by how fast, spacious,well equipped and good handling car it was. Engine revved for fun and the dash (with its 414 simplicity) was fantastic.
Great review, Ian, I really enjoyed that. Back in '95 I bought a '93 414Si in dark blue with light grey interior. In the three years of ownership I took it from 21,000 miles at purchase, to 60,000 miles when I sold it & in that time the only issue I had (honestly!) was the bulb failing in the clock in the centre of the dash! The K series never gave me any trouble whatsoever. In 2000 I bought a M reg 214SEi in platinum with the superb 1/2 leather interior which was just as reliable. Lovely cars!
My brother in law had one of these, a lovely car,smooth and comfortable[mind you ,his was brand new] head gaskets were a combination of poor components and design and not helped with poor maintenance but lots of cars in the 70,s and 80,s also suffered HGF for the same reasons.
Go on Ian, have a rave! I acquired a 1996 218 SLD turbo diesel in the same colour but with grey velour from a customer of mine who had given up driving, it was a one owner car with 80k and in near enough showroom condition. I was going to use it over the winter but it was just too good to subject it to road salt, it had always previously been garage so didn’t feel right. It was a half decent thing to drive. Only thing that spoiled it was the again budget tyres that were fitted. The engine was very punchy for the era of car which was a nice surprise.
That looks like a fantastic example, used to love the Rover R8's, they were very much ahead of their time compared to Astra's and Escorts of the same era.
I owned an old 214 si 2 door with the k series, about 12 years ago, had it for a year put 20k on it and it was a superb car, and the engine performed perfectly, performance was excellent for a 1.4, quite quick, and 40 plus mpg, sold to a friend at work, who kept it for another year eventually succumbed to rust. Great car, would drive one right now
Many moons ago I had a 216 Vitesse, Loved that motor and kept it for a couple of years....did plenty of trouble free miles in it. I bought it from the old Stoke car auctions in the early 90's and eventually sold it for roughly the same price as i bought it for. Great motor !
I’ve had 3 cars with the K series engine, x2 1.8 and now with a 1.6 K series 216, it’s a powerful, free revving, willing engine. It doesn’t tolerate neglect as you said, hence head gasket failure in so many cars, but look after it and it will look after you.
Nice colour. Brought back nice memories of my H plate R8 a white 214SLi. Early Si's didnt get the walnut (real) trim on the doors. So much better than the Orion at the time in my opinion 😊
Nice car. Another superb Roy Axe design (RIP). This 1992/3 base model gets a remote boot release but my top spec 2003 Nissan Almera doesn't have one! 😣 Used R8s were on my radar in the early 2000s but never got to experience one sadly.
This takes me back. Owned a 214Si then a 216 Coupe in red followed by another 216 Coupe in silver. Recently found out that the guy I sold my red Coupe to in 1997ish still owns it. It’s been off the road in a garage for the last 15 years or so but he is getting it back on the road... really looking forward to taking my old car for a drive again over 23years after I sold it!
I had a brand new L reg 418SLD Turbo as a company car in the 1994. Gearbox lasted 250 miles went back to dealer found to have no oil in from factory! Was great after that! Always liked the design on these!
A really good looking car in its day and certainly appears to be very well put together. The collaboration with Honda was a bit of a golden age for Rover. What a shame that it didn't continue.
Having had many Rovers with K series engines (dad was a Austin Rover mechanic) I can't fault the engines if maintained correctly at all. However I did find the cooling system was somewhat lacking, as In not enough capacity. My favourite Rover of the R8 variety was my 416 GTI (Honda twincam engine) not massively powerful at 140bhp, but held the road well and sounded much faster than it was, never did manage to get ownership of what some call the Holy Grail, the R8 Tomcat Coupe with the T bar roof. Oh and in that lovely Amaranth Purple...... Hmmmm takes me back!
318.000 km since January 1993 on our white 414GSi Still runs brilliant! I love this red here and I'm jealous of the engine bay condition. The car looks like brand new. My congratulations to the owner!
I have a 2003 MG ZS with the 1.8 K-Series and it is a lovely engine, punchy and pokey when you need it to be but also happy to just tick over when cruising along at 60 or so. It too has the same issue with the pedal height as does the 45 and I believe there is an after market mod out there to lower the pedal down an inch or so. As others have said though and I see if often on forums, people are so quick to "diagnose" issues as head gasket failures when in fact it's usually down to thermostats or small leaks from hoses. Great engines in my eyes and so easy to work on with basic tools.
The K series is a fantastic engine but the coolant was achilles heal. It was designed from the outset to have a small coolant capacity for quick warm up. But if there was a leak, the low coolant sensor was halfway up the block and if the level dropped that low, the head gasket was good. The head gasket material used was originally was of top quality, it was only after BMW took over that to save money, lower quality gasket material was used and this is where the poor reputation of this engine started. I love these cars, they were in my view the best design of the '90's. To my eternal regret I never bought one of these . I did however owned a 1.1 8 valve K series Metro. That engine is the sweetest, quietest, most fuel efficient engine ever. An absolute honey of an engine. The gearbox by the way was heavily re-engineered by Rover as the original Peugeot box was a bit loose.
My Mother had a 414 Si just like this one. Hers was a 1994 model and the plate was M91 MDA. Tax was due in 2006 so I'm guessing it's been crushed or SORN since. Not a bad car to be fair, lovely blue with black interior, sunroof and the wood wrap around the dash, and the suspension was extremely soft. Good memories watching this review!
Oh wow! That brings back memories. I had a 418tdi for 15 years, exactly like this one apart from white paint. It was a joy to drive and ate miles like no tomorrow, often taking me the length of the country at 55 mpg. Good times before speed cameras on motorways. Did over 300k miles before the rear bumper nearly fell off due to the mounting brackets corroding. An easy fix. I regret selling it to this day.
