Rover 75 V8 Suspension

[JERRY]

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

[Rincewind]

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.

[JERRY]

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.

[Tim]

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.

[JERRY]

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

[v8fangio]

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