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MG ZR ZS ZT Technical - MG ZS 115TDI

I realise I may be committing a cardinal sin with some of you petrol heads out there but I have a ZS 2.0 TD, which I love! Performance is OK ( not much less than my previous BMW 316) Ride etc superb.
I love the look of the car too.

But has anyone got any info on ways of tweaking the performance a bit ( and don't say get a petrol!) I do 28000 a year so economy is important.

Or do you know any garages in this area that can do it for me?
Wayne

Welcome Sir! No sin in my book .... its an MG ... and an economical one too ... and it replaced a BMW!!! ... Good on you ...that's a real class move (also in my book ..LOL!) Can't help with a performance upgrade .... how will it affect the warranty is something to consider too.

BTW, I too have a ZS .... 120+ and unless I've made some kind of rickett, my wife and I both drive this car and are regularly getting around the high 30s mpg .... 40+ mpg on a run. Still running in and rarely use above 4,500 rpm. That's not quite diesel mpg but, neither of us hang about either.

Do you keep a record of your car's mpg? Be interested to have details if you do.

Safety Fast MotorinG

JMcF
John McFeely

Wayne,

Why not try these folk:

http://www.jeengineering.co.uk/start.htm

They do two conversions for the L series engined Freelander, one with 125bhp for about £300 and a 135bhp conversion for £1100.

The ZS uses the L series too.

What is more, I believe that Spen King, the father of Rover's gas turbine cars, the Range Rover, Rovers P6, P7, P8 ,P9 and SD1, the Dolomite Sprint 16v engine and the ALCAN aluminium spacefame used by Aston, Jaguar, and Audi is a technical consultant to this company.

He also had a hand in the Maestro, Montego and TR7 hence those cars well developed simple, long travel suspensions.

Ignore the motoring press...they know nothing.


JH Gillson

There are ways of making a tractor engine go faster.......
Eric

JH Wrote Wisely ...;)

>> Ignore the motoring press...they know nothing.<<

Problem is, teaching the average younger Brit car buyer to believe that, many of whom believe these words are gospel simply because they appear in print ...... :(

Media in all its forms often talk and write with forked tongue. Bollux is a term some would use for it. There are those, maybe much wiser than us, who believe even the ten commandments are not kosher! .... So, be careful out there and rely on your own personal experiences and judgement rather than the "forked tongue" utterrences of so called professionals in the media...... :O)

Spen King: Don't know if he was responsible for that fabulous Le Mans Gas Turbine Rover but what an impressive sight on the track.

>>He also had a hand in the Maestro, Montego<< So I blame him in my near obsession for these good ol' cars ... LOL

Have a nice one ...

JMcF
John McFeely

Thanks for the comments, as far as mpg I only really checked for the first 1800 miles then I got bored, on a mixed bag of driving I got 48, but I have to confess to not being the worlds most economical driver. Like 400 miles at an average of 85!!
Latest was 225 miles on less than half a tank.

I have now found a company Moto build that does an upgrade for about £410, how it affects warranty I don't know, good point!

and eric are you trying to say something?
Wayne

Hi Wayne,

Isn't there a 'Tuning Box' option for the 115 L-series to 135? In fact - wasn't this what MGR offered themselves for the ZT? I'm pretty sure that more power is a simple microchip away - and certainly worth following up...
Rob Bell

I believe the ZT uses a BMW unit, not the L series.
JH Gillson

just interested to know, is the turbo always on, or does it cut in @2000 revs like an L series unit I test drove a long while back.

Gary
Gary

Not being that technically minded I don't know for sure but I think it kicks in around 2000rpm as you said. Certainly moves well from 30-50 in 3rd and 50 - 70 in 4th. No complaints about the power.
Just fancy beefing it up a bit.
Yeah it does seem to be only a bit of reprogramming Moto- build offer an extra 18 - 35 bhp on the diesel for £410 according to their website.
Wayne

hmmm........ this one might be different then, I remember I felt a lunge in power with the whistling turbo clearly audible. But anyway, that was a few years back when the dealer was trying to persuade me to have an unsold diesel Rover 200 new shape.

good luck with your car, and tell us about all the bits you have done.

Gary
Gary

Can you fit a dump valve to a Turbo diesel? Would it have any effect on such an engine?

SF
Scarlet Fever

>>I believe the ZT uses a BMW unit, not the L series. <<

Yes, you're right JHG...

I wonder though whether there is a chip available for the L-series (Superchips?) - being a turbo engine, it may respond rather well to chip tuning...

Dump valve on a Diesel Andy? Not heard of that being done - which is not the same as saying that it can't...
Rob Bell

Yeah I have since found out that the chip/reprogramming done by Moto build is by Superchips.
Their website says they believe it was developed in conjunction with MGRover. This is more of a reprogramming no chip as such.
See the link below.

http://www.moto-build.com/acrobatfiles/chips_with_everything.pdf
Wayne

Can you fit a dump valve to a Turbo diesel? Would it have any effect on such an engine?

If I have any undertanding of diesels, and having experienced what happens if you get an air bubble in the fuel line the fuel lines cant allow any air in. I think this has someting to do with the reason for not using dump valves. Because they dont use dump valves etc, this is my understanding of the reason they suffer worse Turbo Lag than most petrols.

Not really sure why they cant dump valves though, because they fuel is added (in most cases) by an injector, the only thing coming through the valves is air.

If I am totally wrong correct me!!!

Anyone else know?

Oh and by the way yes someone has done it. A boy Racers Mag (Belonging to a friend I promise!) featured a 306TD with a dump valve. Dont know why they went to the trouble though, I dont believe it served any purpose...
Dimski

Simple! There is no throttle valve on (most) diesels, so there is NO POINT in having a dump valve!
Eric

Dump Valve wont work for the simple fact that there is no air to dump... As Diesel's don't have a throttle, more of a progressive on/off button which feeds more fuel through rather than air AND fuel.

When the accelerator pedal is released, gas speed slows down but the engine still continues to suck in air. On a petrol Turbo car the compressed air from the turbo is stopped in its tracks by the throttle butterfly. Shutting off the 'throttle' on a TD will simply slow down the exhaust gases progressivly, this reduces boost and hence there is no boost to dump...

Gareth
Gareth Kidman

This thread was discussed between 15/08/2003 and 30/08/2003

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