Conference terri::cars_uk

    >acts as the clock in standby mode.
    
    Are you saying that you can't see the clock when the stereo is on ?
    
    If so its bad design to have to turn it off to see the time.
    
    Royston

>>        Went to have a look at them. It looks good on the outside, 
>>        and somewhat 'different' even though there are shades of 
>>        Astra and Civic in there somewhere. I liked the interior 

More than just 'shades' surely?

When I first saw the ad on TV, I turned to the wife and said, 'Look a new ad for 
for the Astra....'

STu

>When I first saw the ad on TV, I turned to the wife and said, 'Look a new ad for 
>for the Astra....'

funny that, I thought the same.  Shame really, as I think that the Astra is 
one of the most pig ugly cars to have come from a major manufacturer in the 
last few years (just as ugly as the Scorpio, but without the personality).  I 
think it's a great shame that Rover should produce such a horrible lookalike, 
it certainly won't get any business from me if it continues to produce such 
nasty looking cars.

Chris.

    I took one of the new Rover 214SI's out for a test drive a few weeks
    ago ( before I bought a Fiat Bravo ), all I can say about it is nasty
    looking, well built, terrific engine but absolutely no fun in the
    handling department. 
    
    The interior is terribly small ( smaller than a Polo or Punto in the
    back ), the specification is awful ( no electric windows unless you pay
    an obscene amount ), it desperately needs Alloy wheels to stop it
    looking like a tonka toy. Overall - I wanted to like it but just
    couldn't.
    
    It has had superb reviews in Autocar magazine though - beating just
    about everything - strange really, nothing at all to do with the two
    calendars included with the magazine a month or so back paid for by
    Rover ? 
    
    Anyway - do yourself a favour, if you even want to consider having
    people in the back of your car - look elsewhere, if you can afford to
    put all the extras on it ( including allow wheels ) then go ahead - but
    don't expect to much fun.
    
    IMHO
    
    Rick 'Likes Rovers - doesn't like the new 200 though' Barrett
    

    In the old days of cortinas and escorts you had MK I, Mk II etc to
    differentiate to body styles. 
    
    Whats the official line on the 200 ? The original style ran for 5 or 6
    years, then there was a restyle of what seemed about 6 months before
    this 'all new' version.
    
    Royston

This is the third generation Rover 200.

The original (Mk 1) was the Honda Ballade based 213 and 216      19??-1989
Then came the Mk 2, based on the Honda Concerto 214, 216 and 220 1989-1996
Now we have the Mk 3, based on Mk 2 floor pan, 214, 216 and 218  1996-????

Royston, are you getting a bit confused with the new Rover 400 which came
out last summer?

Clive

    >> bit confused with the new Rover 400
    
    Ahh! Thats what I must be thinking about.
    I was under the impression that the 200 and 400 were the same thing
    except the 200 is a hatchback and the 400 is the saloon. 
    
    Royston

    >This is the third generation Rover 200.
    
    Base note title changed to reflect this.

>    Base note title changed to reflect this.

given the title of the topic for the old `new 200', I'd considered changing it 
to `the even newer Rover 200'.  :)

Chris.

re .7

The Mk2 200 and 400 were basically the same car, the 200 being the hatchback,
cabriolet and coupe, and the 400 being the saloon and estate. The Mk3 200 is
still based on the Mk2 floorpan, while the 400 is based on the Honda Civic.

Just to confuse the issue, given that the saloon version of the Mk2 200 was
the first 400 series, then we now have the Mk3 200 and the Mk2 400. Good, 
innit?

Clive

    Clive, thanks for clarifying that. It may look confusing but it does
    make sense.
    
    Royston

	Well, I've had my car (2i4Si) for a couple of weeks now, so 
	here's some reactions.

	Firstly the harsh running of the demo car hasn't been 
	repeated in the one received. I think the demo must have 
	had an exhaust leak and really it's commendably quiet,
	especially for a twin cam engine.