My second car was a 1992 214GSi with power steering which makes a massive difference. They're so heavy without it. Never had any problems with it other than leaky radiator. Was a different choice at the time for a 24 year old but I loved it. My dad had a 414Si but it did succumb to the head gasket. Still got a soft spot for them and would love to find a 200 in that sort of condition
I had a heavily modified K series engine in my MG6 1.8 turbo. They seemed to have cured the head gasket problem but they still had the problem of the rotting radiator.
Cracking engine. Got one in my Freelander. Sorted the head gasket with the upgraded sump ladder and head bolts. It’s at 100,000 miles now and still runs great. Many garages made a lot of money out of the head gasket issue, it was often a cracked expansion bottle or warped inlet manifold at fault......
Engines were fitted to freelanders and lotus,s and all overheated. Lovely lovely car just a shame they blew gaskets ...... Great content STAY SAFE☕☕☕☕☕
![ALLY - OH MY! [ REACTION ] 'Amarin Nitibhon' #ALLY_OHMY #ALLY #allynitibhon #แอลลี่](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nX9qpHjVfbQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Used to drive a few of these back in the day and owned a 220 turbo coupe. Always annoys me to see the keyboard warriors spouting off about how rubbish Rovers were .. its simply not true, these cars were as good if not better than anything else at the time. The K series was so smooth and advanced compared to Ford and Vauxhall equivalents at its launch.
220 Turbo Coupe... my holy grail car though I never ended up owning one, sadly. When were 16 and at college I remember me and a mate making the staff at Evans Halshaw near the college extremely nervous by actually clambering into a dark metallic blue Turbo Coupe on the showroom floor and sitting there full of want!
I did however get to own a 620ti some years later, wish I'd never sold it! White Gold 'facelift' model 😍
Yep I had the 220 GTi and it was a brilliant car. Went like s#*t off a shovel and in the 4 years I had it I never had any problems.
@@matty6848 my missus used to drive her Dad's 420 GSI which was rapid, nice comfortable car
The K series was powerful and economical, it was a good "engine". I owned a few and the HGF tendencies definitely ARE real, though.
ZIGZAG! Yes I had the K series for 4 years and that time it didn’t miss a beat. Those plucky K series were built like tank engines and could really take a battering. I used to thrash mine as I was only 22/23 at the time so drove like a bit of a dick looking back now, lol. Now I have a 2018, 2.0D, VW Passat and I’ve had nothing but trouble with it. It’s. Company car so I’m not really that bothered as all costs are covered by the lease car company. But if it was my own I would of got rid by now, it’s been in the garage that many times I’ve genuinely can’t remember how many times it’s been up on the ramp for repairs, breakdowns etc. Absolute pile of trash, give me back my old Rover 3 door 2020 GTi any day👍
Gone are the days with indicators big enough to see properly in bright sunshine!
I find it difficult to spot indicators at the best of times now, especially front indicators where a weedy halogen orange bulb is lost amongst a bright white LED DRL, the second generation J11 Qashqai being a perfect example.
Agreed, the ones installed adjacent to bright LED running lights can be terrible.
@@andrewbarnes1295 or the ones in between rear and brake leds ffs...cant see em blinkin then🙈🙈
@@jamesgallagher1992 it's not you can't see them people just don't bother using them they think they are assessories🤡
@nh73 yes I agree as you're going round the roundabout or round the corner is a bit late really especially for pedestrians who are waiting to cross
Rover is always in my heart. I felt devastated when the news came out that the inevitable had happened, their bankruptcy. Such a history gone again.
Land Rover are still going strong and they own the Rover brand. They are soon to market a new Road Rover so Rover isnt completely gone and could be back stronger and better in the not too distant future.
you want to get out more
Rover would have survived and prospered with Honda - BMW finally killed it
Makes me think that BMW bought Rover for one thing only, that being the Mini, which they still own.
@@Chaostheory1971 Exactly that reason- kept all the good bits and ran the rest into the ground. I think BMW also own the Triumph name (for road cars only).
Yeah it was all BMW's fault. Of course it was. Its not like Rover had been burning money for years, already had bailouts and multiple owners or like BMW also lost a shed load of money trying to keep them going, is it?
I used to go to Longbridge regularly through the 90's (through Honda tie in and BMW ownership). After seeing it it was obvious there was no way it was ever going to be sustainable.
When people are doing important jobs like waiting for someone else who's doing an important job (on a break) it just gets silly.
The workers wanted to turn up and do no work and the management were clueless.
The only reason Mini is still going is because BMW dragged the quality up kicking and screaming until it was actually a viable car.
@@siraff4461 You are right of course. It's a shame that Rover couldn't be turned around into an efficient and profitable company. I'm sad that when it was sold by BMW, they appeared to take all the profitable bits with them (which of course is their absolute right to do), and leave the shell of Rover behind. By that time the writing was on the wall.
@@siraff4461 Absolutely agree - it is churlish to blame BMW for what was obviously homegrown mismanagement and poor work ethics. No wonder they called it The English Patient.
Thanks for reviewing it Ian. It's definitely a keeper and I'll do my best to keep it as healthy and maintained as possible.
Looks a cracking example. Totally immaculate. Hope you enjoy it !
I am so jealous. I love older cars and this one is absolutely lovely and in such condition.
The early K series were brilliant engines, the big issues comes from when BMW took over Rover and tried to cheapen the build of the K series engines, they changed the metal head dowels to plastics, these cracked and caused the heads to move which blew head gaskets
Absolutely this. Once the are fixed/replaced, the engines will run "forever". Part of the reason we still see so many 25s running on the roads today.
The design award for the engine was thoroughly well deserved and had the engine been coupled to a similarly worthy cooling system and the owners perhaps more attentive to the maintenance regime then the unit would have become legendary rather than infamous. It was almost orders of magnitude more compact and lighter than anything else on the market but this requires sophisticated heat management. It almost lends itself more to outboard engine design than automotive.
