Any opinions on early 90's Rover 214s?

The k series is a great engine IMO.The rover sounds ok and given the choice between a Rover214 and a mk4 escort i'd rather have the rover.But thats cos the escort i had was a piece of curse word and i would never ever have another ford because of it ;D

MK4 escorts feel tinny but are actually quite a solid car. Rovers feel a solid car but are actually fairly lightweight. I don't think there will be a great deal of differences with regards to strength of either.
Is the rover a single point injection or multi point. Multi points are quite a bit quicker and generally more reliable in my experience.

Rover is probably the better car of the two but they are not particularly good handling and have quite a light front end with too much assistance on the steering. But they are quite good on the motorway

LANDFILL.

Ford fans close your eyes...

The Mk3/Mk4 Escort is deplorable in a crash, especially side impacts where even when new they ripped apart at the sills leaving no strutcutral rigidity.

IIRC they were rated red/red in the Swedish insurance assessment list back in the lat 80s when I last looked at one. That is to say the risk of injury is higher than average when involved in an accident in one and that the risk of any occuring injury being severe is higher than average.

They were also rated in about the lowest safety group (along with the Sierra) when I saw data when I worked at Vehicles Ergonomics Dept at a local University. Of the 5 groups the Escort was in the bottom. The 2CV and Reliant Robin were rated as safer.

Remember thats compared to other cars of the 1980s which often aren't the most roadsafe cars anyway...

So if safety is your concern do not drive a mk3/mk4 Escort.

My experiances with the Rover are that I had a 416GSi auto which was a low mile car and fairly new when I owned it. Nice car. Rode well, handled OK, reasonable economy and very reliable. Only issue to report is that the front brake discs are liable to warp.

A mate also owned a 218D (non turbo!) and although it was slow as a slow thing to drive he beat the snot out of it for a few years (did like 90miles a day in it and it had 140K on the clock when he bought it for like £350) He only serviced it once and was still going strong right up to the moment the cam belt snapped....

Clutch cables are apparently a weak point on manual cars.

Nice pedal position excellent for heel and toe work

Engine pulls well for it's size

Head gaskets are a problem as stated above

Lovely Pensioner image ;D

Saying about how unsafe escorts are, ive seen pictures of atleast 2 mk3/4s that have ripped apart flush with the end of the sills and been told its a feature of the model if you have a serious smash, rust in those areas doesnt help matters at all. I remember talking to a retired traffic cop a couple of years or so ago who said "most cars are pretty good, one car id NEVER travel in is the mk4 escort" something to do with the roof bending in a head-on and the sunroof taking the top of the drivers head off. My model is also a 3 door, so theres a vast expase of tinny sheet steel and a door trim protecting you from the outside world in a side impact. If it were a 5 door it wouldnt have been so bad as atleast theres a door pillar right next to you.

Make no mistake, I think this mk4s a great car, its reliable, nippy handles well and feels really "factory fresh" with it being a low miler. I was told the original owner never took it over 50! The only rust is a few blebs on the rear arches. Its too young to be "retro" in my eyes but its still a great old motor thats been looked after. In the back of my mind though......... I just don't feel comfortable on a busy motorway in it. I see bad accidents on the motorways at work with brand new cars and cant help imagining how my litttle escort would have stood up in that situation. Morbid I know.

This Rover is IIRC 16valve MPI but id have to double check. Its recently had its water pump replaced and had the rear bushes done about 6 months ago. Never had any HG problems while the old guys had it. The clutch cable is tight and needs doing, infact I was going to do it this weekend but Grandad-in-law has been offered a 2000 Skida Felicia dirt cheap so hes having that and this rover is now homeless.


The problem with the ECU'S packing up is far more common on later models where the alarm/immobiliser is ran from the the same ECU as the engine and apparently it cant take the load and eventually the ECU breaks and locks you out forever.

Thanks for all the input guys!

Not really, Any car I have that ends up off the road and in a garage for a long amount of time often never sees the road again. Much better to pass one of them on to someone else to enjoy now, besides these are both just daily drivers, automotive white goods (don't know where i stole that quote from!) theres no sense in having two of them.

I've had two of these, a wedgy 200 and a wedgy 400 (basically the same) - both great cars. The handling is very good for what is a mass-market slab of blandness, neutral and chuckable. Neither had terminal or MOT-failable rust despite being a bit shagged and

I've never had any problems with the K-series motors, must be lucky... The underpinnings are practically indestructible, I took my 200 serious off-roading a lot, just for the comedy value ;D, and nothing dropped off and it still handled and steered as usual.

I see a touring parked up on someones drive in Willenall every day, its got nice wheels on and looks the bizz, Estates have aged much better than the hatches/saloons IMHO.