do we know when the first-ish bubble turbo was built

[bjrespect]

as above feeling a little nostalgic

i built mine in jan 2008

and im very confident it was the first converted 1.1 lol

was quite rare compared to today

[harland292]

I saw a post the other day and had a read and it was 2005

[reggy5]

one of the first 2003?

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/463639/1998-rover-200

[bjrespect]

nice one reggy

im quessing that was defo the first

[Hyper]

Edit: http://www.rt2468abcd.r8technology.co.uk/viewtopi ... +mk3+turbo


The first one was a guy called Phil mk3 turbo who (with Si) ran the original rover200.com but I don't know if he built it himself. Dark blue iirc.
Since that forum got hacked and butchered the oldest reference I can find at short notice is here;

http://newforums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?p=36689

http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=2418

http://www.rt2468abcd.r8technology.co.uk/viewtopi ... 192#257192

[jase]

Yeh it was Phil. He didn't build it himself but I don't know who did.
He had endless driveshaft problems with it due to the engine not being mounted right.

So many good mk2's were around back then it really did seem out of place!

[jase]

Actually come to think of it mine was done 2003 which makes it pretty early. And pretty sad I still have it!

[bjrespect]

bloody hell jase she is a old one although saying that its a bit like

triggers brush (only fools and horses)

its had 8 new handels and 10 new brush heads

[Stevo135+]

Can we say for certain though that MGR never built a turbo bubble back in 95-96 to evaluate using the T-series in them, or as a possible Performance flagship/ fastest accellerating Rover of all time project? They had a use for the T16 until 99, so i can't believe it was never considered or even that as an experimental project they might have done.

I remeber seeing a few Turbo ZR's as early as 2005, there was one or two on ebay around that time as well. I can't believe there were that many really nice 220 turbo coupe's or Gsi's around by 05-06, They were all 10year's old by then, and apart from some nice FDH's there were few mint original early 220 coupe's around, and even less in the rare colours!

I started looking for my first turbo coupe in 2007 and only found a handful of really immaculate one's, in the 2years between then and 2009, when i finally brought one.

[southside]

First forum i joined was RoverSportsClub in circa 2003 and there was a member on there called GoldRover that had a bubble turbo. Was a bronze colour with i think a motobuild bodykit.

[jase]

hahaha, yeh good quote Ben!

I can't believe there were that many really nice 220 turbo coupe's or Gsi's around by 05-06

At that point they were starting to disapeer agreed, but back when it did start with Phils there was a fair few. They were rare cars anyway but not high mileage rust buckets. These are mk2's remember They seemed to age better than the original mk3 conversions. When i binned my mk2 at about 9 years old it was 100% rust free. Same cant be said for subsequent bubbles.

Have to say ive never heard the slighest rumour that a T16 mk3 was tested and we've had a few ex Rover people pass these ways...? Altough given what they managed to turn the 800 into, it does make you wonder what else they might of been thinking.
But it is a great shame Rover never did it. They could of kept themselves a step ahead in the hot hatch market for a good 5 or so years till the FRS1 came out.


J

[Punx0r]

The T-series was more powerful, but it was old, heavy and apparently wouldn't have passed the new emissions standards coming in 2000.

The K-series was the future and I suppose it made more sense to put effort into developing/using that.

[Stevo135+]

Fair enough, but there were other T16 powered car's rolling out of Longbridge in 98-99, and so there would have been a few T16's knocking around. I was thinking of say a shell that they might have used for testing or for a race car project etc? It certainly would have been possible for them to drop a T16 into an mk3 R200, and try it out, even if they never intended on making them a production car.

We know that a few K-series turbo's found their way in ZR's at the factory later on as development cars.

lastly other firms have put engines that were going to have a short shelf life into limited production cars. The Focus RS mk1 using the Zetec with a turbo conversion is one example, so is the ST170 and FRS mk2, as i believe the Volvo 5pot was going to fail future emissions regs. Then there was Honda who only made the FN2 CTR for a few years, and it's now out of production, as is the K20 Type R engine. In terms of history and year's in service it's been nothing like as successful as the B-series was.

