2002 MG ZR 160 from UK and Ireland - Comments

'I currently pay around £120 a month insurance.

Any help / advice welcomed, thanks!'

My advice... spend more time looking around for cheaper insurance, that's extortionate, even for an 18yr old.

I own a MgZr160 and yes its pretty Nippy, but that's about it. Will be selling it on soon, going to get a clio 182 sport as I raced one the other day and got BLOWN AWAY. The Zr160 is mearly a warm hatch, with reliability issues. Its got to go!

Sounds like the zr160 is slow beaten it with my Fabia vrs.

The zr 160 is quick and it grips I kept right up with a focus st 170 and they r quick. But I've just bought a zr 2.0ltr turbo diesel and they r quick and they grip fantastic the good thing also is that they first put the bmw engine in these models so if you like mgzr get a 2.0 turbo diesel.

People can mock the mgzr 160 and all the zr models, but they should buy one first to see just what a great car they r. We should thank the workers at longbridge 4 building a great looking/fast/reliable car. The worst faults on the zr models began on sep 04 onwards there is minor/major faults which garages won't tell you plus you get no warranty with any mg model sold unless you pay over the odds. But fingers crossed the new mg models start rolling out of longbridge this april so this may be the rise of the mg brand so those who have a mg model keep hold cus the prices may very well start 2 go back up they have already crawled up in price. Be aware garages r ripping people off when they partex there mg cus they use the comment cus of the demise of mg the cars hold no value its not true look on forcourts mg models r still going 4 stupid money 4 example a sep 01/51 plate 1.4 105+ models start at 4999.95/6499.99 so you can't tell me they r a crap car cus they aint.

I sold my 160 a few months back and I ve gotta be honest I did like the car and was sad to see it go, The only reliability issue I had with the car was predictably the head gasket which is why I did decide to get rid of it in the end, But bar that it was great it handled pretty well and was pretty impressive performance wise and don t understand people saying they are slow as I found it capable of staying with most things and think it s a joke that somebody thinks a fabia vrs will blow it away when the fabia on top gear struggled with a mini cooper!!

Overall I liked my mg and at the price there going for now there quite a bargain just watch the gaskets!!

Mark - I'm going to buy an MG ZR 160 in the next couple of weeks... I think they look sweet.

I used to own a 216SLi Rover, which was kicking out around 115bhp, and that was nippy, so I can't wait to see what my 160 will be like...

To the person commenting that the diesel engine is made by BMW, it is actually the L-series rover engine developed by a company called powertrain, and is rovers own engine, and is actually more reliable than most BMW's. The ZR160 is fast, not as quick as a clio 182, but yes as quick as an ST170. The person who said that doesn't realise that the focus is often criticised for not being as fast as a car of that power and size should be, if anything I would have thought the zr was faster, its similar or better bhp per tonne than the focus. Going back to the diesel zr, they are really good engines and capable of tuning, one person had his rolling roaded at 180+bhp with upgraded clutch, brakes etc, and as a result was quicker than the zr160 and prob on par with the clio, whilst doing 40mpg most of the time, plus if he was beaten in a race it was no big embarrassment as he was driving a diesel kicking out so much smoke the guy in front or behind was left in no doubt that it was such.

I drive punto hgt turbo, vgs tuning, full racing exHAUST.ecu remap, piper X. COLD air feed. Lowerd on koni shocks and springs. USE to own a ZR160. found it to be very drivable. Build quality not bad not many toys. but it's a drivers car very easy to modify. AS FOR SAYING AN ST170 FAST. RACED A FEW OF THEM IN MY HGT STANDERD TUNE LEFT THEM FOR DEAD, FABIA OWNER RACED THE MG, BLOKE IN THE MG MUST HAVE DROVE OF IN THIRD GEAR, JUST WISH PEOPLE WOULD STOP SLAGGING OTHERS OFF, THEN AGAIN IF YOUR GOING TO POST FALSE INFO ABOUT YOUR CARS SPEC. PEOPLE WILL BE CRUEL...

The zr 160 rules. whoever said these things stick to the road likes super-glue was absolutely rite. my mate has one and I brick it when he goes around a corner fast, but he doesn't flinch and the car goes round without hardly any body roll!

I own a mg zr 160 and not meany cars can beat me. Some times I may be in therd and the vvc is starting to work and so I just put my foot down, compared to the guy who is trying to over take me who is probably raggin his engine to peices (only a few cars have mannaged to overtake me befor the strait of the road runs out) the only problem is that it needs a sixth gear for the moterway. On country lanes I am the king and whip BMs for breckfast (an m3 had troble keeping up with me I'm not joking!!) but on a long strate it is the other way around.

You say that you are in third, and that other cars have to rag their engines to keep up? The VVC of the Rover engine requires that you 'rag' it to go quickly. It is why they rev fairly high, like a less reliable, less powerful (although more torquey and evenly distributed) Honda V-tec. They are good for what they are, light due to the K series engine, and handle well, but you won't beat a BMW M series on any road if they are going for it. The only reason they are 'slower' is their car is actually worth quite a bit if it crashes, so they will probably be a bit more careful than you.

I would honestly consider one of these engines if it werent for the head gasket troubles of the K series engine. They get good mpg and decent performance, but I can't afford to have my car off the road, with the head being done every 30k miles.

Most of the above comments sound boy-racerish!

Very poor build quality typical of the late MG/rover's. Lots of squeaks and rattles develop on low mileage cars, Along with niggling electrical faults, and cheap looking/feeling build materials. The dash looks very tacky and leather tears very easily. One of the only good points comes with a downside... being that the engine is pretty bombproof once the headgasket has been changed.

And to be fair they aren't all that quick either. I have left my mates one for dead time and time again in my Golf Mk2 16v. And I can tell you he knows how to drive.

They are nippy for a 1.4 and saying comments sound boy-racerish only to then later use the phrase 'left him for dead' is kind of hypocritical. The heads on these can go again and again, if you have it repaired properly and all the fluids changed at the same time along with the land rover gasket then they are less likely to go, but still more likely than most cars. Bad design with the thermostat and tiny coolant tank amongst other things...

Still a bargain compared to other cars out there I guess, and more parts than people would have you believe.