Lovely looking example of a beautifully styled car. My goodness that car has been cherished. 😊
Not at all. There are a few well known design flaws with the K series and the cooling system. While I'm firmly in agreement that they are basically a great little lump once the issues are sorted you can't try to put the blame on BMW. The rusting radiator, corroding rear water pipe, easy block matrix, lack of a low coolant level warning and so on are some of the main culprits. The over ambitious compression ratio (fine with better quality studs/gasket), poor quality materials and general lack of quality for the tolerances required is the real killer.
I've stripped and built quite a lot of them over the years and they always come with one of a few issues - stretched head studs, coolant leaks or the big one overheating.
The headgaskets go from overheating or from being thrashed from cold. The nonsense about the dowels is just that. There isn't an engine in history which relied on the locating dowels to stop it going pop and that includes this.
The head bolt torque is 20nm then 180deg then another 180deg (stretch bolts that should only be used once - another common mistake is reusing them). When you crack them it usually takes around 90lb/ft which will increase as the engine warms. If you think for one minute the dowels are having any effect on head location once that lot is done up you're kidding yourself.
Once sorted with decent head studs, gasket, a proper skim and match then the cooling system addressed they are solid. That doesn't mean they left the factory as a good engine.
@@siraff4461 Thanks for that. I don't recall seeing a Rover like this (rebadged Hondas yes) here in Australia. I have been interested in the K series because of its use in Caterhams. We did get the rear engined MGs here and they had a bit of a reputation for overheating but that may be due to the reasons you outlined. Best wishes from Oz and stay safe
The plastic dowels were introduced with the 1600 and 1800 cars, the enlargement of the engines and change of the dowels was signed off in the later BAe years as the Honda relationship cooled before the BMW takeover, BMW never had much oversite of the K Series during their ownership, it was for them a "sunset" engine to be replace once the Hams Hall facility would come online with a new generation of BMW 4 cylinder engines, so remained very much undrr Rover management regarding its development which included a quite extensive reworking of the K6, to cure its head gasket issues in the 800 for the 75, K4 engines after 2000 reverted to steel dowels but still suffered from head gasket issues.
My Dad worked at Rover in the early 90's while I was an infant and would regularly come home covered in specs of nightfire red.
My dad used to come home with his dinner bag full of car parts
Bob Walker
Scouse?
@@bobwalker8907 Did he bring enough home to build a Cadillac?
Then he would of been in the paint shop I take it? I worked in the West works then the Cab 1 & 2.
@@bradlemmond His name wasn't John(ny) Cash by any chance?
This is a nice one! Absolutely immaculate car, clearly very well looked after. Rare to see such a nice example, should attract many admiring looks at a car show.
My dad Bought 2 new and did 100 miles a day commuting, he loved them.
Big fan of the K-Series here. I have had many K cars and currently own a 2002 MG TF 160 and an MG6 that uses a beefed up version of the 1.8 Turbo K
Yay - no sandals! On a different note, Rover should have been sold to Honda, not BMW. It would probably be still going had it been.
Honda said repeatedly that they couldn't afford Rover and that partnership was their only offer. Otherwise I agree. Subsequent owners did not serve the company well. Honda always played straight.
@@timhancock6626 I may be wrong but that's not how I remember it. I thought Honda had made an offer which was more or less assumed to be the way to go. Honda even stated their long term plan to be to see Rover as an independent company sometime on the future.
@@evo5dave It does make you wonder why Rover management decided to partner with BMW, considering that all the models at the time were Rover/Honda hybrids, using many shared parts, and with Rover's suppliers actually providing Honda with parts for their cars aswell. Whereas BMW bought a company which it shared no designs, components or suppliers with, in a completely different market sector, while still having to negotiate with Honda to supply parts for most models, not least of which being major things such as the dashboards for the R8, and later 400 & 45. Absolute madness.
@@woodrow_mayes The idea that BMW "abused" Rover is, with respect, utter nonsense. BMW buying Rover was the best thing that ever happened to Rover, the problem was BMW were too "nice" - they stepped back and let us get on with it, partly cos they were worried about the offence a German company taking over an English one might cause and partly cos theyd seen some of the surprisingly good results we d got on ridiculously small budgets in the past, so figured that we d be able to get really great results with decent funding behind us. As usual us Brits effed up and carried on with our distinct and unique skills of gross mismanagement, arrogance and blatant stupidity (which got even more out of hand with MG Rover). By the time BMW realised we needed to be properly managed and that the light touch wasnt working it was too late. Had BMW stepped in and taken more control early on Rover would still be around today.
@@typos1477 "The English Patient"... you've probably put the cat amongst the pigeons with your post, but it's the uncomfortable reality.
_(edited because of Primary 2 spelling)_ - Now, I have to say, that's a superb example. Lovely colour. Spotless inside and out. That engine bay is a mechanical dinner plate. Inside is bright and very well kept. This is a credit to the previous keepers, and the current one. A show piece if ever there was one (probably even museum quality!). The steering wheel at first seemed an odd design to me, but when you were on the road, it dawned that the open design at the top was so you could get a clear view of the instrument panel/clocks. Damn good idea!
I doubt it was any better when it was finished being pre-deliver serviced.
I had a Metro Gti as a driving school car.165,000 miles no issues. Original clutch, and only 3 disc and pad changes.Written off by a knob in an uninsured Transit, the engine was sold and ended up in a Caterham . Cam belt, Antifreeze, water pump change every 50,000,and radiator changed at 100,000. Great car.
The K Series as said doesn’t tolerate coolant loss very well at all, a low coolant alarm would have helped mitigate this. It also didn’t help that head gaskets were often changed without investigating the reason for the loss of coolant assuming that it was always the head gasket in the first place, the replacement would pop soon after.
I used to have a load come in saying they had the headgasket replaced but it hadn't fixed it. Usually the metal pipe running along the back of the block would have corroded and be leaking.
Unfortunately a lot of them had already boiled past the point of no return by the time I got hold of them. Almost always needed a head skim, thicker gasket and the usual flushing of everything. They hold up pretty well once sorted properly though. A good engine overall once the minor issues are addressed.
