Rover 216SE Coupe
It's been a while since we featured a modified car for the monthly honour at austin-rover.co.uk, and thought it was a situation that needed amending.
The car in question is a pretty Tomcat, owned by Mark Gomer, who actually pretty much bought the car by accident, then fell in love with it subsequently. His modification process has been long and comprehensive, but there's no doubt that it has been a labour of love...
Pictures: Keith Adams and Mark Gomer Words: Keith Adams
Heat seeking missile...
Roversport front bumper is complemented by the 17-inch TSW alloys...
HE early 1990s were a very exciting time for Rover - either the company was being lauded by an adoring British press, or it was cooking up new and exciting niche cars in order to bolster its range... Hang on a second, we hear you say - the British press was being nice to Rover? Oh yes. Following the launch of the R8 in 1989, it seemed the company could do no wrong - with even the Metro taking the spoils in the What Car? car of the year competition.
These were exciting times, and the company could do no wrong... even the hard-bitten PR people get dewey-eyed at the memory of the the product launches at the time, because for the first time ever, it seemed like nothing could go wrong.
Sadly, it was a brief purple period in the company's history, and by the time of BMW's takeover in 1994, things were already moving away from Rover. When the Tomcat hit the streets in 1993, it didn't get the easiest of rides - the trouble was that the press tended to focus on the range-topping 200bhp turbo version, and that was probably the most flawed of the lot.
Whereas the delightful 1.6- and normally aspirated 2-litre versions were nicely balanced and well appointed, the tyre-smoking T16 Turbo version earned itself a reputation for shredding tyres and torquesteer. It wasn't entirely justified, of course, as the car possessed tons of front end grip thanks to that clever TorSen differential, but in truth it was (and remains) a bit of an overpowered proposition. That's not to say it wasn't (and isn't) a load of fun - just a bit of a handful compared with similarly priced rivals at the time. After all, the similarly powerful Calibra Turbo had the advantage of four wheel drive.
Retro-fitted Smokestone leather interior looks good - and feels better...
And if we're being brutally honest, it's nowhere near the problem the press made it out to be - but we know how much motoring journalists like to exaggerate...
The Turbo cast a long shadow over the rest of the range - which remains in place to this day. However, to ignore the lower powered versions would be to do the Tomcat a disservice, because they are so sweet and well balanced.
Today, coming on to a decade since the Tomcat, it's still very much in vogue with younger buyers, who appreciate the smart styling, and accessible pricing.
Mark Gomer is one such owner - someone who literally fell into Tomcat ownership by accident, but now he's there, he's in for the long haul. He's had his motor since March 2004, and as can be seen from the photos, he's spent considerable time and effort getting it into perfect shape. That has meant considerable visual modification - which to our eyes seem to be pretty well judged.
However, as well as the visual programme of improvements, Mark's lavished plenty of time and effort into getting the oily bits running just right - and for all those K-Series doubters out there, it's well past 100,000 miles, and shows no sign of having its headgasket give way. There's no substitute for regular maintenance...
Biggest visual mod are the rear lamp clusters...
The thing is, this Tomcat might be pampered - Mark enjoys polishing it at every opportunity - but it is also used as its maker intended, having racked up 50,000 miles in three years. Mark tells the his Tomcat's story, "I bought R183 VKL in March 2004 with just 53k on the clock and in completely standard trim, and by accident.
"The garage next door to where I bought the Rover was a Japanese import specialist, and I was originally after a Mazda MX-3 V6. After two months of continuously being fed a load of rubbish about it being on its way, I’d had enough. Still annoyed after leaving the showroom, I went next door and my mother pointed the Rover out to me. I’ve always quite liked them, so I thought I’d have a sit in it. I was given free reign to take it for a test drive, and within ten minutes, I decided it was what I wanted.
