It's the typical "paddy spec" we get across all brands in Ireland. High costs of motor tax and insurance force new buyers to go for small engines and VRT makes many optional extras unappealing (leather seats, alloys, sunroof, even some safety features are taxed like ESP, traction control and side airbags). Tartan seats FTW. Oddly, the 180 kit seemed to have been fitted to all ROI models. It's possible that by having it fitted-as-standard is a way around the VRT cost.
To give you an idea on motor tax in Ireland, the 2012 rates:
- ZS105 (1396cc) 358€/year
- ZS180 (2497cc) 1005€/year
I've never seen a 180 in Ireland and only ever seen 1 up for sale..offered in exchange for something with lower running costs, iirc.
I took the ZS105 out for a spin last night. If you're used to the V6, then you definitely miss the surge when you plant the right foot! It goes just fine once you get the revs up and will beat many 1.6s from the same era if you let it