@@siraff4461 Ahh, the beauty of air cooled engines - leaks didn't really matter !
I had the head gasket changed on both a Tom Cat (1.8vvci) and an MGF (1.6). The gasket was changed by specialist ex MG/Rover engineer who used to travel the UK in his van changing head gaskets on these engines. He told me the gasket failure was due to nothing more than a poor gasket design. When they eventually developed a steel sandwich construction gasket (much later on) this put an end to any failures and as a consequence eventually put him out work.
Very thin head gaskets were used in the new k series ,so they put thicker head gaskets to solve this issue and they were still K rap....!!!!!
@@charliepragnell5791 The gasket is a weak point but thats on purpose. If you use the MLS gaskets without sorting the other issues you're just sending the problem elswhere - usually to a cracked head/liners.
This isn't new tech and wasn't developed later on - it was just less expensive to use cheap ring insert gaskets than multi layer metal and the rings were considered "good enough" for mass production.
Total saving around £10 per car. I'll leave you to decide if that was a wise choice or not.
I remember the first time I drove one of these, after owning a Maestro, and I was amazed at how good they were in comparison. It has dated very well and is still a good looking car. Nice review Ian, and some happy memories.
That one is the multi-point injection with 103bhp. The earlier single point injection models were 95bhp ish.
Came here to say this. Doesn't have the triangular airbox which was the giveaway of the SPi.
Rover should have been sold to Honda instead of BMW, I'm sure we would still have rovers being made today.
Honda had a longstanding corporate policy of not engaging in foreign acquisitions, they were willing to double their stake in Rover from 20% up to 40%, but not buy the whole thing, and BAe wanted to sell all of it, and BMW were pretty much the only ones interested in owning the whole thing by 1994 (Ford had expressed some interest in the late 1980s, but the UK government insisted on selling it to a British company, and so pressured BAe into taking it on, by the mid 90s, Ford had their hands full turning around Jaguar and Aston-Martin and were no longer interested in all of Rover Group).
Absolutely love the acres of beige, good engineering, light and flat Eric! The R8 to me was the perfect blend of modern and traditional sensibility and no stupid computers or useless tat found on modern cars. Great review Ian!
I love the R8 really need another. Engines are not as bad as they made out. Look after them and they are sweet. Really nice example.
Touching a huge lump of wood here, but I've had 5 K series (Still have a MGF) and a Kv6 and I've never had HGF.
The R8 was a cracking car when you compare it with its contemporary Volvo 440. It was a thoroughly well appointed car at launch in 1989.
My Dad was tempted out if a 1990 Volvo 740 into a 94 214 SEI. It was a wonderful little car with very period Frey half leather interior. Well built but my Dad quickly fell back in love with Volvo. It was swapped for a late model 940 Wentworth Turbo.
In the rover 25 and 200 when the engine really suffered... Check the metal cooling pipes for corrosion as they can rot thru. remove the thermostat from its housing and fit the upgraded part which fits at the top of the engine thus easier to change in future but more importantly reduces heat shock to the head.
heat shock to the block due to thermostat failure and placement one reason they go.
Another reason is the very thin single wall inlet manifold gasket between the coolant passages that enter the head they can leak outside and down the rear of the block, or internally as pressure builds into cyl 1 or 4, or both, leads to running lumpy on startup till the coolant burns off, if it gets really bad the engine can't crank from hydrostatic lock.
Replacing the inlet gasket does not always cure it as the plastic manifold tends to pinch the gasket more at the fixings, this can be remedied by fitting the vvc aluminium inlet to get a better flush seal.
Another issue is resovior caps are crappy and are not always airtight after coming on and off a few times, this causes the coolant to boil as can the above gasket issue causing the head failure not desirable after just doing the head!
There is a ball bearing valve in the plastic inlet manifold, the tiniest bit of crud in the coolant blocks it and then coolant flow around the head is massively reduced. Removing the ball bearing from the brass housing solves this.
Most garages do the head work and dont even address the causes, that is why a lot fail again and again.
The radiators are so cheap after hgf they should be replaced, all the hoses and expansion tank should be flushed or replaced and the ball bearing removed from the inlet to avoid the tiniest bit of mayo blocking the system again.
Do all these things and change the coolant regular and it's not too bad an engine.
as you can see I've been there and done it a few times.
The worst thing about the k series is finding someone who actually knows the engine well and it's flaws to solve them, the mpg was never as good as stated and the fact it couldn't pull the skin off rice pudding In 1.4 guise, zero torque! Thats why although it can be made reliable the cars they put it in are, to most, not worth the repair bill, unless you can d. I. Y it. The early k series like this one are slightly better reliability I hear.
My advice is buy the 1.6 Honda unit save yourself the trouble, and enjoy the revvy, perky, quick responsive fun nature it has in comparison.
Nice example good colour and comes with the optional extra of Fox's Glacier mints in the door pocket.
I've owned 2 in my life the first was a two tone K plate 214 and the second was that colour, M plate 214 SEi with half leather.
Both cracking cars and great fun to drive.
Having lived in the UK in the 1990's I remember seeing these everywhere. They were very popular, just not able to compete with Ford and Vauxhall in the fleets. I got to ride in some of these and also the 200, and I remember being impressed by the comfort, ride and quality. I had a 1.3 Escort which felt a lot more plastic and thrown together. What an amazing example your friend found, it looks showroom fresh. My favorite of the entire range was the estate.
The interiors were way better than most cars in it's class at that time, but then again it was usually more expensive as well.
That engine bay looks immaculate! Like the day it was bought from the dealer. How is that possible to get the grime off after 28 years?
@@marcusdamberger Best not to let it get filthy in the first place and stay on top of rust/corrosion.
just about to take ownership of a 416SLi tourer , shall have three then a 213S, 414SLi and the tourer
I had two R8s. The first was a 416GTI. For the day, it was fully loaded with leather seats, electric sunroof and electric windows. You could cruise in comfort and if you wanted to thrash it, it would take on Golf GTIs and XR3is. Had it for 5 years and nothing went wrong.
