Rover 800
Rover 800 fastback (post-R17 facelift)
Manufacturer	Austin Rover
Parent company	Rover Group
Also called	Sterling, Vitesse, 820, 825, 827
Production	1986—1999
Predecessor	Rover SD1
Successor	Rover 75
Class	Executive car
Body style(s)	4-door saloon 5-door fastback 2-door coupé
Layout	FF layout
Engine(s)	2. The automotive industry is the industry involved in the design development manufacture marketing and sale of Motor vehicles In 2007 more than 73 million motor vehicles The Austin Rover Group ( ARG) was a British motor manufacturer Rover Group plc was the name that was given by the British government, in 1986 to the state-owned vehicle manufacturer British Leyland or BL Sterling was a brand name of automobile marketed in the USA by ARCONA Austin Rover Cars Of North America under the name Sterling Motor Cars, Rover SD1 is the code name given to a series of large Executive cars made by British Leyland and its successor Austin Rover from 1976 until 1986 This article is about the motor vehicle produced 1999–2005 For the original Rover 75 of 1949–59 see Rover P4. Car classification is subjective since many vehicles fall into multiple categories or do not fit well into any Executive car is a British term that refers to a car's size and is used to describe an Automobile larger than a Large family car. Cars can come in a large variety of different body styles. Some are still in production while others are of historical interest only A fastback is a Car body style whose roofline slopes continuously down at the back In Automotive design layout specifies where on the car the Engine and Drive wheels are found In Automotive design, a FF, or Front-engine, Front-wheel drive layout places both the engine and driven wheels at the front of 0L M-Series I4 2. The Rover M-Series (or M16) is a 4-cylinder DOHC Internal combustion engine introduced by the Austin Rover Group in 1986 for the then-new The straight-4 or inline-4 engine (often abbreviated I4 or L4) is a four cylinder Internal combustion engine with all four cylinders 0L T-Series I4 2. The Rover T16 engine was a 1994 cc Petrol Engine, produced by Rover from 1992 to 1999 The straight-4 or inline-4 engine (often abbreviated I4 or L4) is a four cylinder Internal combustion engine with all four cylinders 5L Honda 24v V6 2. () is a Multinational corporation, engine Manufacturer and engineering corporation headquartered in Japan. 7L Honda 24v V6 2. () is a Multinational corporation, engine Manufacturer and engineering corporation headquartered in Japan. 5L Rover KV6 V6 2. The KV6 automotive Engine is a techologically-advanced 24 valve quad cam V6 engine available in 2 A V6 engine is a V engine with six cylinders mounted on the Crankcase in two banks of three cylinders 5L VM Motori diesel I4
Related	Honda Legend

The Rover 800 series is an executive car introduced by the Austin Rover Group in 1986 and also marketed as the Sterling in the United States. VM Motori SpA is a Diesel engine manufacturing company in Cento, Italy, which is the heart of Emilia Romagna and also home to Ferrari Diesel or Diesel fuel (ˈdiːzəl in general is any Fuel used in Diesel engines The most common is a specific fractional distillate of petroleum The straight-4 or inline-4 engine (often abbreviated I4 or L4) is a four cylinder Internal combustion engine with all four cylinders With info translated from the entry for Honda Legend in the Japanese Wikipedia: The Honda Legend is a Full-size Luxury car made by the Japanese Executive car is a British term that refers to a car's size and is used to describe an Automobile larger than a Large family car. The Austin Rover Group ( ARG) was a British motor manufacturer Sterling was a brand name of automobile marketed in the USA by ARCONA Austin Rover Cars Of North America under the name Sterling Motor Cars, The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Co-developed with Honda, it was a close relative to the Honda Legend and the successor to the Rover SD1. () is a Multinational corporation, engine Manufacturer and engineering corporation headquartered in Japan. With info translated from the entry for Honda Legend in the Japanese Wikipedia: The Honda Legend is a Full-size Luxury car made by the Japanese Rover SD1 is the code name given to a series of large Executive cars made by British Leyland and its successor Austin Rover from 1976 until 1986

