Have had my rover 200vi since first registered in 1998,its been the most reliable car I have ever owned,usual services and a new battery and tyres have been replaced but other wise has not been any major problems.But I fear sadly something might be brewing as my radiator top up container is showing oily substance which may be head gasket.Its only done 32000miles and is very low mileage for its age.The body is immaculate.Every time i think of changing my car nothing really compares and we getting like a an old married couple,hope I don't start looking like my car,but saying that its looks pretty amazing. Its a great little car.

I too like the speed and handling... especially watching boy racers faces when they think my Rover 200 is a mere engine and their little spruced up 1.2 is left behind - Bless.. even kept up with an R type civic and have done Golf gti! Will hopefully keep going for a few more years! She is low mileage... Overall fun cheap sporty car to run... Feels safer than other small cars. p.s can anyone clarify.. I was told that my engine was a limited edition Lotus engine? Is this correct?

I've had the Rover 200Vi 4 years, had the head gasket done and it's been a1 since then, good low key grunt even whacking a Volkswagen Golf VR6 off the lights.

You could really make a nice car out of the Rover 200Vi if you upgraded your suspension, made a few interior changes and added an intake and new exhaust - you'd definitely get better performance. In it's original state for the money I paid it's not a bad car and it is worth it's value 9 times out of 10. You could avoid all of these upgrades and just go for it's Japanese brother the Honda Civic.

The Rover 200Vi, a brilliant car, very fast.Very fast and reliable had it 3 years only been to garage once. I love to see racers faces when they are getting blown off from standing by a lowly Rover and a old man driving it

Hi folks, the Rover 200Vi are really lush looking cars but they are not very reliable. They're prone to head gasket going between 90k. We got ours about 7 months ago and 1st of all the battery was draining we did not know what was causing it. The other day we noticed that by the boot there is a tube of wires on right side at top of boot we pulled the rubber out the way and there was loads of wires cut it looks like they have been rubbing which it causing it to drain the battery. Anyway about 4 weeks ago the car temp started to go up to the red of course the person who had the car before us some how re wired the electric fan to a switch so you can just turn it on half way. If you try to turn it on straight away it will not turn on, so the sensor is working. Anyway we turn fan on and it did not go down so we pulled over to have a look and there was a bubbling sound we poped the hood and the water bottle was over flowing and leaking on to road. So we topped it up thinking it's problably an air lock, but it did it again. So we went to a someone we know who is a mechanic he said it's your head gasket gone, so we got him to repair it for us. He said the whole engine has been tamperd with e.g the mile clock does not move and the head gasket has been hit with a hammer and created 2 lumps by piston camber no 1 and 4. He advised us to get shot of it asap but putting a new engine would it be ok beacause we think the head gasket could keep going all the time. Anyone know where we can get a 1.8 vvc engine from?

This Rover 200Vi is my second rover in a list of performance cars i have owened over the years the other one being a 220 gti turbo. While not as fast outright as the turbo it is a lot better to drive breaking, handling, ride and steering and would easily keep up over the roads i like to drive, the lake district and yorkshire dales. It does rattle a bit and the tailgate creaks and yes the exhaust does knock with back seat passengers, but otherwise i am happy with the reliability of mine. When it comes to figures i like to try and give the best and correct ones. I have been doing a performance file ever since i got into cars when i was young. The best figueres are collected from various sources e.g.different magazine road tests manufactures figures ect,and the best times are noted for each car so avoiding different pepole qoting different times. rover 200vi are as follows, autocar 28,2,96. 0-60 7.1. 0-100 20.5. 127 mph standing quater 15.6. You can get a copy of this test from autocar. I have figured my own car and got 0-60 in 7.4. and saw 134mph on the speedo at 6000rpm on an unrisricted peice of autobahn between penrith and carlisle. I know that most speedometers over read but 127mph is eailiy on the cards. My girlfreind has a fiat coupe 20v turbo and i kid you not it can just about stay with her and yes she can drive. I have had it lowered a bit and have uprated the brakes it also has a k+n which i would recomend for sound alone. It handles great and will slide about without ever feeling out of control lift off oversteer is often part of its high speed handling but it is easy to correct, i would never dare drive my old 220 turbo like that. On the downside the lack of power low down the rev range can sometimes be frustrating. Overall a great car and one of the best i have owened. If you want record performance figures for your car let me know and i will have a look for you.

Iv had my Rover 200vi for just over a year now and apart from serious reliability problems, (head gasget, abs, srs, power steering, electric windows, been to the garage 11 times) its amazing. Done a few things to it, now around 180bhp, does 145mph and 0-60 in 6.7 standing quater mile in 15.8. The handling is very average and not very comfortable for more than 2 hours driving. But I can fit my drum kit in it. But when you kill ST200s and Civic Type R's off the lights its dosn't matter. A good buy.

The Rover 200 vi with the 1.8vvc 142bhp engine is a true wolf in sheeps clothing, faster to 60 then the Peugeot 306 Gti 6 by a clear second.
Same 0-60 as the Saxo VTS and Seat Leon Curpa 1.8 20v turbo 180bhp.

The Rover 200vi baiscally just an excellent really fast good handling car I have always had lower power cars due to insurance so i wanted a bit of sport this time. I only went on a short test drive (no speed) and was more interested in something that looked a bit sportier. I am a fan anything British and of good car interiors and having seen the inside of some other hot hatches this was amazing full electrics and leather seats too, so i bought. By the time i had got home i was glad i had. My god what a beast, handling is stunning suspension nice and hard and in third gear it just keeps giving i have driven older turbos but this car destroys them. When i saw the car the day after all doubts were gone British racing green, classic british engineering with a classic look.

Top quality recommend to anyone who enjoys driving as something more than a task and wants to have some fun

Do your self a favour buy a Rover 200vi. 131mph 0-60 7.5 & 35mpg for starters. Brilliant stopping, Big drilled ventilated front discs and rear discs (find them on a performance car under £40,000) with APS. Air con + elect tilt/slide sunroof. Lumber support drivers seat. Drivers seat height adjustment. Heated eletronic mirrors. Driver & passenger air bags, PAS, Leather steering wheel & gear stick. Fold the 60/40 fear seats down and its like a van. Opticool tinted glass & elect front windows. Lots of leather/comfort. Heated wiper jets. Performance and handling brilliant, it's got the same K series engine as the Lotus Elise111S and the MGZR160