Rover 600s

Nor mine (as long as it isn't wet!).. I particularly enjoyed last night round the Oxford ring-road, which has it's bends in it, frustrating someone in their sporty gold Alfa Romeo GTV who mistakenly thought that he might be able to outpace me.. I think the Honda Civic Type-R driver in front thought he could lose me alot more easily than he did too.. kept up with him for a while forcing him to drop a gear in order to burn me off and avoid crashing into the back of the bus in his lane :-)

Bigus

Indeed.. I've 2 ppl in Oxford who used to build them and think fondly of them.

Bigus

Alfas are comparable with Skodas... I like this chap :)

In article , snipped-for-privacy@recycle.bin spouted forth into uk.rec.cars.modifications...

That makes them individual cars, that you need to gets your hands dirty to own, with ownership being one step away from an obsessive compuslive disorder.

I know, I'm a former owner who has convinced every member of my family so far to try or buy a Skoda.

But I like the old dodgy ones, not the now oh so reliable rebadged VWs.

i like the old rover, think it's the 800 with the sweeeeet V8 lump?

there was one behind me once and i was out pacing him to about 50 then he was pretty much gone.

How so ? Mine's not s**te at all.

Er, there are NO other similar cars out there for similar money, nicer or otherwise.

How many times must we have this discussion ?!?!?

Only on very rare occasionas.

Yep, this is pretty much their only weak spot. But you can eliminate it by simply buying a low-miler. Bear in mind that it's no harder to fix than any other 'box though, so don't let it put you off too much.

"Turbo hassles" ? An average Turbo is good for 100K, and if it smokes or the bearings die, then you simply get it reconned, or replaced. You have some odd ideas - if you want reasonable power for reasonable money, then a Turbo is the only (and best) option.

James, I suggest you take your advice from someone with a clue. There are a few TI owners on here, that can give you advice worth more than s*it. Even a real hater-of-anything-not-italian like SteveH can only find one bad thing to say about them - see above.

SteveH, if you were any more narrow-minded, you would have no mind at all. If the 620 TI was made by Alfa, you'd think it was great.

I don't know whether it's crossed your mind, but not everyone wants to drive a piece of dated old pap !

Again, how many times must we have this discussion? The list is so endless, that there's nothing else on it ! All the other cars in a similar class, of similar age, are a HEAP more cash.

Because I want a modern looking car, with modern levels of trim, comfort, and safety. I do not want a tatty old-fashioned car - and if I did, I certainly wouldn't spend £2000 on it, when a modern TI could be had for the same money !

Eh ? Of course it's not !

Who cares ? These are all pocket-money cars - when they die, you just replace them.

Also old looking, italian, and not as quick in-gear when you need the power. More toys are nop use when they don't actually work ! Seeing as the Rover

Yep, obviously it is.

Good for you.

Er, who cares ?

I want to get places quickly and comfortably, for reasonable money. Whether the car has "character" is about this important ||

How can it be in better condition ? My TI is now almost six years old, and it's in 100% condition. At 56K, it's also got a LOT less miles than the

How many TIs have you actually driven ? Mine handles just fine.

Surely you're not suggesting that is the norm for Italian cars ?

And even more amusingly, surely you're not suggesting that Alfa build quality is upto the Japanese Honda standard that is the 600 ?!?

The E34 has plenty of disadvantages of it's own. Like the repair bill you'll get if something major breaks...

Eh ? I don't know about Lordy, but that's exactly why I bought mine. The whole point of the TIs class of car, is to munch motorway miles quickly and comfortably.

Huh ? We're talking about the 620 TI here. They don't rust, and bar the gearbox, are VERY reliable. Engines and electrics are bullet-proof, Honda build quality is excellent.

Lack-of-image is a bonus (one of the things that tempted me towards mine). Handling is just fine thanks - how many have you driven ?

Yep, but who cares ? If it busts, just buy another.

Where do you get this stuff ? The Rover 600/Honda Accord has zero rust issues, apart from a very few rear arches. Either don't buy those ones, or buy them cheap and get them rust sorted.

Because they're much cheaper to buy than an equivalent beemer, they have a Turbo, they aren't dated (yet), they're very light for a modern car, and they look nice. They also have no BMW-image, and are VERY understated.

I've found my TI *very* cheap to maintain. I had an alternator the other day for £80, and a genuine Rover thermostat for £8. A couple of months ago, I got a full service, MOT, cambelt-changed, new rear discs and pads, new handbrake cable, and a couple of other little bits, for just over £300 at my local Unipart garage.

