2005 MG ZS 180 from UK and Ireland - Comments

I've got a 306 gti-6 and I've eaten the zr 160 the zs 180 and the zt 190. all the performance figures are exaggerations.

Big deal they aint even fast!

Clio 172 Cup (which is the quickest one) in independent testing managed 6.3-6.5 0-60 times. The rover isn't coming close to that I know its quick, but not that quick.

The clio is also a better handling car. The saxo's aren't as quick in a straight line round the beds though it will never be far behind they handle like go karts after a little fettling and there are a few of them out with over 160bhp and weighing around 950kg...The zs doesn't have a chance with those, but standard for standard the ZS would win in a straight line and be fairly swift around the corners the VTS would still be on your tail though. There very under rated cars looked at as being chavvy. Not really the case with the VTS theres a reason it was one of the best hatches around at one point.

The clio however is a whole different thing altogether it'd kill the ZS in everyway. top speed is the same 0-62 its quicker 0-100 its quicker, braking times the thing can outbrake ferrari 360's 100 - 0 is less than 4 seconds much quicker car than people think they are unfortunately theres just too many people around that stick the sport badge to the back of there clio.

Come up against a real one though and you will get a shock if its driven properly. Theres a reason its regarded as the best hot hatch money can buy by the press.

The MGZS is the best of the MG cars, and has a decent motor and handles very well in wet or dry.

The Saxo VTS and Pug 106 GTi have 120BHP and are made of tin foil so are also fast cars which will keep up with the Rover up to 100ish and will handle similarly.

However to suggest the Rover can keep pace with a Clio 172 or 182 is nonsense, even with 5 fat boys in and 95 unleaded in the tank a Clio will drive away from the Rover like it is stood still. The Clio is the fastest A to B car in this price range bar none. It will rip apart a Civic R or any other pretender on a drag strip, back road or race track.

To the above comment, sorry to burst your bubble, but a clio 172/182 will not easily pull away from a civic type r on a drag strip or anywhere else. i think it was on top gear or fifth gear or some oter such programme where they raced both around a track and the civic won! OK not much in it, but to say it will leave the type r is pure nonsense.

P.s. I have JDM honda integra type r (faster round a track than both those cars) which I have just turbo'd bring it on boys.

Wouldn't a supercharger have been a better choice with the teg?

And theres really not much between the cars on track or on the roads until you get into very illegal speeds then the civic will start to pull away.

Same on track theres not much in it.

Its all about the driver really 1 bad change and its the other car that wins. The clio can hold more speed generally through the bends though.

Theres a reason EVO had it as one of the best cars coming in ahead of lambos and ferraris etc. Because as a hothatch its everything it should be. The civic doesn't have as much feedback and its in a different class of car.

Thought long and hard about a supercharger before deciding on the turbo, main reason being for the amount of boost I'm running (only 5.8psi) they both produce about the same amount of power which is about 50-60 bhp. another reason is at a later date if I decided I want more power its easier to get the power up on the turbo than a supercharger. o and the winning factor was that one of my best friends imports cars and parts for a living and got me the turbo really cheap..£450 compared to supercharger from jackson racing at £1300.I'm waiting on 440cc injectors and I have walbro 225 fuel pump waiting to go on, along with metal head gasket and 13 row oil cooler to keep things running nice.

I do agree that the clio is a nice car and has good performance it just annoys me when some people on this site say that one type of car will kill another car round a track or round the back roads, when in truth theres not really much in it. maybe 1/2 second in the 0-60 at most and round a track maybe 1 second faster. and some people are claiming their cars destroy these other cars when in truth its just a tiny bit faster that's not really noticable in day to day driving, just a different feel of power delivery and torque. o and in case anyone was wondering I have 96' teg type r that weighs 1060kg and leaves the factory with 197bhp and a limited slip differential (massive difference on cornering feel and control over the civic type r) now running about 260bhp with turbo. so to all the guys on here with your clio's enjoy a very quick little car that you have and quite good looking too, but please no more slagging off type r's.they are not better or worse... just different.

I have just bought a 2001 ZS 180 with 61k on the clock and I'm a bit concerned about the head gasket problems, I have owned fast cars before, my fave being a MG Montego Turbo or my old 620ti, the ZS is meant to have the same kind of performance, I haven't driven it yet, its in the bodyshop. I have bought some black lexus lights, K & N Gen 2 Induction kit and an ECU from a ZT190, exhaust is next ;)

Mine is in trophy blue, saloon with standard wheels, looks pretty mean from the factory.

If someone could get back to me about the head gasket problems.. To the person with the Saxo, I decided to buy my ZS after reading reviews in EVO and Autocar, it was only second to the Clio round the track, beating lots of other fast hot hatchbacks, that says it all!!!

I am in the same situation I have just bought a 2001 model zs180 with 17000 on the clock blue with 17 inch mg alloys pretty car, but I am just worried about mpg and the head gaskets and I know for a fact I will kill a saxo in my new mg zs because I have raced 100's of saxos in my pugeout 307 2.0 and killed them and the zs buts my 307 to shame so bring it on saxos.

Kind of funny how people with there VTS's are compairing 0-60 speeds. Sorry, but if you were to race something on a road how often are you going to be below 50. Which really means you should be looking at 50-100 speed which I know a little 1.6 with 100lb's is not going to be good. My 1.7 R5 was nearly as quick as my Celica GT to 60 mph, but once it got to 60-70 it would be left behind no problem. R5 was 0-60 in 9.3 celica 0-60 in 7.7. Just for the note the r5 was only 90bhp, but 130lbs of torque.

Guys, concerning the ZS180 head gasket worries, the V6 engine does not suffer from the same design flaw which affects the 4 cylinder K-Series engines. The ZS180 is capable of 200-250,000 miles without head gasket problems.

The ZS180 engine should not be used with the ZT190 ECU either, both cars feature different gearboxes and as such, the ECUs are set up differently. It's not as simple as switching ECU units.

If your in any doubt at all, have a look at http://www.mg-rover.org and there's usually an expert who'll be able to help or reassure.

This is my third MG Z car all have been very good. And My 2005 MG ZS 180 IS THE BEST YET. i DO HOPE THE CARS ARE MADE IN THE UK VERY SOON.

Hi all.

Much has been said about which car does what best. The only worthwhile back to back testing I'm aware of was done by Autocar on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. All the cars were driven by the same driver. The Clio and Type R (both 166 bhp per ton) lapped in 60 seconds. The ZS (144 bhp per ton) took 61 seconds. So 14% less power to weight adds up to just 1.5% slower. QED the ZS must have been making up time in the corners. It was FASTER than the Megane 225. Tiff Needell describes the ZS as the "best handling front wheel drive car I've ever driven" and yes he has driven the Clio.

The Rover 620ti is dirt cheap, got no chance of being nicked and is surprisingly quick - give all of you a little run for your money. Pick them up for £500-£1000!

Let's sort a few things out.

A MG ZS 180 Standard 0-60 in a lot less than 7.3.

http://www.forums.xpowerforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8786.

Also read this post and watch the vids of the mgs invited by scoobynet guys to a trackday at castle combe. You will see how underrated the MG ZS 180 is.

http://www.forums.xpowerforums.com/showthread.php?t=30585&highlight=castle+combe.

Also a Autocar review of the MG ZS 180 gave this info in the magazine.

I found the Autocar review.

The lap times around a wet Castle Combe were:

1 Renault Clio 172 - 1:35.2

2 MG ZS 180 - 1:35.7

3 Peugeot 206 GTI - 1:36.1

4 Honda Civic Type-R - 1:36.2

5 Mini Cooper S - 1:36.4.