The second was a 216 GSi which was my station car that I picked up for a hundred quid from the salvage yard but with nothing wrong but a broken rear light. The 8 valve engine was nowhere near as good as the 16v but it still ran like clockwork.
My mother in law had a 214 with the K series and that was a money pit. I definitely think the Honda powered cars were way better than the Rover powered ones.
No, never rubbish! Great car and a cut above anything else on the market at the time. I’m getting one early 414 soon, so I can’t wait!
There was far too much publicity in regards to HGF and everyone else forgot that engine from other cars also had their pitfalls.
On the power, that engine being a multipoint injection, would have 102/3bhp. The earlier single point cars had 95.
Also, the reason why they had an adapted Peugeot gearbox for the 1.4 cars was because it was cheaper than developing a new one. The 1.6 had its own Honda gearbox, hence why autos were only available on the 1.6 too.
Wasn't the gearbox being a Honda in the 1600 because that engine was the other way around, as it runs in the opposite direction. Didn't they also use a VW gearbox in the maestro?
Paul Queripel Yes, the Honda engine was mounted the other way round because it turns on the opposite direction compared to the Rover one and also, it was the one that has a specific manual and auto gearbox designed for it, so there was a saving in development costs. The Maestro and montego had VW boxes, but they weren’t great.
Very nice car indeed, so well kept for its age. Hopefully it stays that way, too.
My dad had one of these in white in the early 90's when I was 10ish I think. It seemed a bit posh. He replaced it with a BX that quickly developed a squeaky suspension noise at low speed that used to embarrass me enough that I used to make him drop me off around the corner from the school. I sounded like a bed that being vigorously used for adult purposes.
"RAVE - we won't have a rave just now..."
Pure HubNut 10/10
I actually LOL'd.
I'd've walked away at Simply Red. Some lines are not to be crossed.
:) th-cam.com/video/JKA4Utj9vVQ/w-d-xo.html
We used to hire these Rovers back in the 90s to follow tarmac rallies in Ireland and I can tell you after a weekend of hard driving they were a dam good car good reving engine and not to bad handling on Irish lanes easy run as well
I bought and sold loads of these, 214/414, they were great, never had any bother, bought most with body damage and fixed them, didn't rust as bad as Ford Escorts and were generally nice to drive, with a light airy feel, Ialso had a 416gti with the full leather, different engine I know but was fun to drive and quite quick.
Great video, I had a MGTF 160, 18 months old when purchased in 2004. The head gasket failed at 24,000 miles. The car was serviced correctly. The garage that repaired it replaced the plastic Rover cylinder liner shims with metal ones and an upgraded head gasket. No more problems.
I’ve uploaded a video to my channel after watching your video on the risks of running older vehicles. Appreciate it if you take a look and share it. Possibly help save lives.
Wasn't aware that the front suspension was different in the Rover and the Honda. Exemplary 3 point turning skills. Hint of what could have been possibly, but don't ever stop showing these Austin, Morris or Rover gems. Love them all. I'm sure the people who designed them and built them had a love for them and a pride in them.
The K series engine was a great engine, if looked after and not neglected. Nice amount of power and torque, i had the next model 416 SI.
Not just a case of looking after them sadly.
They need the dowels replacing on the cyclinder head but once this has been done it is indeed a great engine
I would sooner have the 216 Honda unit
Miles Finch my sis had the 1.4 k blew head gasket x2 no prior coolant loss so it had to go, she liked the car but could not afford the engine gasket appetite,i would not wish that engine on my enemies
@@eggy1962 I've had 4 rovers and never had any issues, a complete gasket change is pretty cheap nowadays regardless
@@SimpleOldGaming i can only vouch for a 214 that my sis had and it popped its gasket x2 the second time it didn't get repaired by my sis she sold it. Now i had the deisel 218td great car no mechanical issue whatsoever. but i also was freindly with a few mechanics who said avoid the k series nuff said
The test car engine was very reliable. Metal inlet manifold and the piston liners were a different design. It's the later one's with plastic manifolds that only leaked when the engine was cold, and the wet liner design that were troublesome. The water pumps were prone to weeping a little to. They only hold around 5 to 5 1/2 litres of coolant with the expansion tank holding 1 litre so any leaks and it would overheat causing the head gasket to blow. that was the most common failure. Sometimes the engine oil would find it's was in to the coolant. I've replaced more head gaskets on these than i've had hot dinners lol. They are a cracking engine though when looked after, very revvy, and would pull like a train from 4000rpm. I once had a brand new 2001 Rover 25 1.4, the 103bhp version, do over 130mph. It was at 6000rpm in 5th gear. Was a very quick car, would race anything with it.
Lovely car. Aronline is awesome, the hours fly by there
Ian you are brilliant excellent video what a lovely old car it's a shame they don't use colours in cars any more instead of bloody awful black and grey
You ought to watch the China car crash videos. You know it's a car because it's either black or white. Medium trucks are blue and large (artics) ones red.
Incidentally, I owned a Rover 200 of similar vintage (k reg), It had the old indicators but had the grille. I paid £275 and it was utterly reliable for the entire time I owned it, a brilliant car.
I loved it despite the lack of power steering & only 3 working speakers, great engine too!
A rRover 214 was my first ever company car.
Ran like an absolute sewing machine and I covered a LOT of miles in it... but, of course, I never had to do any mechanical work on it.
Had a few "niggles" (electric windows failing, central locking failing etc) and the headlights were TERRIBLE.
I recall driving the A66 on a rainy night and I had to stick to around 30mph cos I simply couldn't see corners until I arrived at them.
FWIW, most of my colleagues went for the bigger 400 NON-turbo diesel instead and they were like driving a tractor uphill through porridge with flat tyres... while towing a heavy trailer.