	There are a few niggles, mainly the fuel guage, which
	amazingly doesn't have a low fuel light. Seemingly as
	compensation it starts reading empty with well over a
	100 miles of juice left. Also the security access code
	didn't work (OK with remote control but not manually)
	and an hour or more back at the dealer was needed to 
	discover that the code provided was wrong. On the other
	hand you get a rear wash/wipe that really clears the
	whole screen not just a little patch in the middle.

	Experience shows that the little engine is very keen,
	poking out a surprisingly large amount of power without
	fuss, and the performance generally seems better than 
	the paper figures. Extremely brisk progress can easily
	be made and I'm still not using the top end of the rev
	scale.

	The handling is most impressive. The bumpf talks about
	'passive rear wheel steering', but whatever it is this
	is a front wheel drive car that doesn't behave like 
	one. None of the terminal oversteer that you usually 
	get, and good feel through the steering despite it 
	being powered.

	So far petrol consumption has been very disappointing.
	36 mpg initially when using a very light right foot
	and a horrid 30 mpg later. There may be special 
	circumstances for this, and I'll be checking it out
	again soon. It really should be high 30s for my
	situation.

	The best merit of the 'state of the art' stereo is 
	that it makes a good sound, but a useful feature is that 
	the set up for bass, treble, balance and fade is done via 
	the display and you can't accidentally upset the settings
	as was often the case with earlier types.

	All in all it's a good package, and cheaper than the equivalent 
	306� by a good margin. If it fails, it's for the same reason
	that all mass market modern cars seem to fail - they're so
	good that they're boring. In todays interminable streams
	of constant speed traffic, and swallowfield bypass parking
	lots you have to wonder if it really matters. I was just
	thinking how much things have changed in 20 or so years.
	Very few 'classic british sportscars' could stay anywhere
	near this 'shopping hatch' in performance let alone 
	comfort, fittings, reliability etc. yet they somehow they
	were much more interesting.

	-John

	The 214Si equates to a 306XT 1.8 in performance and fittings
	and lists at nearly �2000 less.

    �	There are a few niggles, mainly the fuel guage, which
    �	amazingly doesn't have a low fuel light. Seemingly as
    �	compensation it starts reading empty with well over a
    �	100 miles of juice left
    
    This has been a standard feature on the low-end Rovers for quite
    some time. Two things help:
    
    	1. When filling up, fill it right up. The fuel filler pipe tends to
           trigger the fuel shut-offs of most pumps quite easily. You'll 
           probably get used to standing on garage forecourts dribbling petrol 
           into the tank to fill it properly.
    	2. Don't bother filling it up 'til you're almost petrified of
           running out of petrol.
    
    �	So far petrol consumption has been very disappointing.
    �	36 mpg initially when using a very light right foot
    �	and a horrid 30 mpg later. There may be special 
    �	circumstances for this, and I'll be checking it out
    �	again soon. It really should be high 30s for my
    �	situation.
    
    Give it a few thousand miles while the engine loosens up. My 420 was
    atrocious for the first 5 or 6 thousand miles. After that, consumption
    gradually improved.
    
    hth
    Clive

>    	1. When filling up, fill it right up. The fuel filler pipe tends to
>           trigger the fuel shut-offs of most pumps quite easily. You'll 
>           probably get used to standing on garage forecourts dribbling petrol 
>           into the tank to fill it properly.

I could never figure out why every Rover I've driven (about 6) are such a 
problem to fill up, but I did discover that just putting the nozzle in about � 
way seems to alleviate the problems.

Chris.

    I've recently taken delivery of my Rover216Si (after getting the wrong
    car and a 416i & 623SLi Demo from the garage).
    
    My first impression was that the seating was very confined, but coming
    from a 623 with sofas for seat that could be expected.   After 100miles
    I am very pleased with my choice of car.  I expect the engine is the
    same as the 416i, it certainly sounds like it.  The ride feels very
    solid and safe and performance is superb.  
    
    The radio and gadgets are very good (remote control on the steering
    wheel is very nice).
    
    I think the car could use a foot rest next to the clutch (I miss that
    now - never had one before the demo cars) and electric mirrors would
    have been a bonus too, but that's cosmetic really.
    
    I'll report back in a few months when the milage starts creeping up.
    
    
    Chris