Zs180s not as quick as modern cars now??
 

Hi folks is it just me or is there a lot of modern day standard family cars can quite easily keep up with a standard 180?? Im on my fourth zs180 over the past three to four years but there seems to be a lot of 1.8s and 2.0 cdti's would keep or make mincemeat of the 180s now am i right or is it just me,? I drove a seat leon fr diesel at work'i think it would have eat the 180 alive,quite shocking really,wondering should i have got another 172/182 but dont like the reliability of french cars at the mo?

Seat leon diesels don't I easily pulled from my cousin in his FR550 diesel.
170ps so similar HP 180ps for us.

7.3 to 60 for us vs 8.1 for the leon.

I still find ours a match for most if not all tbh.

most CDTi's are aroung 150bhp arent they? And lets face all will have more torque in gear wont they.

Idont seem to have a problem and I even gave an RX8 a hard time the other day, he couldn't overtake me at all and struggled with a lack of torque lol.

Either your 180 is buggered or your just not driving it properly lol :)

I know what you mean i love the 180s but put it up against an audi a3 1.8t or a bigger audi a4 and i wouldnt like to try to be fair,i used to think the zs was quite a quick car poss still are but working at the airport i drive allsort as i park customers cars for them,and the auto bmws seem quite a nippy car these days,the old 320d are a very fast car,i just find it a shame the kv6 engine needs a lot of money put its way to get quicker,a vauxhall insignia tonight getting onto the motorway almost left the 180 tonight and we wasnt racing typical business man undertaking me for no reason but fourth gear it was right on the zs backside, god knows what it was under the bonnet as it never said on the back but looked a standard car poss a diesel even i was shocked,

1.8 T Sport 3d
7.9 secs
135 mph
147 bhp
210nm

320d M Sport (2010) 2d
7.3 secs
147 mph
181 bhp

modern diesel will have more torque too at 380nm and 280lbft

there isnt much in them at all

there is a 200bhp twin turbo diesel insignia
the 2.0 cdti is 160 and will have the tourque in gear to accellerate well
the 1.8 petrol is nowhere near the ZS

It must have been the 200hp one my dad has the 1.8 insignia and that is hopeless but that one today was in a different league,it went like hell but i used my common sense and slowed off again,just felt the zs didnt have a lit more in it but i was only in fourth,hmmm

My zs is only on 58k to been well looked after so its far from buggered lol ;) prob me driving like a grandad but im not overly keen on the cheapo tyres the last owner put on a full set great tread but frightening in the rain,the back end gets slippy easily:-/

should get you to some good speeds in fourth, mine does (when it has done safely) tbh if theyre all feeling a bit faster then i'd be looking at something wrong.

Not had many things beat me tbh and the big power guys dont bother as they know its easy ;)

The other cars just felt quicker to test drive at work but maybe fair play to the zs then trying to keep with a twin turbo insignia! Just googled it,i didnt even know they made them that sort of engine apart from the vxr's :-

the zs is not a fast car by any means.

quoting figures is futile, a 330i e46 bmw feels loads quicker than most other cars with just 230bhp.

The zs is pretty useless as soon as you drop it into 5th, had the car had a close ratio 6-speed, it would be a different beast, whilst you can bring the car to life with close ratios, it does tend to rev a bit in top.

It all depends on how you drive it............The v6 is more than enough to keep up, and anyway, round the bends you can lose most cars, as I havent found a better handling car, this side of a supercar....

You might have a knackered VIS motor, or 2.

As someone who regularly tracks my zed, I can tell you they are not that slow. Very rare that I get over taken in it. I've also done various back to back tests against friends new hatches and also "fast cars" and it's never let me down. My friends got the new clio rs and has had new manifolds and remap etc, 218bhp on the dyno and i still managed to get a car lengths on it. If yours is slow I can guarantee you've got issues with yours. The book figures for the zs are not quite right too as everyone I know who has done a 0-60 test has done it under 7. Not that slow a car if its running right and driven right

Strangely enough, it was an insignia (diesel) pulling away from me on a slip road while my 180 was in its "sweet spot" that swayed me to get rid. That was in 2010.
Couldnt bear the thought of a mobile sales rep's mile muncher being quicker than my 25mpg "sporty" car. So had a silly moment and got a mini (BMW) which lasted all of 6 months then came back to ZS ownership but this time with a diesel. I absolutely love that car and still have it now three years later, longest Ive ever kept a car and it is going nowhere any time soon.
Bang per buck it really is impossible to beat a tuned ZS TD. What else can you get with 160bhp and 250+ ft/lbs torque for just over a grand all in?

