2005 MG ZS 180 from UK and Ireland - Comments

Overblown claims? who's the one saying his p.o.s.fiesta could keep up. don't make me laugh, a rover 214 will destroy your pos no problem.

The zs180 is a performance bargin. I've owned mine for 8 months now, no problems at all. its quick, its been proven to be one of the best front wheel drive cars on the market. its only real fault is the dated interior, which was greatly improved on the mk2. for all those who make silly claims there saxo could keep up, you clearly know little or nothing about cars or even basic mathematics, the 180 has a lot more power and a lot more torque. the vts is reasonably quick in a straight line to 60ish, but you show it a corner or want it to stop your lifes in your own hands. One of the worst handling and breaking cars I've had the pleasure of driving. saxo/fiesta's not in the same league as the zs180 (maybe zs120??, but that's a very capable car, and I know what my money would be on ;-)

MG ZS - quite simply the best FWD drivers car for the money. Nothing comes close in handling and power. It might not be the prettiest interior, but who cares? you shouldn't be looking at the inside of the car when you're driving!

Another good thing about this car is the way it puts it power down. Quarter mile times for a ZS180 with just an air-filter have been as low as 14.8seconds. Totally standard they usually do it in mid 15 seconds.

Oh, and I've seen the 0-60 time for a friends ZS at 5.3seconds (with NOS engaged in 2nd gear)

Ha ha ha ha, oh my god a saxo beating the zs 180, yeah right in your dreams, get back home and play on your playstation you muppet.

Finally...someone who knows what he's talking about.

My 1.8 Rover eats saxos for breakfast (It's stock too!). How do you think a bloody V6 is going to compare!??!

Not much between the saxo vtr and mg zs180 as the mg is too heavy, round a track saxo will demolish.

You must have mistaken. you have missed a decimal place in 180. You should mean a Saxo VTR against a MGZS1.8 which is more in Saxo league, but the 1.8 still faster in a straight line and handle better round corners.

Hi all.

Some of the comments on here have been very useful - and grateful for any further advice from current ZS 180 owners.

Until now I've been a frustrated performance car owner - i.e. I haven't had one, instead having to deal with a number of stock hatches. I currently have 5-5.5 k to spend on a car and the sensible choices are an 2001 1.6 Focus or Seat Leon, both decent and worthy cars, but not particularly exciting. For the same money I can get a 01 ZS 180.

I would like a Focus ST 170, but despite sharp handling all the press has pretty much called it a "warm hatch", whilst low mileage Seat Leon 20VT are hard to find. Both these cars are still 8-10k for a decent example. Oh and in response to some of the above comments - an Evo or a scooby would be nice, as would a higher end 2000-on 3series, new golf GTI or most other performance 4 seaters, but you're not going to get one for 5k are you?

A couple of questions:

MPG - weekdays my wife drives the car (I commute on the train, mostly in town and on local roads - is she likely to see 29mpg? I drive weekends - how low does the MPG plummet with a heavy foot?

Headgaskets - a few of the buying guides and other forums mention this as a problem area for the MG ZS180. Is it really? What happens if it fails, and how much does it cost to fix?

Parts - since the demise of MG Rover (blame the greedy hands of the Phoenix bosses for that one) is anyone having difficulty finding parts? I'm going to keep the car for at least 2-3 years so this is a consideration.

Thanks to anyone who can come back on these questions.

A few last points - I am widely read of the motoring press and the ZS180 has had great reviews for its handling first and performance second (particularly in EVO, who are rarely wrong), but criticised for new price, image and dated interior. I'm going to buy used so someone else has taken the depreciation hit (this will hopefully have levelled off at the 5k mark?), I like the image (in metallic blue it reminds me of a subaru) and I already own a 98 Civic that the interior is based on (so no worries there!). Finally, I have no idea who the saxo loving idiot is and where he gets his facts from (I guess he doesn't get much further than the breasts in MaxPower), but most people realise that a standard unmodified VTS/VTR saxo is good lively fun, but generally unreliable and difficult to own (the saxo was voted the worst car in Britain in 6 different categories in last year's Auto Express car ownership survey), the lift off oversteer is lethal, build quality appalling (made of Kit Kat wrappers anyone?) and unfortunately seems to have been adopted as the car du jour by the nation's Chavs. If that particular chap wants to come back on these comments, then please do, but if idiotic or abusive I will use the request to delete option for all his previous comments.

Thanks to all.

Head gasket is a major concern on the zs180. you have been warned.

Head gasket failure on the ZS 180 - any evidence of this?

I have never heard of a 180 suffering from this.

It would help if this review was made by Zs owners only because at least the comments are based on fact.

All the negative comments seem to be coming from owners of non Mg's so how can anything they say be worthwhile?

I own a Zs 180 (05 plate) and its excellent. There may be a few 'quality' issues, but for the money and enjoyment its well worth it.

You can't put a price on this cars character, no other car for the money has such a unique image and no matter how bad people think they are it is British and parts will never be a problem.

All the while there is a market for parts there will be the supply - no question about that!

It drives well, is comfortable and looks good. I would never buy a French car nor a German car so I am pleased I went for British.

My next car will be a Swedish car - Saab's top the list!

Incidentally I have owner a focus and my brother has a st170 and they are nice solid cars, but lack the 'x factor' of the Zs 180.

My brother in law has had one for 2 years and all he has paid for is petrol, oil, plugs and filters.

He is convinced £ for £ its the dogs whatsits!

Hi everyone, well first of all I can't believe what I am reading about on here a VTR kicking an MG ZS 180 2.5V6 ass em well I don't think so, oops forgot to mention the 1.6 in the VTR bit lol all I can say is lets start here usually when you first start driving after passing your test you may start with lower powered cars then working your way up as you go.i have had more than a few hot hatches including a peugeot 205 1.9 gti, mazda 323 full time 4x4 turbo and more recently a peugeot 206 gti and I must say my 206 eats VTR, s even the boy racer type with the k&n induction kits and the straight through exhausts, but one thing it won't eat is MG ZS 180 2.5V6 I have tried on a few different occasions not just one car, but three and I cannot compete maybe because they are 2.5 v6 road hugging beasts.well one thing for certain that is what is going to be my next car, come to think of it my wifes 306 hdi will beat a vtr lol.

Just a quick message for the person with the head gasket concern on the zs 180 kv6 engine. I have owned zs 180's for 4 years now ever since they came out and have never experienced anything of that nature. I drive my cars extremely hard with high mileage so I wouldn't be concerned at all.

I have a saxo vts, if you think your rover can beat it bring it on, my mods r a performance air filter, de cat and a backbox, in a couple of months a supercharger, I live in kent, if you want to put ur theory of the rover being faster, lets put it to the test shall we! my email address is Ben_2k2000@hotmail.com email me n ill be happy 2 kick ur ass!