Old Top Gear 1991 - Rover 800

I have a sneaking suspicion that the old r800 only held its head above water because it was made in Britain yes I know it was designed jointly with Honda but it had a British body and the two liter models at least used British engines it could therefore be considered a patriotic buy if the old Rover 800 had been as good as the British sales figures would have us believe and how come the French and the Germans and the Americans weren't forming orderly queues to buy one not to put too fine a point on it they were staying away in droves this however is the new a Tundra well sort of new huge chunks of the old car remain in place and by huge I mean the doors floor the roof and the 2.7 liter v6 engine so what you might ask has been changed well it has a slightly reworked interior and new nose and on the saloon at least a new rear end the extraordinary thing is that although the changes are quite small this neither looks nor feels anything like the one that went before now the first thing I've got to talk about is this grill there are those who say that it makes the 800 look like a Jaguar and it's therefore a good thing but equally there are those who argue that the last time Rover put a big chrome grill on the front of a car it was the vanden plas Allegro and it's therefore a bad thing rather less contentious are the engines now as I said before the v6 stays the same but there's a new 2-liter now even though it's got a catalytic converter as standard it's still more powerful on the old one now I can't work out for the life of me why anyone would want to see it the Top Gear tradition does dictate that we get the bonnet up so there you go one engine fascinating rather more interesting is this new rear end now they've raised the rump to give the car a nice sleek profile but as a side effect of course you've got a good big boot be they want to see in there dear I mean let's face it a boot is a boot is a boot as far as the interior is concerned it's a case of meet the new boss same as the old boss not particularly spacious but they only get in the car isn't particularly big but there are some changes I've got a new steering wheel which actually looks like a large grade but urgh I'm told it's savor to have a big area like that in the event of an accident better switches and more wood that's even more stylish than ever before I'll tell you something else as well these seats are unbelievably comfortable driving the new 800 shows that Rover really can mix it with the big boys when it comes to ride and handling even though the original Honda design suspension is still you've tweaked by Rovers boffins have transformed the 800 into a car that's entertaining of you're feeling enthusiastic yet safe and comfortable if you're not this by the way was filmed at the Bruntingthorpe test tracks I don't for heaven's sake drives me away to the shops now we're always banging on about worthy things on Top Gear so it's good to see that Rover has been responsible with its choice of equipment for this si model you might imagine that costing nineteen thousand two hundred and fifty pounds the interior would be stuffed full of toys but instead of air conditioning have got anti-lock brakes instead of electric seats I've got a burglar alarm nor makes sense so the new Rover 800 is a whole lot better than the one that went before but that's just not good enough because it's going to succeed it's got to be better than all that mod 2 so how does it get on well it doesn't feel quite as solid as now odorous are and it isn't quite as well made as a Mercedes but then again what is in addition it doesn't offer quite the same perceived value as a Vauxhall or a Ford and nor does it have the charm or the Brio or the sheer good looks of an Alfa Romeo 164 however like the BMW the rover is a fine all-rounder not brilliant in one area but very good in all of them the trouble is that it doesn't tickle your erogenous zone it isn't what you call exciting but if the truth be told none of these cars are except one if you want a car that keeps the taxman at bay a car that's practical and a car that's fun to drive you only have one choice the Alfa Romeo 164 twin spot as far as the rover 800 is concerned I liked it's very British interior it certainly goes well and the equipment provided a standard is well chosen things I didn't like were few and far between does that dubious grill it's done a very big car and well that's about it

Channel: celticmadliam

Views: 83,619

Rating: 4.7628031 out of 5

Keywords: Old top gear, 1991, epic, season 14, episode 17, rover 800, BBC, jeremy clarkson, richard hammond, chris goffey, william woodward, tiff needell, old top gear, classic top gear, rover is over, 800, MG

Id: GpN0rtDfZUo

Length: 5min 52sec (352 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 13 2010