Im sure the 180 would have been quicker from a standing start but for real world driving, overtaking and the like you cant beat a well tuned diesel.

One thing I would say with driving other cars and them feeling faster than the 180 is that they probably are faster in most situations. Similar BHP figures but twice the torque so stands to reason.

The diesel wont sound as good though and if I wanted a track car it would be the 180

Horses for courses

Il let mg zs steve try it out n the weekend see if he thinks the vis motors are ok or not,just seemed a bit of a struggle with that insignia but twin turbo im not surprised,what sort of rev range should the power range build up on the 180s? is it just over 3k should feel quite a difference? cheers

sounds like you need a T-series conversion ;)

i should have a spare set soon :o

It should be a very noticeable tug at 3-4 revs. The difference between a knackered vis and a working one is quite a difference, bought another zs last year which had a knackered system and i couldn't believe the difference. Also the zs will be transformed with a few mods and come to life. be worth doing a back to back on two zs with a non working and a working. youd be quite shocked.

Think really that's the issue here.

When I came down and RRd "Red" it gave 146bhp - yours was 185+ IIRC. That's a huge difference in power let alone torque. I then replaced my vis motors and am sure it was stronger although didn't test it again.

My current car has been tested and working motors gave a RR of 184 and she just feels quick.

Bear in mind aswell that these guys in their Insignias etc are just booting it everywhere on a company fuel card and they are worth 10 times what our ZSs retail for. We have decent performance cars that outperform most if they are working properly

I'll stick the SG2 on first and check for codes. As you have my old loom fitted it will have the old splices for the vis indicator still present, so will take 10 minutes to connect it up to see whats happening. Ive got spare VIS also if needed. If you have got a duff VIS and we can sort that out, coupled with the SS exhaust and sports cat it will feel like a different car.

I've driven the latest 320d touring a bit, and the 520d touring as well, and while they're pretty good for 2.0 diesel they're not as quick as the ZS. The A4 1.9td we have at work is considerably slower than all of the above.

All have about the same (or more) power than the ZS 180 and a lot more torque, but the ZS is lighter and the torque curve and power delivery is always going to be better than an oil burning farm implement.

I find you will probably be quicker off the mark but once in motion I think a lot of diesel turbos would out accelerate the 180

Our ZR160 is quicker off the line than either of my ZS180's and the MGF (143 VVC) is quicker still BUT once you get into 3rd the ZS's have it. They are also much quicker accelerating while in motion.

Not the seat/vag diesels.
Had nothing from a 30mph rolling start.

That's what the gearstick's for .... Drop a gear floor it .... sorted.

A well kept 180 would have an 160 Insignia for breakfast. They are soooo heavy in comparison too.

New gen BMWs - 318d apart is a very different proposition. They are quick. 320d is about 180bhp IIRC - 325d 197 or 202 if later and the 330/5d's are monsters.

All this talk of speed.............Its the bends, round a twisty lane the ZS will eat most new cars for breakfast.......................Plus even if the Insignia is a bit faster, my god its an INSIGNIA...........................Id rather shoot myself than drive a car like that.