If you want a laugh, try and find one to review.
It's the only car where you'll ever need to change up into 2nd/3rd gear on a petrol station forecourt or in a car-park.
Due to the dreadful engine, 1st & 2nd (and, to some extent 3rd) were incredibly low-geared, with a massive gap to 4th and 5th so if you ever lost momentum on the motorway you had to slow all the way down to about 40mph, change down into 3rd and then claw your way back up to 70mph.
My father had an MG ZS (so the later 45 series car) and I remember being surprised at just how good the headlights were for basic halogen units.
@@ferrumignis IIRC, the MG ZS was a newer "generation" than the original 200/400 series.
The ZS, again IIRC, had headlights similar to the Rover 600 - a sort of "dual-headlight in one pod" design.
The original 200 series had teensy narrow headlights (which looked really cool for the time) that, only lit up about 10m of the road.
Basically, they just produced a really, really, narrow pool of light that only illuminated a 10m length of road.
You could twiddle the adjuster so you could light up a bit of the road 100m away but then there'd be a huge patch of darkness between you and where the pool of light started.
Alternatively, you could twiddle the adjuster so you could see the road right in front of you but then it'd be complete darkness 10m in front of you.
Scary either way! :-S
HubNut looking for Clannad album, finds Simply Red instead. "You cannot be Sirius!"
As TDS123 says, the early K series engines were cracking units, but in a different way to the later ones!
I remember hiring a 1.1 Metro and marvelling at how much more grown up it was than my 1.0 A+ series powered Metro Mayfair.
A bit like certain versions of Windows, I wondered how much better the Metro would have fared with that engine/'box upgrade a lot earlier.
I had both an austin metro with the A series and a Rover Metro with the K series, The K series felt so much nicer than the A series
Thanks Ian, and it's in decent condition, too! That clutch travel is definitely excessive, and might indicate a developing problem. All three pedals should rise to about the same level, if everything is in order.
We had a Rover 111 with a fuel-injected K Series engine; one of the last ones made. It lasted for almost 19 years of standing for several days, then working quite hard, repeatedly. 16 of them were under our ownership., That little car went all over Central England, including going up and down rural North Wales hills on holidays each year, fully loaded, often with 4 occupants. That's hills with gradients of 1:4 or even steeper, on some of those Welsh farm lanes.
That little car could hold a true 70 mph on motorways for as long as you liked, and averaged over 50 mpg during its lifetime. It did a steady 53 mpg on long A and B road runs at up to 55 mph. We never revved it really hard, except for 2nd gear on the steepest Welsh hills.
The head gasket went at the end of our ownership, and it ended up as one of the last 200 of that model on the road, before we traded it in. Happily, it did go to another owner. We didn't know about the need for thorough warming before working it hard, so took no extra precautions to cater for that. Coolant levels were always well-maintained. For once, rust did not kill off a small Rover which had a design life of only 7 years, even though it stood on city streets for nearly all of that time. 😉
I've only seen 1 Metro and one other Rover 111 over the past 5 years. They're becoming as uncommon as hen's teeth. (Hint, hint!)
My son had a 414 and then a top of the range 416 auto when he was a student - they were 10-12 years old at the time and still very comfortable and pulled well. No engine bay troubles but the brakes were terrible- binding and dragging and needing numerous replacements of disks and other costly bits - maybe this was unusual?
I think sticky calipers can be an issue on most cars of this era. Sliding caliper designs.
Fab package these in period one of the last truly competitive car's Rover produced, 75 not with standing.
It brings back memories as a nipper riding around in a red/grey Rover 214 SLi back in the early 90's. I loved the walnut wood it had as well. Engine wise we never had a problem with it. I always thought the head gasket issues only affected the 1.8 but sounds like it effected it the 1.1, and 1.4 as well.
“All tapes left in a car for more than about a fortnight metamorphose into Best of Queen albums.” copyright Terry Pratchett
A good man RIP
@@extramild1 among the best.
And Neil Gaiman.
That is an immaculate example, inside and out, and even under the bonnet! A credit to its owner:) Lovely car!
The revving engine reminded me of Matt's intro on Furious Driving 😆
Although despite plenty of Rover engines on the drive, thats an Alfa twin spark! High praise for Rover there
it is too bad the honda/rover alliance didnt continue. honda was and still is known for reliability and rover for was known for great design work. if the alliance had continued, maybe rover would still be making cars in england
And maybe Honda would be making cars Europeans want to buy...
Yep and Rover made such lovely interiors which Honda was sadly lacking in.
Such lovely cars. Maybe because in Aus, the Honda Concertos didn't last very well and you never see them, but I don't see Honda when I look at these at all, just a lovely Rover. They didn't even sell in Aus but I have seen more Rovers on TH-cam than Honda Concertos in real life! What a beautiful example too. Cheers
I passed my test in a K series engined Metro. the year after I passed, BSM switched to the new Corsa.
Have to say, I really got on with the little 1.4 Metro. Maybe i have rose tinted glasses on, but I remember it being pretty nippy.
and I always remember some pearls of wisdom from my driving instructor. Don't be afraid to use the throttle (which I invariably did!), it will get you out of as much situations as the brakes will.
I’ve got a 1.8 K-series in my 2003 Freelander, it’s been nothing but completely reliable, surprisingly fuel efficient (considering the Freelander isn’t a light car) and best of all, really good fun. It pulls well too, on and off the road, just seems to have a really wide power range. Definitely a better engine than the reputation it unfortunately can’t shake despite the later Ks (post bad gasket and plastic dowels) seem to be quite dependable. I’m at 140,000 miles, I think it’ll keep going as long as it’s looked after. Also remember my great uncle who worked for Rover owning on of those Rovers, quite comfortable.
Nice tour of Talgarreg. Very nice car too, and would be an attractive new buy even today. The gearing is odd considering that my Honda CR-V does 85mph at 1800 revs in ninth gear. Trouble is that it never engages top gear until around 75mph so one has to travel 30 miles to Carmarthen to find the nearest dual carriageway, and another 10 before the M4. In two years of ownership, until last week, it never engaged top gear.