"Since buying the car, I’ve slowly and gradually been upgrading and changing parts to make it unique but subtle. The main aim of the modifying is to make it slightly different, but for people to see that it is still a Rover Coupe - so that they spend longer looking at the little touches as to where the changes lie."
We'd agree that Mark's achieved those aims most handsomely, and the car's a credit to his hard work. However, the work's not yet finished, "Money permitting, I'm hoping to have fitted a T16 turbo engine over the winter, to give it the go to match its looks," he added. We can't wait to see that...
The front-end benfits enormously from losing the front grille.
Car: Rover 216SE Coupe Year: 1998 Drivetrain: 1590cc K-Series five-speed manual (119bhp @7159rpm) Colour: Tahiti Blue
Strut brace and induction kit are the obvious modifications.
Modifications:
BMC enclosed induction kit Custom Powerflow cat back exhaust 52mm throttle body Lowered 35mm on KYB springs EBC brake discs EBC Greenstuff pads Afterburner rear lights/blended into bodywork Fully colour coded rubbing strips, rear diffuser and Japanese specification rear 'plate plinth Roversport front bumper and grille Renault Laguna front splitter 17” TSW Ribs in Anthracite on Goodyear F1 Eagle tyres Alpine CDX 9850i Ipod head unit. Pioneer front speakers Fusion 10-inch sub Fusion 350w amp OMP front strut brace De-cat pipe Full Smokestone leather interior retro fitted. Electro-luminescent dials and heater dials.
A closer look at the work Mark's done on his Tomcat:
How it was when it was bought in March 2004.
The front end receiving its new parts - these were experimental times for Mark...
The instrument pack is visually arresting.
Rear lights are a work of art...
Please let us know your thoughts...
Hmm, never really been a fan of the add on body bits, and have in the past, particularly with older cars found them quite tacky - the rear lights are no exception. As for the front lip spoiler I think it does work - we did exactly the same with a Renault Espace lip spoiler on a Peugeot 406 and it worked absolutely perfectly - I'd never seen such an aggressive looking car - yet it could have been passed off as a standard item.
The instrumentation I think could be a little distracting, and I think I would prefer standard looking dials, lit up be blue light.
I have to admit I do like the wheels but given the bodyshape I think they should have been rounded of just a tad - Generally the rule goes, the sharper the shape of the car, the sharper look of the wheels. The spokes work well to serve the illusion that the wheels are bigger than they already are. This is because they are joined towards the outside edge of the rim - a very good trick in design.
From a product design student's point of view, on the whole I think it's pretty good, but I'm not too comfortable with the rear...
As for the flaws of the T16 version - the main problem was that the chassis couldn't keep up with the powertrain. For a start, that's a LOT of power for a front wheel drive car of that time, and the body was NOT rigid, so as well as the torque steer problems, the predictability of the whole car in really sharp turns left a little to be desired.
I loved these turbo cars - on a straight road. Anywhere else with that much power started to get a little scary - but then, just try driving Maestro with on of these little beasties in it...
ROSS ARMSTRONG
I have a tomcat T16 turbo also. I find the comments about the front wheel drive and torque steer rather interesting. Indeed the car can be a fit of a handfull if you floor it, but you dont really need floor it and even the lesser powered versions without the turbo are still rather quick cars. The tall gearing in all gears gives it a very grown up feel for a little car and it can be as liesurely or as lively as you like. The extra power of the engine is certainly not missed at open road speeds and then there is no issue with excess power nor and major flaws in its application. I do agree though that the car can feel a little unsettled at times, but I do wonder if higher profler tyres might help to calm it down a little. I had a Rover 827 vitesse before this car, and it had a similar issue, it was actually more settled with lower air pressure (26 to 28 PSI) in the tyres. Having driven a supercharged BMW mini cooper recenty, it is easy to see what Rover were trying to do with this car, and by and large, with what they had available at the time, and the style of the time I think they did an excellent job. I think my tomcat is a gem! alex in new zealand.
ALEX SCOTT. New Zealand
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