Oh I don't know. I really like th looks of the VXR ones

There were a lot of family cars back in 2001 when the 180 came out that were faster, so now it's a fore gone conclusion! To be fair, and not wishing to down anyone's cars here (as i own a 180 after all!) the ZS180 never was fast!! 0-60 in 7.3? Yeah, dead fast!! Mid range is average at best, top end is poor too. A couple of weeks back i borrowed a 6 year old Audi S3 that had been breathed on a bit. Now that was fast, it would make mince meat of any MG ever made, puny SV-R included. I don't think you can state that since the 6R4 their has ever been a fast MG, not even the ZT260 was fast. Asthmatic is a better description!! They might be a bit quicker than the average car (I'm talking ZR160, ZS180, ZT190, ZT260 - sorry, but below them the average van will beat you) but we need to face facts, MG's are not fast and most family cars wont just keep up, they'll show us a clean pair of heels!

Other comparable cars at the time of the ZS 180 were slower

ST220 Mondeo - 7.6s
V6 Vectra - 8s

Just to name a couple

Proving that V6's are a waste of space and a turbo'd 4 pot is the way to go!!

Unless you like anything smooth revving.
My brothers megane RS is so rough sounding.

Rattly 4 pot.

Turbo 4 pot is also the way to go to reduce emissions.

I'd rather have displacement tbh.

2.5 is hardly a large displacement! But that rattly Renault will show most cars a clean pair of heels, any time, any place! Plus the handling is extraordinary! Imagine if the engineers had been sober when they designed the top of the range ZS, we'd have had a cracking turbo 4 pot with at least 200bhp to shove it beyond the old 200 'Tomcat' turbo. A few hundred quid spent and we'd have easily achieved 250+ bhp. But no, they though a thirsty, unclean, heavy V6 was the way to go! It's a good thing that stuff like economy, power and speed don't bother me that much or my 180 would have gone long ago!

So smooth though :)

Oh it's rapid.
Got the joys of taking it to work with me while he was on holiday.
It's a great car. The 19's took a bit of getting used to though. So harsh on bumps!

Makes 100 feel like 50 as it gets there too easily.
Throttle response is a lot different though its weird waiting for it on normal driving but when you cane it and turn it to sport it really livens up.

Still I prefer the smooth 6pot.

I'd take the Renault any day! Though saying that, after driving around in a 350+BHP Audi S3 for a while that would win hands down! 0-60 was easily about 4.5 due to that awesome Quattro chassis, the 6 speed box had instant power at any time, any gear - even 6th at 'motorway speeds' - boot it and it's gone! Not bad considering 12K will get you a decent tuned one!

I quite like the idea of shoe-horning the engine and box out of a VXR Vectra into the ZS just for giggles. Soundtrack retained, turbo kick, good gearing and lots of potential. If I had the budget I would have bought the VXR Vectra estate rather than the Elite, but sense stepped in!

Zs180s not as quick as modern cars now??
 

To be fair back in the late 90s when the ZS was being designed, no one really care much about economy and environment. Big engines were the thing to have.

A 180 vs a Clio 182 is very well matched IMO. Having chased one round knockhill they were very close booting out of corners and the ZS would feel in what gap appeared. Ended up sitting right behind on corners having to back off. Any time have had one in front it is same story acceleration wise.
Now am pretty sure they were 182's, 54 reg or younger with the twin exhausts :)

After 10 years or so, no one can call the ZS dated, still looks mean and fast.

Wonder if the modern Euro boxes will look as good????

Doubt it.

:clap::clap::clap:

Can't compare a ZS with an S3 Audi. An average van .... Rubbish.

I don't see how you can compare the zs whose spec is as the same as it was in 2001 and has been out of production since 2005, with a car built in 2007 that probably cost a great deal more £££ than a zs.

Having made the above statement the 180 always felt short of a few bhp to me, and I'm sure had MGR had a decent budget available they'd have addressed that issue.

Very true pete-t,I think the same if mg-r had more money to spend it would have been made a little quicker than what they are,But i also think the engine design is quite old now still a quick car but it cant be compared to faster audis and things like that as theyre all a lot of modern technology gone into those car being newer builds where the zs dates back a lot longer but if im right is quite a reliable engine,just a tad on the thirsty side,but i do like it but time will tell if i can afford to keep the running costs and ridiculous road tax costs mine being the higher tax bracket,Ive even thought about selling it again and getting one before the rip off tax bracket so i can still keep one,Mine is £265 6 months :-@