regards fitting stuff in the back yes its easier to fit bigger items in it than the saloon, but if your not looking for that and your going on personal preferance of looks then theres not really any between them, had a huge amount of stuff in my saloon as well including a full weekend of camping kit with 2 12 man tents, a large table and a lawnmower, all in one go

Had two mk1 hatches, but you cant fit the bonnet in there :-(

I love my saloon, but each to their own. Imo, visual appearance of any car with a bonnet this size needs a counterweight in a longer boot. The same, longer boot doesn't fit to what were ment to be small cars... When I take a look at other makes, it's all the same, all about ballance. As mentioned, beemers, to add mondeos, mercs... On the other hand, pug 206 sedan, clio sedan...

I'm very much a 'saloon' person, HOWEVER seeing 'some' of the hatch models people have I'm being convinced they are nice and tasty when done well

I will poiint out though, the extreme spoiler on the ZS was released BEFORE the subaru evo spoiler as it was modelled on the ZS design ;)

I'm a saloon man I like the mk1 But love the mk2 if I could sell a kidney I would buy a mk2 sat on my hospital bed lol but that's not to say I wouldn't have a hatch though

I've got a hatch and love the practicality but I keep wanting to get a R45 saloon with heated seats and put my hat on the back shelf.

we should settle this with a top gear style challenge!!! saloon vs hatch

comments about a less practical boot on a saloon, well that depends what you are trying to put in it!

Had both cars, both mk2, I can get 12 spare wheels in the back of a saloon for a trackday, something I couldn't do in a hatch.

I think the saloon is more complete in its looks, when I had the hatch I felt it was never quite as nice as the saloon - probably because the saloon mk2 looks more like the touring car than the hatch.

Hatch's all the way
 

the hatch is better on handling and lighter, and its a well proven fact ie.. when ford had the escort (hatch), and the orion (saloon), why did they make the escort rs turbo, and rs cosworth in the hatch and not saloon, when vauxhall relisead the astra (hatch) and the belmont (saloon) y did they choose the astra for the gte 16v treatment and the gsi tratment, dont get me wrong i like the look of the saloon, but the hatch win's it for me everytime, who cares about the little bit extra boot space, what the hell do u want to put in there anyway:clap:

I second that idea :clap:

Hatchbacks look like rovers... Saloons look like MG's ;-)

Wouldn't work unless you have two totally standard cars with the same service history and same tyres etc... otherwise one or the other will have an advantage! plus then there is driver ability...

If thats the case, why is the 75 Tourer better handling than the saloon version ;)

I think it depends on the car, and in this case (in my experience of my 6 ZS's) the Saloon tips the handling stakes (unless you have upgraded suspension on the hatch) - then again it could just be down to the driver!

Agreed. Solar Red Hatches with Sunroofs are Rovers, not MG's :p lol

The saloon shell is stiffer than the hatch so handles better, that's why the saloon went touring car racing.

The reason Ford didn't build the first Cosworth into a saloon shell is simple, the saloon Sierra wasn't available until 1987, the 3 door Cosworth was released in 1985

This ^^^ If the hatch was the better handling model it would have been used by MG in the BTCC.

I like to think of my Zed as a Montego on steroids.

In the 80s and 90s it was hot hatch all day long as that was the pocket benchmark. Saloon hot versions were aimed at families and 30 somethings. The market for hot hatches were aimed at youngsters with alot of disposable income.

When it came to rallying they preferred hatches due to the space inside for accessing parts, moving trans and engines around and the fact they were shorter hence when going sideways through a tight forest there was less chance the arse kicking ripped off.

Saloons in racing are used as the arse can take a beating due to teh rubbing going on and still compete as by the end of the race it'll look like a hatch! Therefore the rear internal structure makes it stiffer, the boot is a crush zone. If a hatch took a rear end then the roof would probably creae as well if hit hard, then again a saloon would not fair much better if hit hard! Anyone remember Sopers BMW when he took out Cleland? That was more like a Compact when it finally stopped! :laugh:

I think imo that both the hatch and saloon are good in their own ways. I have a mk1 hatch, only reason being that the weekend I went to look at the 2 possible zs's the saloon one was overpriced for what it had wrong with it. (or at least seemed it at the time plus an unknown major knocking from front put me off a little with no proof of belts from new) I would've happily walked away with either car as I think as said they both can and do look fantastic but at the time it was the hatch that came up trumps for me. Also a bonus now as is easy to get the boys bike in and out of the boot easily & all extra baby gear.

I would like a saloon as and when I can afford to have one as mates have the saloon versions but I think the hatch can also look as nice if not nicer.
At the end of the day though, as long as you like what your driving does it really matter what others say..
Just my little thought on it. ZS's rock either way :dumbells:

To be honest if I was looking to change my zed it would be for a mk2 and probably a hatch purely because of the use for a hatch over a boot and that I have dogs as well. I nearly bought a hatch before the saloon so not swayed either way.

I own a Mk2 ZS hatch, and got a Mk2 R45 saloon for my Dad. They both have the same engine, so no issues there.
Before buying mine I thought that the hatch looked a bit sawn-off at the rear (a la Beemer Compact as someone else already said), but when you live with it you suddenly find yourself looking at the saloon and thinking it's a bit overly long and boat-ish!

