Rover 800
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| Rover 800<tr><td colspan=2>Image:1997.rover.800.arp.jpg</tr>
<tr><th>Also called:<td>Sterling 827</tr> | |
| Manufacturer: | Rover Group<tr><th>Parent company:<td>BMW (1994-1999)</tr><tr><th>Production:<td>1986–1999 317,126 made.</tr><tr><th>Predecessor:<td>Rover SD1</tr><tr><th>Successor:<td>Rover 75</tr><tr><th>Class:<td>Executive car</tr><tr><th>Body style:<td>4-door saloon 5-door liftback 2-door coupé</tr><tr><th>Platform:<td>XX</tr><tr><th>Engine:<td>2.0L M-Series I4 2.0L T-Series I4 2.5L Honda V6 2.7L Honda V6 2.5L Rover KV6 V6 2.5L VM Motori diesel I4</tr><tr><th>Related:<td>Honda Legend</tr><tr><th>Similar:<td>Peugeot 605 Renault 25</tr> |
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The Rover 800 series is an executive car introduced by the Austin Rover Group in 1986. It was also marketed as the Sterling in the United States. Initially, only a saloon body was offered; a liftback version – referred to as a fastback – became available in 1988.
Contents |
[edit] Development
[edit] Partnership with Honda
The Rover 800 was intended as a replacement for the aging Rover SD1. The car was developed in collaboration with Honda in the early 1980s under the XX codename; the corresponding Honda version was known as the Honda Legend, and was codenamed as HX. Both were produced in the former Morris plant in Cowley, Oxfordshire.
The car was more complex in every way, than its predecessor. The basic versions of the 800 used a 2.0 L 16-valve development of British Leyland's stalwart O-Series engine, dubbed M-Series. The top versions used a Honda designed V6 unit in 2.5 L capacity. A diesel version of the car was launched in 1990 using an 2498cc engine from Italian company VM Motori, which was also to be found in other vehicles including the Jeep Cherokee and some Range Rovers. The American-market Sterling was only available with the V6 unit, whilst the Sterling badge was used in Europe to denote the top-of-the-range versions (hence Rover Sterling).
The 800 was hampered by Honda's adherence to Honda's own complex double-wishbone front suspension which could not give the 800 the executive car ride qualities which were necessary for it to compete. The first 2.5 L engine lacked torque, which affected its driveability, whilst the 4-cylinder cars suffered from reliability problems, thanks to the fragile Lucas fuel injection systems which Rover persisted in using. It should be noted that the 2.5 L Honda V6 is a completely different engine from the Rover KV6 Engine introduced in 1996, although the two share the same 2.5 L capacity and V6 architecture.
Early build quality of the 800 was indifferent, with trim, electrics and paintwork problems. The 800 did have a roomy and luxurious interior but this did not save the car from gaining a poor reputation from which it never really recovered. Corrosion problems in early models would also mar its reputation. This all contributed to the second demise of Rover in the United States: the Sterling fell to the bottom of J.D. Power surveys there, while ironically its twin, the Acura (Honda) Legend, was found at the top in its first year.
By 1989, the 2.5 L engine had been enlarged to 2.7 L, the unreliable Maestro-derived instrumentation had been changed to Honda gauges and build quality had improved. However these changes were too late to prevent the American-market version from being withdrawn after poor sales. In an attempt to field a contender in the smaller "repmobile" class (a class in which Austin Rover's own Montego was struggling to compete), a budget version of the 800 using an 8-valve O-Series engine was introduced. However this model was short-lived owing to its sluggish performance.
[edit] 1992: the R17 major facelift
In 1992, the 800 was given a major restyle, under the R17 codename, with a traditional Rover grille and more curvaceous bodywork, let down slightly by the need to retain the same centre section around the doors. The redesign was completed in only eleven months, and afterwards the car's sales enjoyed a rapid renaissance, the 800 series becoming Britain's best selling executive car in the early to mid 1990s. Paintwork had improved dramatically by this stage, decreasing corrosion problems.
[edit] Coupé
A two-door ("three-box", booted) coupé version followed later that year. This had been originally developed with the American market in mind but was never sold there, Rover having pulled out of the US market before the coupé's launch. It was, however, sold to other export markets. Eighty percent of the interior and exterior of the 800 coupe was finished by hand.
[edit] 1996 minor facelift
A facelift in 1996 provided few exterior changes, the most noticeable being the painting of previously black rubbing strips on all models except the coupé and the revision of the suspension system. Climate control, passive immobilisation and a passenger airbag became standard, and a 6-disc CD autochanger was fitted to all models apart from the entry 'i' model. Wood finishes were expanded, with a coachwork line and 'ROVER' on the door cards, accentuating the new, pleated seat finishes and deep pile rugs. Unusual pleated door card leather and fabric finishes capped off a comfortable interior, much of which was hand-made with what Rover called "the craftsman's touch".
Although the 800 had fallen behind the opposition considerably (few mechanical changes were made, apart from the introduction of the Rover KV6 Engine in 1996), it was a steady seller until 1999, when it was replaced by the Rover 75.
[edit] Users
Famous owners include Neil Hamilton, Peter Mandelson, Clement Freud, Max Bygraves and Michael Parkinson. Tony Blair owned an early 800 in the 1980s, and the 800 was a keystone of the British government's car fleet throughout its life, following a tradition of using British-made Rover and Jaguar models. The car was also used by many British police forces.
Steve Coogan's comedic character Alan Partridge drove a post-R17 facelift fastback Vitesse in Knowing Me, Knowing Yule, and a post-1996 facelift KV6 Sterling in the first episode of series one of I'm Alan Partridge.
The cars also featured on ITV's Police, Camera, Action! in the 1995 episode 'The Liver Run', where police had to make a delivery for a liver transplant. This is incorrect, the cars featured in 'The Liver Run' were infact Rover SD1's.
[edit] Production figures
| 1986 | 15,609 |
| 1987 | 54,434 |
| 1988 | 48,634 |
| 1989 | 35,387 |
| 1990 | 29,460 |
| 1991 (pre-facelift) | 10,007 |
| 1991 (post-facelift) | 2,961 |
| 1992 | 28,136 |
| 1993 | 28,354 |
| 1994 | 21,802 |
| 1995 | 13,311 |
| 1996 | 11,400 |
| 1997 | 11,131 |
| 1998 | 6,500 |
[edit] Model designations
Unlike many other manufacturers who used numerical model naming systems, Rover never settled on a permanent standard for the majority of their cars. However, for the following designations are an approximate guide:
- 820 – 4-cylinder 8-valve carburetted models
- 820e – 4-cylinder 16-valve single point injected models
- 820i – 4-cylinder 16-valve multi point injected models
- 825i – Pre '89 6-cylinder models
- 827i – Post '89 6-cylinder and US models
Following the 1992 R17 facelift, the convention was simplified to:
- 820i – 4-cylinder 16-valve multi point injected models
- 825D – 4-cylinder diesel models
- 827i – 6-cylinder models
In 1996, the engine designations were dropped, and the model badges simply read "800".
These designations do not include the additional letters added to indicate trim level, i.e. combinations of letters including "S" and "L", giving models such as for example the 825SD and later 825SDi.
[edit] External links
- "Rover800.co.uk - The Rover 800 Owners Community! Rover 800 Owners Community run and supported by Rover 800 Owners
- Austin Rover unofficial resource – The Rover 800 and related models development story
- "www.800scotland.co.uk" – Rover 800 Homepage / Register
