Who's raced a tomcat turbo?

[pjm_morris]

But is certain it was a turbo.

Any stories anyone?

[ENSMR2]

My mates one. 450bhp.

It's his business' show car though. So it's packed with all sorts of stuff. Neons, smoker kit. Flame kit, sounds, nitrous, CO2 etc.

They are ok as standard. Not very good round corners though!

[pjm_morris]

Yeah i think torque steer could be an issue! depends on the diff.

I'm looking at getting rid of me 90 n/a, so i've got somethin with a lot more pull in it.

Anyone raced a standard(ish) one?

[Rikki]

My mates one. 450bhp.

It's his business' show car though. So it's packed with all sorts of stuff. Neons, smoker kit. Flame kit, sounds, nitrous, CO2 etc.

They are ok as standard. Not very good round corners though!

450bhp Rover T/M series ?

Whats the spec on that engine

R.

[jimGTS]

whats a tomcat?

[aaronjb]

whats a tomcat?

Rover Coupe IIRC, back when the 200 was the big square thing. Glass lifting roof etc, stuff like that..

[Lauren]

whats a tomcat?

Tis the Rover Coupe that appeared around '95 is FWD (obviously) 2litre 16v turbot around 200ish bhp. Quite a lightish car around 1050kg or so, not that slow. Think the official name is 'Rover 220 turbo coupe' or somesuch.

[jimGTS]

the one that looked more sporty. 2 door?

i know the one you mean folks.

[Rikki]

whats a tomcat?

Tis the Rover Coupe that appeared around '95 is FWD (obviously) 2litre 16v turbot around 200ish bhp. Quite a lightish car around 1050kg or so, not that slow. Think the official name is 'Rover 220 turbo coupe' or somesuch.

92 on a K actually

Same engine as found in 620Ti's and such like now. Eat headgaskets for breakfast (a lot worse than the K series) but were pretty good for the money.

R.

[ENSMR2]

My mates one has the obvious stuff done. Ie turbos cams internals etc. Fully worked head. I think it's 350 before nos. I would say his one weighs much more then 1050kgs. More like 1400 with all the gadgets and gismos he has. Will get up a picture of it tomorrow.

[MegatronUK]

Had one previous to the Supra:





Great car... very, very light indeed; as Lauren says - 1050-1120kg depending on options. 200bhp, 200lbft. 60 in 6 dead and 150mph top whack. The Garret turbo on the motor is fantastic, really punchy and lag free. I *think* I'm right in saying that apart from the mythical Xpower ZT V8 and the Qvale that they bought (have you ever seen more than 1? No, neither have I), its the fastest production Rover every built.

Not so much head gaskets, but they do have a known problem whereby they leak oil from the outside corner of the gasket. More of a nuisance than a terminal problem.

The 220 and Coupe had the better engine than the 620 as the pistons were forged and didn't tend to turn into chocolate! They used the Honda PG1 gearbox (Prelude, MGF Accord, etc..) fitted with a viscous coupled Torsen LSD to try and keep the front wheels going straight... it works... most of the time If anything, the gearbox is the weakest part; trying to keep all of the power going through the front wheels - they have a tendency to break.

They are surprisingly well equipped with some decent leather, the glass targa top is neat and not too bad driving around without it, I got decent mpg (35-36-ish). Personally I still like the styling; it's certainly traditional 'Rover', but very distinctive and they still look well on the road.

Bad points are the brakes; just not up to the performance, nor was the suspension - it has a tendency to get light at high speed. The intercooler is also down at the front next the exhaust and behind the bonnet catch - as a result they tend to heat soak quickly.

[JJ]

The engines are rubbish !! The head will eventually go porous too !!

I've hated every T series turbo engine I've worked on !! Its normal for a "rover" engined rover to leak oil !!

On the plus side, they are a torquey engine... but I think an evolved Montego engine says it all.. 2.0 litre MG Montego block with a Twin cam head !!! Doesn't like to rev and doesn't last long - hydraulic followers quite problematic leading to sticking valves and noisey top end.

Do yourself a favour and dont' buy one... the car itself is great, the engine is rubbish. Go for a lower powered Honda 1.6 unit... honda units are identified to be the main block on the right of the engien bay and the box on the left as the engines rotate anticlockwise !

[MegatronUK]

The engines are rubbish !! The head will eventually go porous too !!

I've hated every T series turbo engine I've worked on !! Its normal for a "rover" engined rover to leak oil !!

On the plus side, they are a torquey engine... but I think an evolved Montego engine says it all.. 2.0 litre MG Montego block with a Twin cam head !!! Doesn't like to rev and doesn't last long - hydraulic followers quite problematic leading to sticking valves and noisey top end.

Do yourself a favour and dont' buy one... the car itself is great, the engine is rubbish. Go for a lower powered Honda 1.6 unit... honda units are identified to be the main block on the right of the engien bay and the box on the left as the engines rotate anticlockwise !

Bah.. it's all lies I tells ya

La la la... I'm not listening... la la la

[ENSMR2]

Engine Bay:


My old lude. You can see a bit of it (mates rover) on the right there.


Who wants to know what 350+ horses does to the tomcats chassis??

[MegatronUK]

Bendy bendy flex flex .... I could tell mine was moving around with just the standard power!

[ENSMR2]

Bendy bendy flex flex .... I could tell mine was moving around with just the standard power!

and then ........... SNAP!!

His chassis is cracking into two at the moment!!

[pjm_morris]

So has anyone actually raced one then?

I wouldnt want to get the 1.6 as it would be slower than my 2.

[Raf]

not raced one but had one and all i can say is that its nothing special.... its cant stop well enough/go round corners quick enough so hence you loose the will to put your foot down after a while. Looks nice though in a weird sort of way!

all in all a bit of a let down!

[pjm_morris]

How come i'm getting such a mixed response!!!????


I also have a standard 214SEI, and i thought that it took the corners very well, (even though it 4 ft off the ground! - needs lowering)

But i think if i get the tomcat and drop her either 40 or 60(but not too sure bout wheel rub with 17's) that it'd fly round the corners.

[Steve_Rutter]

Why not just go for an MR2 turbo, will be quite a bit faster and surely not that much more to insure.