What the ZS saloon may gain in handling due to stiffness it probably loses in practicality by the rear seats being fixed.
I also don’t like the lack of trim on inside of the boot-lid of my Dad’s 45 – it makes it sound a bit tinny and cheap when you close it.
You also have to bend down more to get stuff into and out of the furthest reaches of the boot, whereas large loads can be easily placed into and retrieved from the hatch. You can see them better too with the rear parcel shelf lifting up along with the hatch.

I have the hatch style Extreme spoiler on mine, but it can be a bit of a pain on the motorway because it goes right across your field of vision in the mirror and obscures the view of things behind. So I find myself scooching down or stretching up to try to see indicators etc (yes you DO have to be aware of what is behind as well as what’s in front)!!!

Edit: It's also nice to have the option of being able to clean your rear window to see out of it properly with the hatch's wiper - I miss it when reversing my Dad's car in the rain. And when I put mine in reverse with the front wipers on, it automatically clears my rear window for me - great when the car's covered in dew and I'm pulling out of my parking space first thing in the morning.

I think whichever one I was to have, if was a saloon rather than my hatch id love the car whatever.
I love my hatch for how useable it is though and the fact that being a hatch makes it slightly different to most local zs's as they do tend to be saloons.
Wouldn't think twice about buying another one as where others have previously said the hatches are so versatile for the medium sized car they are.

I found with the Hatch extreme spoiler (all my ZS's have had the extreme versions of the spoilers...) that the very top bit (that kinda flicks up) catches the sun perfectly, then reflects it to the rear view mirror and this in turn reflects it very nicely into my eyes... lol the only solution was to "dip" the mirror :)

Saloon supposidly has better handling because the rear brace makes it stiiffer at the back, tbh doubt theres very little difference between them round a track

Not true i'm afraid, on a standard shell the saloon is stiffer but also heavier, wsr spent 800 man hours making adjustments to the shell and as you see with other hatch in btcc standard shell stiffness isn't an issue as they do so much work to them. The saloon was chosen apparently for political reasons, wsr told me this because it is less like the Honda hatch and therefore a saloon is more mg/rover. The hatch is lighter and has a better drag co-efficiency. the saloon is standard or near standard stiffer and apparently has less under steer. but its an age old argument which will probably never die!

I agree, which is why MGR built 2 versions of ZS, cos we all have different tastes in cars.

How that's what i call product Knowledge. I just love this forum, theres no information MG related that you cant here. brilliant

We will never achieve the 'definitive' answer, purely because we will all defend our own.
A saloon owner is no more going to slag his car & praise the hatch, than hatch owners doing the same.

Had I bought a saloon I may well be standing on my soapbox shouting how great the saloon is.
I ended up with the hatch..because it was a bloody good bargain, & she looked great all polished with her straights!

For me personally..& I mentioned this earlier in this thread, I wanted to avoid the saloon because I have just spent 5 years owning an E39 BMW saloon.. so the last thing I wanted was..another saloon! ;)

I did look at a blue saloon with big extreme spoiler down in Southend, but was to much for what I wanted to pay. Plus, my mate who gave me a lift said...its trying to hard to copy a Subaru Impreza.. Not that that would have stopped me buying it had I wanted it.


I understand what the extreme spoiler on the saloon is, but what is the extreme spoiler on the hatch?
My mk1 180 rear spoiler is stepped/cranked up at each end, is that it? I'm sure I saw a smaller spoiler on a hatch before?

if i had a pound for every time ive read " the saloon handles better cause its stiffer".....
complete rammel and proven on many tracks many times over.
Standard hatch is quicker a to b than standard saloon, having said that the difference is not worth argueing about

Saloon Extreme---------------------------------------------Hatch Extreme
http://www.aronline.co.uk/press/mgzs_2.jpghttp://www.aronline.co.uk/press/mgzs_3.jpg

Hatch Low level
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29...i/IMG_0561.jpg

And just to confuse you further Saloon Extreme on Hatch
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1...-ZSOption2.jpg

You have your opinion and I have mine, they differ.:smile2:

that a photo shop or has it been done?

Definitely been done, car used to be mine :laugh:

looks very smart that :)

Saloon for me.

Amen

difference is my opinion is based on personal experience over some years, doing countless track days with many different zs....unless you have done the same you cannot compare, you cant push the cars to their true limits on roads and you cant drive flat out in your car with your mates in their cars on the roads either, You also have to have the same tyres, same mods etc, ive done all this testing and the hatch is very marginally quicker around a lap.

Has to be the saloon for me, nowt wrong with the hatch there are some nice examples out there, i just prefer the look of the saloon.

As you say 'the hatch is very marginally quicker around a lap' and 'you cant push the cars to their true limits on roads', where most use their cars, then the handling of the two could be said to be equal as your not driving to their limits anyway. So it comes back to looks, and the hatch still looks as if its missing a bit off the end! :laugh:

I wonder what Bernie and Leepu would say :rofl:

Those two crack me up! Nutters both of them!! :laugh:

Saloon ftw.