Those K-series engines are quite impressive delivered a lot of bhp for their size. Yes they did get a bit of a grilling over the head gaskets. I do quite like Rovers although both of mine gave me nothing but trouble, but they weren't in there 1st flush of youth. If Honda hadn't backed out of the deal with Rover, it would be very interesting to see what Rovers of today would look like under that same collaboration. BMW just wanted to nick the 4x4 system and pull out.
My first company car right there. Ironically this car helped me ferry around components used in missiles, satellites and F1 cars. Happy days 😂😁
Your reviews are spot on. Big Rover fan myself and I own two K-series powered MGs, the K is very much maligned.
That car is immaculate! Wow! I have a 1994 Rover 416SLi which I have owned since 1997 👍🏻
Yes it does..kinda like to know which parts have been restored tho ..a car that is nearly 30 years old just doesn't look like that ..unless it has been stored somewhere.
@@Luke-PlanesTrainsDogsnCars yes, amazed how clean it is under the bonnet, no signs of its age at all. My Rover is 26 years old (owned for 23 years) and it shows its age under the bonnet
@@mrtalmos Agree ...30 year old plastics just don't look like that if they have been used ..must have been a stored example i'm thinking.
I'm guessing the Yugo Sana ..is not going to look like that...LOL....Now just wait till i look up that old song "Cruel to be Kind" on YT. 😄
th-cam.com/video/Zrr5LmC2p1A/w-d-xo.html
I had a 420GSi Executive in Nordic blue as my second car. I secretly loved it (as a 23 year old I didn't let my friends know that). It had every option available on it except Aircon.
Compliments to the owner. Very clean car. Very nice indeed!
I had a 1992 214Si and I still miss it--absolutely fantastic car, well built, comfortable, and fun to drive. And yes, I did manage to blow the head gasket on it, which cost £400 to fix!
We had one of these at work as a pool car back in the day. It was easily the most popular car in the pool and the step change in quality from things like the Montego was huge.
The Engine if you ignore the head problems is a gem as the 1.8 K series was used in the Lotus Elise and that is an amazing car
"Lovely gear change, that's what throws you". Wonderful pun; intentional?
I have driven a 214Si and I didn't get on with it at higher motorway speeds. I found it fidgety and vague, maybe it was the particular example I had, but I didn't find motorway speeds that confidence inspiring? The wood-on-everything-including-poverty specifications always made me laugh.
Neat design, my pick of the crop of R8 was the 220 GTi 3-door, I love the MK1 Sierra XR4iesque rear quarter windows and those lovely chunky 5-spoke wheels on the pre-facelift cars.
400 series of the era really is a mini 800 saloon.
Simon Parsons wood is good.....a little bit in every car makes each a little better.
Nightfire red has to be top 5 if not top 3 Rover colours
Yep, Tahiti blue was nice as well.
Amaranth surely has number 1?
@@tallblokesam Yes, Amaranth was another great, also Kingfisher, don't think I ever painted Amaranth, painted a new coupe shell in Tahiti blue, Marine blue was a pain as the cars from the factory had a grey ground coat and literally half a coat of blue, then clear, when you painted a panel for coverage it wouldn't match! Only Rover could turn a straight blue into a 3 stage! Happy days.
Kensington Green anyone?
Had a 75 in Moonstone
Mr Hub nut, had 2 k-series engined rover R8 1.4 & 1.6. Rock solid, no gasket issues. Kept serviced. Only issue was the steel coolant pipes rotted that went around the back of the engine.
Concerto/400-series, absurdly beautiful cars. Always loved them. And what a beautiful colour this one has. Very tasty.
A friend's parents had a brand new 1984 rover 213SE
as a lada 1500 driver at the time,I was blown away by how fast, spacious,well equipped and good handling car it was.
Engine revved for fun and the dash (with its 414 simplicity) was fantastic.
Great review, Ian, I really enjoyed that. Back in '95 I bought a '93 414Si in dark blue with light grey interior. In the three years of ownership I took it from 21,000 miles at purchase, to 60,000 miles when I sold it & in that time the only issue I had (honestly!) was the bulb failing in the clock in the centre of the dash! The K series never gave me any trouble whatsoever. In 2000 I bought a M reg 214SEi in platinum with the superb 1/2 leather interior which was just as reliable. Lovely cars!
My brother in law had one of these, a lovely car,smooth and comfortable[mind you ,his was brand new] head gaskets were a combination of poor components and design and not helped with poor maintenance but lots of cars in the 70,s and 80,s also suffered HGF for the same reasons.
Go on Ian, have a rave! I acquired a 1996 218 SLD turbo diesel in the same colour but with grey velour from a customer of mine who had given up driving, it was a one owner car with 80k and in near enough showroom condition. I was going to use it over the winter but it was just too good to subject it to road salt, it had always previously been garage so didn’t feel right. It was a half decent thing to drive. Only thing that spoiled it was the again budget tyres that were fitted. The engine was very punchy for the era of car which was a nice surprise.
Had a 95 plate 214sei ... it was a hoot to drive with a fab sports interior and it loved to be revved
They could beat MK3 Golf GTis also, couldn't they.
That looks like a fantastic example, used to love the Rover R8's, they were very much ahead of their time compared to Astra's and Escorts of the same era.
dude,flat eric from 1999 mr oizo (flat beats) what a tune and video,
Looks so nice for a 28 year old car
The condition of the car body and engine is amazing. Someone has put a lot of love into that little rover. Nice one.
I owned an old 214 si 2 door with the k series, about 12 years ago, had it for a year put 20k on it and it was a superb car, and the engine performed perfectly, performance was excellent for a 1.4, quite quick, and 40 plus mpg, sold to a friend at work, who kept it for another year eventually succumbed to rust. Great car, would drive one right now
Many moons ago I had a 216 Vitesse, Loved that motor and kept it for a couple of years....did plenty of trouble free miles in it. I bought it from the old Stoke car auctions in the early 90's and eventually sold it for roughly the same price as i bought it for. Great motor !
