Anybody know anything about 220 GSi Rovers?

[carona]

I got this idea a while ago but i have tried to avoid thiking about it at all costs but a sleepless night has caught me out.

I would like to know about rover 220 GSi's and if a car i have my eye on is going to be a Turbo, all i know is that it has a 220 GSi badge on the back.

A few months ago back in the summer around june time i think my mother called me up and asked if i had a spare space on the drive so one of her work friends could park their car on the drive, there was a space so they turned up about 2 hours later, parked a 220GSi rover on my drive and i have not heard from them since.

Having been a good 6 months i have wanted rid of it, I had a car i was happy using and i would have liked the space back, i was not having any financial or any other sort of gain from it (which may sound silly but a lot of neighbours rent a space out to commuters so save parking in the station)

Anyway, It is badges as a 220 GSi, not knowing a lot about them i don't know if it is a turbo or not, it is not the coupe version, just the two door and looks like this.



My idea was to offer him a few quid for it, take the engine out and possibly put it into something a bit more fun.... Metro?

would anyone be know if it was a turbo? as i am not interested in it if its a n/a, having peered through the window it seems to have half leather and looks as though it was one of the better rovers, i don't know where the badges were on the back to make refferance to the one on my drive way, but it does have a buldge in the bonnet if that was a turbo trate?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[bortaf]

I had a 220 GSI saloon and that was non turbo, TBH i thought the tomcat and the 820 had the turbo versions but not really up on em TBH ?
I beleive they did half and full leather, mine wall full and i have to say the seats were the best part of the car, comfy and tough, appart from that i know if the head leaks oil externaly from teh HG the factory fix was to tighten the head bolts a bit honest that's what the dealership told me to do, and it worked pretty quick, ni-on the same as an RS turbo on 0 to 60 and top speed IIRC

[DavidB]

I think the turbo's have a turbo badge, and 16" wheels.
Coupe's came in non-turbo form as well. Either way the 220 is a really decent car.

[carona]

thanks for the reply! Yeh i had some of the seats from a tomcat in my old Corsa and they were very fine!

Are the engines K-series in these? I have a K-serised VVC 1.8 in my old mini and am very aware of their very common head gasket failure but once this has been overcome i felt the engine was great. Going for a 2.0 in a metro would be pretty similar but possibly a little simpiler than trying to fit a VVC into a A-series subframe. Either way thats another thing to overcome when i get to it, i just want to assess the engine status in the current car, and it seems it will be non-turbo


If it is a non-turbo i would still be interested in it, at the right sort of price, to be honest i only want it for the engine and interior as a possibly conversion into a metro for a bit of fun.

[carona]

Dec 20, 2010 3:20:16 GMT DavidB said:

I think the turbo's have a turbo badge, and 16" wheels.
Coupe's came in non-turbo form as well. Either way the 220 is a really decent car.

It seems to have after market (and odd) wheels on it and there is no turbo badge aparent on it.

[DavidB]

No, the K-series wasn't turbocharged, it's a T-series in the 220 engine, which is just as good. They look similar, you can tell the difference in inlet manifolds and thermostats - the T-series has an unusual curve on the rocker cover, and the K-series usually has steam coming from the coolant tank.

[RobinJI]

The 2l will be a t-series as said. They did actually do a 1.8 turbo k-series, but only in later cars (once they were onto the 'bubble' shapes).

The t-series is a considerably heavier and physically larger engine than the k-series, and will not go into a metro without serious work, and the extra weight would more than likely make for pretty poor handling. If you want a quick metro the best be would be a 1.8vvc, more power than the naturally aspirated t-series 2l, and pretty much a bolt in fit. (if you use the metro gearbox it bolts strait in, but will pop the box sooner or later, or you can use the donor cars box, and modify the subframe a small amount to make space for it.)

[Maxxxer]

Also, the bulge in the bonnet was standard on all the Coupes - 1.6 through to 2.0 Turbo, as the bits were interchageable.

