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MG ZR ZS ZT Technical - F Driver in a ZS

Hello Guys. The Rover dealership who did the 5 year service on my F last week (Reg Vardy of Darlington) kindly let me borrow their accounts manager's brand new Le Mans green ZS+120 (saloon) for the day as a courtesy car. They were originally going to loan me a ZR instead, but their ZR was out on that particular day.

Leaving aside the comments that I know some people make about the "dated looking" interior (IMHO not bad, not great - Not keen on the silvery dials), I have to say I was EXTREMELY impressed with it as a drive. The acceleration was keen and sounded meaty, and the handling was nimble and felt very grippy. The car looks great as well, and attracted a few positive comments from people throughout the day.

All in all, a pretty damned good car. Well done MGR and thanks to Reg Vardy Rover for the loan, and for a fairly cheap 5 year service! - Not often you hear much praise for the dealers on here, is it?

Happy Z'ing.

Diggers
Diggers

I see that Mike Satur has recently purchased a ZR, and that there is a picture of it on his web site (http://www.mikesatur.co.uk).

Hopefully, this will mean that there will be some nice interior mods developed that'll erradicate the nasty 80's Honda plastic dashboard.
Rob Bell

Rob, it's a ZS on Mike Saturs web site not a ZR. It is (IIRC) a ZS 120 5 door and is his good lady's car.

He is looking at tuning mods for the ZS and will be able to supply the bits.

John
JLD

>>>>He is looking at tuning mods for the ZS and will be able to supply the bits.


Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!
David Bainbridge

Ah ha, I see you spotted my cunning deliberate typing mistake John! Ermmm.... must have caught MEGA-itis from reading this site ;o)

Quite right, the ZS is Trish's car - but judging from past experience, this should mean 'good things' for ZS owners in the future :o) IMO the ZS is crying out for a decent interior - it was *the* deciding factor against it when instead we purchased a 75 with the same engine.
Rob Bell

I always felt the ZS 120 was under-estimated;perhaps its time has come ??
Would like to see it compared to the new 115 HP BMW 316i
andrew k

From my brief experience of the ZS, I'd bet that it would wee on the Beemer from a great height, in terms of performance.

Of course, the reviewers on TV and in (most) mags would knock it down for the interior/seating position/build quality. I can't really comment on the latter 2 of those without driving one for longer than a day. Seating position in any saloon car feels slightly weird straight out of the F.

In terms of desirability though, BMW certainly doesn't have the cache it used to, and as I say, one or two people commented favourably on my borrowed ZS - Along the lines of "Like the car, what is it?"

What other ZS models are there? I'm guessing there's a ZS 135 - Any advance on that?

Diggers
Diggers

Fully agree with you Diggers,a ZS 135 would be the ideal on a cost/performance basis but from what people have written on this site there are some problems in realising this aim.
andrew K

Diggers...Certainly a ZS120 and ZS180 which is the top of the range and comes highly recommended for its performance, so I'm told. Not sure if there are other models available. A trip to www.mg-rover.com would probably reveal all...if I could be bothered!

F
F

There is only the ZS 120 and the ZS 180 (apart from the 120 Stepspeed).

It is thought that there is potential with the 120 ( 1.8 K series) to increase power (much work already done as it is basically the same 'lump' as in an F), the 180 (V6) is not so well known but there must be lots of potential.

I think that warranty issues may be holding people back at present.

John
JLD

Having owned the 416 and 420, I always enjoyed their nimble and spritely performance, if somewhat limited top-speed on autobahns. Drop to third in 70 and accelerate to 100 in third (on autobahns, officer!) and it could surprise drivers of so called performance cars. These 2 were nightfire red with beige interiors. I think the beige looks less dated than the grey, and gave a better tactile and quality feel. However, I have had a 75 Club, again with beige interior, but the difference in switch gear, design and general solidity/quality is outstanding and this has definitely influenced my decision to buy a ZT instead of a ZS. The 75 1.8 has reasonable cruising performance with more torque (less cog swapping) and great road holding, but I miss the overtaking/traffic light acceleration of the 420. Whilst the ZS 180 would have been exceptional performance for the money, the ZT won out on the interior design and quality, standard features(like electric rear windows and ATC) as well as the lower insurance group, and with family, a bit more interior and boot space, and a less radical boot spoiler! IMHO I think MGR should be applauded for getting the cars launched in the time frame that they did, so to expect an interior re-design on ZR/ZS is surely wishful thinking. The fact they got the main MG ingredients right (performance, handling and looks) is enough for me. Roll on Tuesday and my new ZT!
Martin Williamson

This thread was discussed between 05/06/2002 and 07/06/2002

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