Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

Little update again, done trackday on 9th with MG's on track just to test all the stuff done over winter to see how it all played out. Good to report it's all been a success with the car handling amazing now. The Quaife ATB has absolutely transformed the traction way more than I could have dreamed of, before coming out of corners with 17's and Dunlop Race slicks I had terrible wheel spin but with the ATB on road tyres there was none unfortunately was a very busy sessioned event so didn't get a clear lap all day other than around 4:30 when it was heavy rain but even then the cars handling was great. Only down side is the down grade on the brakes meant I had to brake a lot earlier so I'm hoping to reuse the 6 pot calipers with a 290mm or 295mm disc under the 15's. Will get some videos and pictures sorted soon

that mgf took a terrible line

I think a fair few were on there first trackday

Well guys due to the current situation the poor little Rover hasnt moved since Februarys trackday with MGOT so i decided now Santa Pod has reopened id take a trip up there. Not the best outing for a car aimed at the circuit with -3 degrees of camber, 195 tyres and not a very powerful engine but thought at least gets the oil circulating Anyway was a good afternoon out and i beat my previous best by over a second with and best of 14.1 at 97 mph, not going to set world on fire but thats faster than a ST Fiesta, ST Focus 225, VXR Corsa or Astra etc so not bad for a non turbo 1.8 K Series. The Quaife ATB makes a HUGE difference definitely the best mod by far be it an expensive one The commentator on the live stream was funny when i lined up he said "wow a Rover 214 how are they still about, the Tomcats where cool" Head over to Santa Pods YouTube page if you want watch it the time is 17:45 i think.

Anyway here is a little video.....

****CLICK BELOW****


santa pod upload by John Quincey, on Flickr

I was following this thread on another forum a few years ago - I think you had not long fitted the engine in the bay.

Glad to see you've still got this car and still playing with it.

You've done some very interesting mods that I'm also interested in buying for one of my cars - I'll be picking your brains as and when I get round to it, specifically the RTA bearings

I've got a question for you now having a few track days under your belt, has the chassis suffered with any stress cracks anywhere? Have you added any strengthening plates in areas? The chassis looks untouched.

I know the 3Dr R8 Chassis is possibly the best one out the 200/400 R8 range so I think I already know your answer.

It will be good to hear your feedback

James3990 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 11:41 am I was following this thread on another forum a few years ago - I think you had not long fitted the engine in the bay.

Glad to see you've still got this car and still playing with it.

You've done some very interesting mods that I'm also interested in buying for one of my cars - I'll be picking your brains as and when I get round to it, specifically the RTA bearings

I've got a question for you now having a few track days under your belt, has the chassis suffered with any stress cracks anywhere? Have you added any strengthening plates in areas? The chassis looks untouched.

I know the 3Dr R8 Chassis is possibly the best one out the 200/400 R8 range so I think I already know your answer.

It will be good to hear your feedback

No not done any strengthening and not had any cracks as of yet but the car hasn't been used at all last year about from Santa Pod and the MGOT day but I am using the ZR front frame and I know a lot of the Dunlop cup cars have had those crack. I probably won't be doing anything else to the car as I've got a 216 GTi to race in the MG Cup now so this one will be going soon unfortunately

JOHNDQ wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 5:59 pm

James3990 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 11:41 am I was following this thread on another forum a few years ago - I think you had not long fitted the engine in the bay.

Glad to see you've still got this car and still playing with it.

You've done some very interesting mods that I'm also interested in buying for one of my cars - I'll be picking your brains as and when I get round to it, specifically the RTA bearings

I've got a question for you now having a few track days under your belt, has the chassis suffered with any stress cracks anywhere? Have you added any strengthening plates in areas? The chassis looks untouched.

I know the 3Dr R8 Chassis is possibly the best one out the 200/400 R8 range so I think I already know your answer.

It will be good to hear your feedback

No not done any strengthening and not had any cracks as of yet but the car hasn't been used at all last year about from Santa Pod and the MGOT day but I am using the ZR front frame and I know a lot of the Dunlop cup cars have had those crack. I probably won't be doing anything else to the car as I've got a 216 GTi to race in the MG Cup now so this one will be going soon unfortunately

Nice, is the 216 GTI a Dunlop car? (I take it that's the Honda D-series engine)

Will you be breaking this car or building your GTI separately?

will be nice to see a couple of photos.

James3990 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:42 am

JOHNDQ wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 5:59 pm

James3990 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 11:41 am I was following this thread on another forum a few years ago - I think you had not long fitted the engine in the bay.

Glad to see you've still got this car and still playing with it.

You've done some very interesting mods that I'm also interested in buying for one of my cars - I'll be picking your brains as and when I get round to it, specifically the RTA bearings

I've got a question for you now having a few track days under your belt, has the chassis suffered with any stress cracks anywhere? Have you added any strengthening plates in areas? The chassis looks untouched.

I know the 3Dr R8 Chassis is possibly the best one out the 200/400 R8 range so I think I already know your answer.

It will be good to hear your feedback

No not done any strengthening and not had any cracks as of yet but the car hasn't been used at all last year about from Santa Pod and the MGOT day but I am using the ZR front frame and I know a lot of the Dunlop cup cars have had those crack. I probably won't be doing anything else to the car as I've got a 216 GTi to race in the MG Cup now so this one will be going soon unfortunately

Nice, is the 216 GTI a Dunlop car? (I take it that's the Honda D-series engine)

Will you be breaking this car or building your GTI separately?

will be nice to see a couple of photos.

Unfortunately no it's not an original Dunlop car. I've been to see 2 of those cars and the body's are so battered they needed re-shelling in fairness so I've bought a low mileage GTi to build myself. I've checked with the MG cup who said it's fine as not many of the cars racing are still using the original factory prepared shells and in fairness there only standard shells that had some extra welding and no sunroof. I will be doing this car separate and the plan is probably around summer time to sell my R8

JOHNDQ wrote: ↑Thu Jan 21, 2021 1:14 pm

James3990 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:42 am

JOHNDQ wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 5:59 pm

No not done any strengthening and not had any cracks as of yet but the car hasn't been used at all last year about from Santa Pod and the MGOT day but I am using the ZR front frame and I know a lot of the Dunlop cup cars have had those crack. I probably won't be doing anything else to the car as I've got a 216 GTi to race in the MG Cup now so this one will be going soon unfortunately

Nice, is the 216 GTI a Dunlop car? (I take it that's the Honda D-series engine)

Will you be breaking this car or building your GTI separately?

will be nice to see a couple of photos.

Unfortunately no it's not an original Dunlop car. I've been to see 2 of those cars and the body's are so battered they needed re-shelling in fairness so I've bought a low mileage GTi to build myself. I've checked with the MG cup who said it's fine as not many of the cars racing are still using the original factory prepared shells and in fairness there only standard shells that had some extra welding and no sunroof. I will be doing this car separate and the plan is probably around summer time to sell my R8

It will be good to see a thread when you get chance.

I'm doing a very similar thing, an ex-Dunlop 220 Coupe that got reshelled into a 218VVC shell but not to a very good standard.