Er, so you're freely admitting that all the stuff you've posted, was garbage based on nothing ?

And so they should be. As non-performance models, they get a completely different drive-train and suspension setup. The 620 TI is *far* removed from the cooking 600s.

Except that it gets better, because you get a TorSen diff, 30mm lower suspension, thicker anti-roll bars, proper twin-chamber gas shock-absorbers, wider low-profile tyres and a totally different drivetrain. It handles it's

Again, the 620 TI is *far* removed from the cooking 600s.

Yeah, cars like these are the TIs real competition, not tatty old Beemers and Alfas. Also look at the Scooby Legacy.

I'd have to agree if your _only_ criteria for a car is that you want the fastest, newest car you can buy. Which is a very shallow way to look at it.

Until you lot realise that a wanky 600Ti is by far from being the 'bargain' you seem to think it is.

But more often than BMW and Alfa alternatives?

'Box repairs verge on making the car a write-off at current prices.

There's no substitue for decent tuning and capacity. I'd much prefer a V or straight 6 of 2.5-3ltrs with similar power to the 4-pot turbo.

Several - styling, complete lack of any sort of image, handling.

If the 620ti was made by Alfa it would look better, have better handling, and the lovely Alfa twin-cam engine.

Absolutely _nothing_ outdated about the E34 or the Omega. I'd suggest you get a clue before commenting....... the E34 is still regarded by many as the ultimate 5-series incarnation. And the Omega was _very_ close to matching it.

Only if you're totally hung up on the plate on the front and 0-60 times.

Obviously the words of someone brought up on a diet of bland Euroboxes.

Try something that has flair and passion in it's design.

Something to do with proper engineering and build quality. Even a 250k miles old E34 feels tighter than most Euroboxes.

I'm speaking from experience of 'cooking' 600s.... dull, dull, dull, in a terminal understeery, rubbery sort of way.

It is for one that's been looked after.

Honda somehow manage to screw them together better in Swindon.

Like a Ti gearbox, then?

And you're just going with the absolute myth that 'it's German, so will be expensive to fix' - which is wrong. Look at GSF and Eurocarparts for cheap Kraut bits.

Soul-less, rubbery, dull....

You can make a car as fast as you like, but it won't make up for the total lack of any sort of flair and character you get from a lot of other brands.

Shame they're not built by Honda, then......

And someone missed galvanising off the spec.

Eh? As I've alread said - the E34 is by no means dated. It was vastly superior to all it's peers when launched, and hasn't yet been surpassed by either of it's replacements.

Full service, new camchain tensioner, clutch, gearbox oil change full set of plugs (all 8) including HT leads and a few other bits came to £280 on the 75..... bargain.

Take a look on AutoTrader, and then go and drive a few. After which, you will be totally tempted to buy a TI :)

If you can stretch your budget slightly, try and pick up a '97 "R" or newer - there were MANY revisions at this point, and these later cars are much improved. Having said that, there's nothing really "missing" from the earlier ones. The first-of-the-line cars had old-fashioned dizzy ignition though, which I'd personally avoid - modern wasted-spark system is much better.

Nope - shouldn't be any rot at all.

Engines are pretty-much bulletproof. Build is very good - there shouldn't be any problems with electrics or interior (although if it's like mine, it will sqeak a bit :). Front brake discs are easily warped - budget £150 to get em replaced if so (cos the hubs have to come off to swap the discs).

Only real weak-point is the gearbox. When you test drive it, listen for odd noises, and general "wierdness" - don't worry about reverse gear, they're all a bit hard to get in. This isn't really an issue unless it's done reasonable mileage (say 80k) or more.

As with any Turbo car, look for blue smoke from the exhaust on startup and/or overrun (worn seals) and check the Turbo's whistle isn't excessively loud (worn bearings) - I can only *just* hear mine over the engine. The Turbo should be good for 100K - budget a few hundred quid to get it reconned if it's shafted.

It's worth paying a little more for a low-miler (mine had 48K when I bought it).

I've had mine for almost a year and a half now, and I've been *very* pleased with it - there's nothing else that compares for the money. Insurance is very reasonable (try Direct Line) maintenence is cheap, and it's not at all bad on fuel. You'll find you can keep up with anything apart from real nutter-cars on the road - the size and comfort are a nice bonus :)

Wanting the best you can get for your money is shallow ?

That's the funniest piece of s**te this thread's produced yet, keep them coming, let's see if you can top it with something even funnier :)

We're "hung up" on the in-gear times too... :)

The V6 ? Terrible engine :/