Seeing Flat Eric in the back did it for me. Mine sits pride of place in the back of my 95 mini sidewalk. 👌🏻
I’ve had 3 cars with the K series engine, x2 1.8 and now with a 1.6 K series 216, it’s a powerful, free revving, willing engine.
It doesn’t tolerate neglect as you said, hence head gasket failure in so many cars, but look after it and it will look after you.
Great review... I had a 41-something, same shape, different trim/grille, with the Honda engine, and I loved it, even being an auto!
What a beauty and not a line out of place.
Nice colour. Brought back nice memories of my H plate R8 a white 214SLi. Early Si's didnt get the walnut (real) trim on the doors. So much better than the Orion at the time in my opinion 😊
I had a Metro GTI 16v as a little runabout way back and I hammered that little thing to bits .The engine never failed once . Fun little car .
Nice car. Another superb Roy Axe design (RIP). This 1992/3 base model gets a remote boot release but my top spec 2003 Nissan Almera doesn't have one! 😣
Used R8s were on my radar in the early 2000s but never got to experience one sadly.
This takes me back. Owned a 214Si then a 216 Coupe in red followed by another 216 Coupe in silver. Recently found out that the guy I sold my red Coupe to in 1997ish still owns it. It’s been off the road in a garage for the last 15 years or so but he is getting it back on the road... really looking forward to taking my old car for a drive again over 23years after I sold it!
I had a brand new L reg 418SLD Turbo as a company car in the 1994. Gearbox lasted 250 miles went back to dealer found to have no oil in from factory! Was great after that! Always liked the design on these!
A really good looking car in its day and certainly appears to be very well put together. The collaboration with Honda was a bit of a golden age for Rover. What a shame that it didn't continue.
Having had many Rovers with K series engines (dad was a Austin Rover mechanic) I can't fault the engines if maintained correctly at all. However I did find the cooling system was somewhat lacking, as In not enough capacity.
My favourite Rover of the R8 variety was my 416 GTI (Honda twincam engine) not massively powerful at 140bhp, but held the road well and sounded much faster than it was, never did manage to get ownership of what some call the Holy Grail, the R8 Tomcat Coupe with the T bar roof. Oh and in that lovely Amaranth Purple...... Hmmmm takes me back!
318.000 km since January 1993 on our white 414GSi
Still runs brilliant!
I love this red here and I'm jealous of the engine bay condition.
The car looks like brand new.
My congratulations to the owner!
I have a 2003 MG ZS with the 1.8 K-Series and it is a lovely engine, punchy and pokey when you need it to be but also happy to just tick over when cruising along at 60 or so. It too has the same issue with the pedal height as does the 45 and I believe there is an after market mod out there to lower the pedal down an inch or so.
As others have said though and I see if often on forums, people are so quick to "diagnose" issues as head gasket failures when in fact it's usually down to thermostats or small leaks from hoses.
Great engines in my eyes and so easy to work on with basic tools.
The K series is a fantastic engine but the coolant was achilles heal. It was designed from the outset to have a small coolant capacity for quick warm up. But if there was a leak, the low coolant sensor was halfway up the block and if the level dropped that low, the head gasket was good. The head gasket material used was originally was of top quality, it was only after BMW took over that to save money, lower quality gasket material was used and this is where the poor reputation of this engine started.
I love these cars, they were in my view the best design of the '90's. To my eternal regret I never bought one of these . I did however owned a 1.1 8 valve K series Metro. That engine is the sweetest, quietest, most fuel efficient engine ever. An absolute honey of an engine.
The gearbox by the way was heavily re-engineered by Rover as the original Peugeot box was a bit loose.
Bertie Bassett, Flat Eric and the Staypuft marshmallow man on the back seat. I thoroughly approve.
Worcestershire car on Startins plates I love it. We had a Metro GTi from Startins in Worcester in 1993.
I'm too scared of the head gasket issues, the Rovers with BMW diesels and Honda petrols are the ones I would go for.
My Mother had a 414 Si just like this one. Hers was a 1994 model and the plate was M91 MDA. Tax was due in 2006 so I'm guessing it's been crushed or SORN since. Not a bad car to be fair, lovely blue with black interior, sunroof and the wood wrap around the dash, and the suspension was extremely soft. Good memories watching this review!
Oh wow! That brings back memories. I had a 418tdi for 15 years, exactly like this one apart from white paint. It was a joy to drive and ate miles like no tomorrow, often taking me the length of the country at 55 mpg. Good times before speed cameras on motorways. Did over 300k miles before the rear bumper nearly fell off due to the mounting brackets corroding. An easy fix. I regret selling it to this day.
I had a 416 in British Racing Green, in the 90's and it was a cracking car, and clocked up over 150k in motorway miles and it was incredibly reliable
Had a '95 Rover 214SEi in that exact colour. Lovely car. Looked after it and it looked after me.
My second car was a 1992 214GSi with power steering which makes a massive difference. They're so heavy without it. Never had any problems with it other than leaky radiator. Was a different choice at the time for a 24 year old but I loved it. My dad had a 414Si but it did succumb to the head gasket. Still got a soft spot for them and would love to find a 200 in that sort of condition
I had a heavily modified K series engine in my MG6 1.8 turbo. They seemed to have cured the head gasket problem but they still had the problem of the rotting radiator.
Cracking engine. Got one in my Freelander. Sorted the head gasket with the upgraded sump ladder and head bolts. It’s at 100,000 miles now and still runs great. Many garages made a lot of money out of the head gasket issue, it was often a cracked expansion bottle or warped inlet manifold at fault......
Engines were fitted to freelanders and lotus,s and all overheated. Lovely lovely car just a shame they blew gaskets ...... Great content STAY SAFE☕☕☕☕☕