[southside]

We know that a few K-series turbo's found their way in ZR's at the factory later on as development cars.

Rumour has it the 1.8k Turbo was going to replace the VVC in the ZR 160, again due to emmsion reasons.

[stefaclese]

We know that a few K-series turbo's found their way in ZR's at the factory later on as development cars.

Rumour has it the 1.8k Turbo was going to replace the VVC in the ZR 160, again due to emmsion reasons.

The bloke at ZandF who is ex-MGR told me the 1.8 K turbo in a ZR 160 would've been £100 cheaper on cost per car than with a VVC installed, so the plan was to use the cheaper engine with similar performance figures for the 160's, and move the VVC to a 1.6 ZR (presumably replacing the ZR 120?).

The K turbo in to a ZR was done as it had a future, and a very good reason for doing so. Shame the penny pinching had gone through things like no acoustic linings to the inside of bonnets before realising they could save loads with an engine swap! As said the T16 wouldn't have passed EU3 emissions laws without a lot of work, and it hadn't done too badly being the ultimate evolution of the 60's O series.

It seems to me that their mindset was very much focused on the K series being the future (having just spent £250 million developing it, fair enough I suppose!). Hence all the 'mad' stuff happening with them like the KV6 400 bubble prototype that would eventually become the ZS180, and rumours of supercharged 1.6 K's cobbled together out of old 1.4 and KV6 parts in R200 testbeds when Rover still had control over the Mini replacement.

How about another blast from the past, who remembers the KV6 200 bubbles?! I seem to recall there were 2 of those DIY made?

[bjrespect]

drew had a blue kv6 200

[Neill]

drew had a blue kv6 200

This started out life in the hands of Steve B from Banshee motorsport. He seemed to have nothing but problems with the wiring on this but it hadnt been done before so he was bound to have some problems.

I actually went out with him at one of the Castle Combe action days and took a video but i think it got lost when my external HDD died.

[Firose]

Yeh it was Phil. He didn't build it himself but I don't know who did.
He had endless driveshaft problems with it due to the engine not being mounted right.

So many good mk2's were around back then it really did seem out of place!

Yep it was Phil to have the first mk3 bubble turbo. Was built by a company called powertrain up in the in the midlands, was a very costly conversion back then and as stated had it's share of problems.

Got some pics so will dig them out.

[carl747]

Yeh it was Phil. He didn't build it himself but I don't know who did.
He had endless driveshaft problems with it due to the engine not being mounted right.

So many good mk2's were around back then it really did seem out of place!

Yep it was Phil to have the first mk3 bubble turbo. Was built by a company called powertrain up in the in the midlands, was a very costly conversion back then and as stated had it's share of problems.

Got some pics so will dig them out.

Sure it was powertrain as they was part of MGR

[vi turbo]

think one of the very first was a couple of guys one was called tony cant remember the other guys name might have been ahmed was around the time we was building the vvc metros so about 2000-2001 they just done a full transplant in them whole car loom etc they was cat c smashed up cars he bought cheap from salvage yard. they built a couple of them.

they was around the birmingham races quite alot at the time.

[SubCat001]

I thought I may of had a pic somewhere of Phil's MK3 but couldn't find one.

But did find this one



Not sure who took it or where. But I am sure Jase can elaborate.

[jase]

you 6 letter word.
Where the 4 letter word did you get that???





J

[SubCat001]

Think it was from 220gti.com.

Got a few other pics and vids of classic 220gti/rover200/Roverload/Rovertech cars that I've collected over the years.

[jase]

Do I need to be worried you have a pic of me on your computer mate

Good Rover meet that one tho, had a larger than usual turnout. 2.
Was my first ever visit to Santa Pod and iirc did a 14.8 or 14.9 @ 97mph. Ben was slightly slower 15 or 15.1 probably due to running 18's.