Was a right curse word trying to find a replacement rear bumper from a scrappy for my Tomcat, as they had all been bought by hatchback owners who wanted to fit Coupe bumpers fromt & rear...

[Mark16v]

Look through the bumper for the intercooler, or try to peak underneath the car and look for the turbo.

These cars came as 220GSi Turbo and GTi Turbo, only difference is trim level and they were quite rare (as in not many produced). They have the same engine as the Coupe Turbo.

No Turbo badge though:

[carona]

that photo above is exactly the same as the one on my drive, even down to the colour!

I doubt it is a turbo, but it would have been nice

[DavidB]

Turbo badge - I'm thinking of the turbo diesels.

I'd love a Metro 1.8 K-series. It's well know the gearboxes aren't up for the job if you push the power up, but they're reliable enough.

[curlie467]

If it helps, the 220 gti turbo 3 door was only made for 1 year, 1992/93. It is thought that only around 500 were made and a seriously smaller amount than that exist now. It then turns into the gsi turbo.
The bonnet bulge i think was a trait for the 2 litre engined hatchbacks and all coupes.
It would be good if it was a 3 door turbo but I think you would be mad to rip it apart with it being a good quick car in itself and rare to boot. Especially when a k-series is much better in the metro and easier to fit.
If you are still going to get the rover, make sure its for next to nothing, they really are worth jolly pain in the backside all sadly.

Hope that adds a bit of info for you.

[incarsolutions]

the only way to tell is pop the bonnet and look, badges can be added or removed. alloys can be swapped. just get the bonnet open and you'll see if its turbo'd or not.

[RobinJI]

Dec 20, 2010 14:07:44 GMT DavidB said:

Turbo badge - I'm thinking of the turbo diesels.

I'd love a Metro 1.8 K-series. It's well know the gearboxes aren't up for the job if you push the power up, but they're reliable enough.

Yeah, the standard metro box's are pretty poor. A friend of mine stuck a 1.6 in his 1.1 metro this last summer, he used the 1.1 box and it popped by the end of September, admittedly he does use it hard, but that's still pretty poor.

He's now sticking in a 1.8vvt complete with its proper gear box and a modified subframe to fit the larger box. Should go well and hopefully be a bit more reliable.

PS, I also think it would be a shame to rip apart the 220GSI if it's in good shape, I kinda like them, they're pretty underrated cars imo.

[xbo11ox]

The 220's are great even in non-turbo form, mine is one of the nicest cars i've ever driven, really smooth and quick. I drive mine 100 miles a day and proper enjoy it every time.

Thats very rude of your mum's mate to just abandon it on your drive, you just know despite a total lack of contact from her she will kick off if you do owt constructive with it.

[bortaf]

My saloon had the bonnet bulge as well as far as i know all the 220s had em to clear the engine cos it was the other way round to the honda engined cars IE the gearbox is on the passenger side unlike the other engined cars, typical BL

[tali100]

One seller claims there are only 52 GSI Turbos remaining -hate to see numbers for rarer GTI Turbo!

[hamps]

very very rare car, especially that colour too!

[Mark16v]

Dec 21, 2010 22:49:24 GMT bortaf said:

My saloon had the bonnet bulge as well as far as I know all the 220s had em to clear the engine cos it was the other way round to the honda engined cars IE the gearbox is on the passenger side unlike the other engined cars, typical BL

It's the other way around, Honda is one of the few (maybe the only one) FWD 4cyl engine makers that have their engine run counter-clockwise and thus the engine needs to be the on the right side of the vehicle and the transmission on the left.

About the rarity of the Rover 220GSi-T and GTi-T:

www.rover200.org.uk/rover200turboregister.html

"News January 2009: The club has been able to obtain a fairly definitive list of the turbos produced (there are the odd one or two not yet on the list). Using the tools available online for checking vehicles the club has been able to update the register to give an indication of the remaining 220 GTi & 220 GSi Turbos. Currently there are 31 (taxed and sorn) 220 GTi Turbos & 52 (taxed and sorn) 220 GSi Turbos."