Rover 75 V8 Suspension

Rover 75 V8 suspension wanted to convert ZT260

Hi Jerry,

welcome to the forum.

Why do you want to convert the MG 260 to have Rover 75 V8 suspension set up out of curiosity?

Nic

I'm pretty sure Jerry (WildRover) on the Xpower forum had a set he was selling.

I only bought this car last week and it is brilliant in all aspects other than ride quality. I need to make the car a bit more comfortable (acceptable) as the current set up is far to stiff, it would be great for a track day car but not for every day use. Assuming I manage to obtain the components and change it to the Rover 75 V8 settings I would still retain all the current suspension pieces as future owners may have a different view and use.

Actually Jerry, the more you use it, the more acceptable you may find the ride.
The stiffness really makes sense on the motorway, where it feels exceptionally stable and sort of hunkers down in a very satisfying way.
The downside of this, of course, is that it is a bit joggly round town.

I would try 17 inch wheels and higher profile tyres first, myself, as these have much more elasticity in the side walls, giving a smoother ride.

All the best

Phil

I'd agree with Phil.

When I first got mine, I was a little concerned over the harshness of the ride, especially over those little join strips on concrete motorways.

After a week, the rest of the car had won me over anyway, and after a month I really didn't notice at all. Now, after 7 months of ownership, I just can't remember why I ever thought it might be an issue! :D

Give it a month, and if you're still not convinced, make the changes then.

When I bought my 260 mk2 I couldnt believe how smooth it was compared to my zt 180 auto i owned before.
Do you have a mk1? and do they have harder suspension than mk2?

Geoff

Thanks for all the input.
I know tyres can be a ride factor and I specified normal 55 ratio types instead of run-flats on my company daily driver for that reason.
I will keep an eye out for some alternative sizes although I think I would still like to try the 75V8 setup, if I manage to procure all the parts, and will let you know how it works out.
Its a Mk11 ( 1st registered last December with less than 3000 miles now on it) and I would hate to think it was softer than the Mk1.

Jerry, why you not buy 75 in first place [?]

Quote:

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quote:Originally posted by GED

Jerry, why you not buy 75 in first place [?]

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Did wonder that myself.

The 260 isn't a hard set up at all to be honest. I beleive that when the car was set up in the first place lots of attention had to be paid to the ride because of the extra weight.

The 260 was a excellent set up I thought and having driven to Spain and back in a 260 and then also countless roads in the UK, I've never found the ride to be a problem. If anything, I would say that (like others) the ride is nicer on the 260 that a 4 or 6 cyl car.

The 75 set up is ok for the Rover brand but not the MG brand.

If you wanted to go the whole hogg and do the Rover 75 set up apart from changing springs and dampers (which means dropping the whole of the rear subframe to get to the rear springs that are located between the subframe and car, you would need to take the rear anti-roll bar off and potentially the 2 small Bilstein dampers on the rear diff. this would give you the full Rover 75 V8 experience. However, removing the 2 diff dampers would increase the possibility of axle tramp which is not a pleasant experience.

It's a big job and you've got to take the back end "out" to achieve your goal unless you ran with ZT springs and 75 Dampers which I imagine would mess the car up with its ride and handling altogether.

MkI and MkII suspension setups were exactly the same so there will be no difference in feel.

Lots to think about!

I did,nt get a Rover 75V8 as I wanted a nearly new car at a good price, and the younger cars hold on to a better price than a standard ZT260.
As a matter of interest I,ve had two diesel 75's already and the ride and handling were fine. I road tested a ZT diesel and a ZT260 about two years ago and the 260 it seemed alot softer than the diesel?
Somewhere between a standard 75V8 and the current set up would seem about right to me.

Looking at the work involved it won't be an immediate job

The 260 chassis is a very compliant cahssis compared to the other cars in the range. It just goes to show how hard Andy kitson and the team worked to make such a great drivers car. The chassis set up does feel softer but as you progress it all loads up really well to ensure that you can throw it into and out of corners precisely and safely!

This may sound like an odd come back, but the 260 is "tunes" to meet the requirements of the brand attributes and perceived driving experience, R75 V8 auto likewise, so going "softer" would not have met the needs of the vehicle. This was "discussed" suring the life cycle of the 190 when it first arrived and there were "complaints" about the stiffness of the 190 so our marketing dept backed off and softened it all up a bit.

Now our argument was that you wouldn't walk into a Porsche garage for example and say "I would like that car in blue but could you make the suspension softer please?" The same could be said of this although I appreciate where you are coming from.

But as you say, it's a big time consumiung job.

Well ive done it! I have finally managed to change the suspension over on my ZT 260 to the Rover 75 V8 type and.... It was a piece of cake.
Front struts took about half an hour a side and rear springs and shocks about three quarters of an hour a side. I have tried it with the rear anti roll both connected and disconnected and prefer it connected. If I need to change back for a track day or something then I think I could get the total job down to about two hours.
Obviously the overall handling is not so pricise but the overall gains in ride quality more than justifies any loss. Having said that the handling is still very good and allows me to enjoy myself on the cross country B roads I use without any noticable drop in pace. The ride is probably halfway between what it was and a standard 75. Major down side to the whole job is that I am using my MG twice as much as before - which can't be bad!
I know that a lot of you will be wincing at this but I wonder how many ZT sales of all types were lost because of the (over)firm ride.

Not wincing Jerry. :) Its good that you have done it yourself as now other members can knab you when they have to replace their springs. Good luck to you for doing it. A car is a personal thing. I like my ZT as is but I also like my 75 as is.

Thanks Tim. I forgot to say that the road noise is a lot less.

i think the 260s suspension is :D great, but uprating to VHS's kit as will be uprating HP with a [}:)] Blower.