Rover 75 1.8 LPG RANGE
The
Rover 75 Always Seemed Good Value But With The Addition Of LPG Powered Versions, It Makes More Sense Than Ever. Andy Enright Reports
Marketing people have a term for those folks who are the first onto any given bandwagon. They call them early adopters, people who tend to be young, adventurous trendsetters with a healthy amount of disposable income. The thing with being an early adopter is you can easily blow your money on something that soon becomes an irredeemably bad idea.
Mind you, only very rarely does a concept come about that inexplicably fails to get the take up it deserves. Running your car on Liquefied Petroleum Gas is just such an idea, and becomes even more attractive when the car in question is a Rover 75. Heres an instance where becoming an early adopter will not only make you the envy of your peer group but will save you money. Yanks would call it a no-brainer, management consultants might dub it a win-win scenario, but to the rest of us its just solid common sense.
| Build |
 |
| Comfort |
 |
| Depreciation |
 |
| Economy |
 |
| Equipment |
|
| Handling |
|
| Insurance |
|
| Performance |
 |
| Styling |
 |
| Value |
|
With LPG currently retailing at around half the price of unleaded petrol, the additional outlay for the LPG conversion can quickly be recouped. Things arent quite so cut and dried, because when you run your
Rover 75 on LPG its 9% less fuel efficient than when fed petrol, but the huge slash in pump prices easily overcomes this consideration. Also known as AutoGas, LP Gas, Commercial Propane or Commercial Butane, LPG is now offered at over 1,100 filling stations around the UK, so your nearest stockist shouldnt be too far out of your way. Should your fuel gauge be hovering near empty, its good to know that the LPG-converted Rover 75 has two fuel tanks, one for petrol as well as the gas tank so that you can fill up on normal unleaded should you so wish.
"If you plan to cover anything over 20,000 miles in your Rover 75 1.8, the LPG conversion makes a lot of sense."
Available with 1.8-litre 75s only, the LPG conversion is an aftermarket undertaking approved by
MG Rover. Developed by EcoGas Systems Ltd and Landi Renzo S.R.
L. in conjunction with MG Rover Powertrain Limited, the conversion can be ordered from Rover dealerships, the cars retaining the three-year factory warranty. The retail price of the conversion is £2,195, but the Government offer a Powershift Rebate of some 60% which means that you end up paying just £878. Lets do some simple maths.
Run a standard petrol-powered Rover 75 1.8 for three years at a conservative 10,000 miles per year and youre going to shell out about £3,350. Run the same car on LPG and youll spend £1,830 at the pumps. Youre already £600 ahead and it would be more were it not for the fact that because its an aftermarket conversion, the LPG powered car - despite being nominally two bands cheaper than its conventional rival in terms of tax is taxed as a petrol vehicle.
That may change when MG Rover dealers start converting the cars themselves but in the meantime, the Chancellor has won that battle, if not the war. A 100% exemption from the London congestion charge may also be a significant factor in choosing LPG. Performance is virtually identical whether you run on petrol or gas, which means sixty arriving in 10.9s away en route to 121mph.
If you want to go faster, theres now a turbocharged 1.8T variant. Its been said that the switch from Cowley to Longbridge production has led to an improvement in build quality, which may or may not be true. Certainly, the latest cars are screwed together much better than were earlier examples, though since some of those were very poorly glued together, youd expect that.
Its probably safest to say that 75 build quality is now what it should have been from day one and leave it at that. That being the case, you can now make a strong argument for the 1.8-litre entry-level model being by far the most sensible choice in the range, given that it brings real executive values to the Mondeo/Vectra/406 sector. Leaving the LPG conversion cost aside for a minute, the £16,995 sticker price (in basic Classic saloon guise) would buy you only a relatively humble Mondeo or Vectra.
Set a 75 alongside either of these and it seems a classier proposition altogether. Part of this is thanks to MG Rovers policy of not making entry-level buyers feel short-changed: no de-chroming, no skinny wheels. Indeed, park a 75 1.8 Classic alongside the 2.5 V6 Connoisseur SE model and the only real differences are the plastic wheel covers and absence of front foglamps.
As for road manners, well you have to remember that this car was originally developed by
BMW engineers. Mindful that this car would compete in the same sector as their 3 Series, the Bavarian bean counters had ordered them to emphasise ride and refinement above handling and roadholding hence the balance we have today. In many ways, its a rather refreshing approach thats certainly better suited to the real needs of the kind of people who will likely drive this car day in, day out. And you can throw it about a bit if you really need to: its just that the car doesnt really encourage you to do so. But back to the fuel question. The switch from petrol to LPG can be made on the fly, the only real downside being the lack of a spare wheel in order to accommodate the gas tank. If you plan to cover anything over 20,000 miles in your Rover 75 1.
8, the LPG conversion makes a lot of sense. Similarly, if you dont fancy being stung by the central London congestion charge, the conversion is well worthwhile. The feeling of smugness when you pay half price at a filling station is more than enough for most. Quite why more dont opt for LPG is something of a mystery, especially when the huge growth in diesel sales demonstrates that were fed up with being bankrupted at the pumps.
Be an early adopter. This time it wont cost the earth.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Rover 75 1.8 LPG range
PRICES: £16,995-£23,495 - plus £2,195 conversion (excluding 60% rebate) on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 8E
CO2 EMISSIONS: 182g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 10.9s / Max Speed 121mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: LPG (urban) 23.8 / (extra urban) 42.3 / (combined) 32.9mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front and side airbags / ABS
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4745/1970/1427
<< Back to Rover car reviews
<< Back to car reviews homepage
Find New & Used Cars in the UK |
New & Used Rover Cars For Sale UK
