WHAT IS IT?

The Rover 200Vi is the only truly British Hot Hatch of the 1990's. It is the fore runner of the much heralded MG ZR 160, which shouldn't be confused with the lesser powered ZR's, which look fast but aren't. We are actually talking about the 160BPH FAST version here!

After the large amount of car thefts and joy riding which took place in the late 80s and on into the 90s, a lot of car manufacturers decided to stop or tone down their GTI models. Some, like Rover, only toned down their looks. This was a common tactic of the day. Make the car look like the tamer underlings in the range and no one will know what lies beneath the surface - especially the potential joy rider / car thief. 

The only thing which set the Vi apart from the rest of the 200 range was the colour coding of the rear spoiler (which is simply plain black plastic on most of the other models), the front fog lamps and alloy wheels. Then, at closer inspection, the customary dark leather seats with red piping. Apart from the seats, you could easily ask for any of the other Vi give always as options on the rest of the range. So any glory seeker could buy a lowly 1.4 and dress it up as a Vi for a couple of quid more.

The Vi, in my opinion, is one of the best examples of a 'Q' car. That is, a really fast car in sheep's clothing. When I think of it now, car manufacturers have come full circle. Now the new MG ZR's are dressed up as though they are really fast with all their spoilers and wacky colours. What most people seem to forget is that most of them are just standard 1.4 & 1.6 Rover 25's with some fancy clothes on (there is even a diesel model - ho hum!!!). They are all really purchased by cheapskate glory seekers. The Vi is still better then them all apart from the range topping ZR160. Yes, that's the one that costs somewhere in the region of the £16,000 which the Vi cost when it was new. It has the same 1.8VVC (variable valve control) engine, although it has been tuned somewhat to give it 160BHP.

The Vi has a official 0-60 of 7.5, although some magazines have published 0-60 times as low as 7.2 and some as high as 7.9 for the Vi (this seems to be all down to how well the driver reads and revs the VVC engine - changing gears at the correct part of the rev range seems to have a lot to do with it).

The ZR's gearing and re-tuned engine does give it slightly more pulling power in the mid range speeds but the Vi's extraordinarily long 5th gear (which is mostly put to use with the engines excellent torque as a fuel saving gear) means it's top speed is considerable higher than the 160s. The 160 has been published with top speeds from 125 to 131. Rover's official top speed is 136 for the Vi and 131 for the 160. I know, however, that the Vi can do more. I've personally had it on an autobahn and had a top speed of 140 miles per hour out of mine.

So there you have it - the 200Vi. An MG ZR160 with Rover 200 clothes on - it was the original fast Mk3 200 model, it probably is still the best & they are becoming rarer by the day.