MG Xpower SV (2004 - 2005) : FOLLYWOOD

Tuesday December 6

Models Covered: Two door coupe (4.6 V8 [SV, SV-R])

BY ANDY ENRIGHT

If there was ever an exemplar of quite how badly MG Rover got their strategy wrong, the MG XPower SV is as good as any. In a period when the company should have been investing to develop a replacement for the Rover 45, they instead decided to pour money into developing first a niche rear wheel drive version of the Rover 75 chassis and then this, a supercar with a price tag its abilities could never hope to justify. As a sales proposition, the SV was a disaster. Until MG Rover went into administration in 2005, nine were sold.

As a used buy, it might well have a lot to be said for it.

The body is crafted from carbon fibre and goes some way in explaining the XPower SVs hefty £65,750 price tag. Far lighter and stronger than traditional steels or aluminium, the body panels have been constructed using a pioneering process developed by the UK-based SV Group and the result is a body that weighs a quarter as much as a conventional steel skin. Although the body is unconventional, elsewhere some more traditional methods have been used. The chassis itself is steel, developed alongside the double wishbone suspension by Vaccari and Bosi in Modena, known to most as Italys supercar central.

The XPower SV wears a deep front splitter and rear diffuser to stick it to the ground and there are also signature shark gill side vents and a lip rear spoiler. Should others find the SV as irresistible as its owner, theres an Omitec Tracker fitted that alerts central diagnostic control in Longbridge should the car be stolen and also immobilises the vehicle. Customers can chose from six interior trim colours matched to a wide array of exterior paint finishes although a fully bespoke interior or exterior can be selected allowing each car to be uniquely personalised.

As catastrophic as the XPower SV was as a production construct, it could well be a very smart used buy. With only a few floating around, these cars are certain future classics and as such, valuation is tricky. Now would be the time to buy, but just try finding one. The last car seen for sale was a low mileage 2004 SV that changed hands for £40,000.

Sit it in a dehumidified garage and its hard to see how the new owner would ever lose money over the longer term.

Its worth bearing in mind that the SV was developed in an extremely short period of time and on a rather small budget. This should tell you something. Owners have complained of poor reliability, the electrical systems being particularly characterful. The engine and gearbox are both tough units but interior quality is poor and spares will be very tricky to come by.

The big thing to look over are the body panels as these are virtually impossible to source.

With no factory support available, youll be relying on enthusiast owners to help youre your SV on the road. Many mechanical parts are off the shelf Ford items and, as such, are relatively inexpensive. Body panels cost a small fortune.

The engine is a tried and tested bruiser, basically being the same powerplant that sees service in hotter versions of the Ford Mustang. With 320bhp on tap in standard guise, the 4.6-litre all-aluminium quad-cam V8 will power the car to 60mph in 5.3 seconds and on to a top speed of around 165mph.

Quick, yes, but certainly no quicker than a £41,000 TVR Tuscan. The SV-R offers customers a higher performance version of the 320bhp SV. With a full 400bhp on tap, the SV-R features a 5.0-litre XPower version of the all aluminium 32-valve Mustang-derived engine.

Developed in conjunction with V8 tuning guru Sean Hyland, this is a car with serious performance credentials. Itll knock over the sprint to 60mph in comfortably less than five seconds and will accelerate on to a top speed somewhere in the region of 175mph. Why the approximations? Until a full and authenticated performance review of this car can be undertaken, weve only MG Rovers words to go on. Certainly, a car with 400bhp and a hefty 510Nm of torque on tap with such a lightweight body to haul should be capable of figures in that ballpark.

The seats themselves scream purpose. Deep buckets are equipped with unique dual function three-point inertia reel racing seatbelts that allow the driver the full mobility of a seatbelt combined with the security of a racing harness. The system can be locked at the flick of a switch for more neck-straining cornering where youll get the chance to test the adhesion of the massive tyres. Riding on specially designed 18-inch O.

Z. split-rim wheels the SV wears 225/40 boots up front and chunky 265/40 rubber at the back. The transmission is a five-speed Tremec manual gearbox with drive going to those back tyres via a BTR limited slip differential. Aerodynamics work has been carried out in a number of wind tunnels with high speed stability testing done at the Nardo bowl in Italy and high-speed cornering testing conducted at the Nurburgring in Germany.

If you can find a straight example that the owner will part with for reasonable money, the MG XPower SV should make a reasonable investment. If, on the other hand, youre looking for a car to run as a daily driver with occasional track use thrown in, go for a Noble or a TVR.