Development

Partnership with Honda

The Rover 800 was designed as a replacement for the Rover SD1. Rover SD1 is the code name given to a series of large Executive cars made by British Leyland and its successor Austin Rover from 1976 until 1986 Development of the car began in 1981 as part of a venture with Honda under the XX codename; the corresponding Honda version was known as the Honda Legend, and was codenamed as HX. () is a Multinational corporation, engine Manufacturer and engineering corporation headquartered in Japan. With info translated from the entry for Honda Legend in the Japanese Wikipedia: The Honda Legend is a Full-size Luxury car made by the Japanese The development work was carried out at Rover's Canley plant and Honda's Tochigi development centre. The European market Legend was produced by Austin-Rover alongside the 800 in the former Morris plant in Cowley, Oxfordshire. Morris Commercial Cars The Morris Motor Company was a British car manufacturing company Cowley in Oxford, England, is a residential and industrial area that forms a small conurbation within greater Oxford History See also History of Oxfordshire The county of Oxfordshire was formed in the early years of the 10th century and is broadly situated in the US-market (Acura) Legends were built in Japan. Acura (アキュラ Akyura is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Honda Motor Company.

Range

1986 Rover 820Si (pre-R17 facelift)

Unusual UK Rover 800 Sterling, circa 1989/90, with first-generation "sharp" body panels but new Rover "family" grille, applied for a brief time before the 800's R17 facelift

The basic versions of the 800 used two 2. 0 L 16-valve developments of British Leyland's stalwart O-Series engine, dubbed M-Series. British Leyland was a vehicle manufacturing company formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC The BL O-Series engine was a Straight-4 Automobile engine family produced by British Leyland (BL as a development of the BMC B-Series engine The 820e, with single point injection, and the 820i with multi-point injection, i. e. 4 injectors. The top versions used a Honda designed V6 unit in 2. A V6 engine is a V engine with six cylinders mounted on the Crankcase in two banks of three cylinders 5 L capacity. Initially, only a saloon body was offered; a liftback version — referred to as a fastback — became available in 1988. A liftback is a Car body style in which the cargo space (boot is accessed through a Tailgate that extends up to the higher end of the C-pillar and includes A fastback is a Car body style whose roofline slopes continuously down at the back

Later, a diesel version of the car was launched in 1990 using a 2498 cc engine from Italian company VM Motori, which was related to the slightly smaller engine used in the 2400 SD Turbo model of the Rover SD1, and Range Rover Turbo D. Diesel or Diesel fuel (ˈdiːzəl in general is any Fuel used in Diesel engines The most common is a specific fractional distillate of petroleum Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest VM Motori SpA is a Diesel engine manufacturing company in Cento, Italy, which is the heart of Emilia Romagna and also home to Ferrari Land Rover Range Rover Classic|Range Rover SportThe Range Rover is a Four-wheel drive luxury Sport utility vehicle (SUV produced by Land Rover in the

The Sterling badge was used in Europe and most global markets to denote the top saloon luxury version and the Vitesse badge used to denote the top fastback sporting version. The Vitesse became available at the same time as the 2675 cc Honda V6. Both of these top of the range models were initially only available in the UK with the V6. In some European markets, in particular Italy, the 2. 0 litre petrol was badged as Sterling and later available (in turbo form) as Vitesse to avoid the punishing duties that made engines over 2. 0 litres unviable for volume sales.

Towards the end of Mark 1 production the Vitesse had nearly as many "luxury" features as the Sterling (for example, electric seats). There was also a brief run of just over 500 820 Turbo 16v cars using a turbocharged version of the M-Series developed with help from Tickford, leading to this model often being referred to as the "Tickford Turbo". Tickford is an automobile engineering and testing company with a history of coachbuilding and tuning, famous for such products as the 140mph Tickford Turbo Capri Utilising such enhancements as sodium-filled exhaust valves and Mahle forged pistons the car produced 180 bhp (134 kW), although there is much speculation about this figure being severely held back by the electronics as not to step on the toes of the 177 bhp (132 kW) V6 engined Vitesse model as well as to preserve the reliability of the gearbox.

In the United States, the car was known as the Sterling, and was only available with the 2. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Sterling was a brand name of automobile marketed in the USA by ARCONA Austin Rover Cars Of North America under the name Sterling Motor Cars, 5 litre Honda V6 petrol engine. Initial sales in America was strong, and the design was well received. However, early vehicles were soon found to have been under-developed and quality and reliability problems soon escalated to a crisis. The sales then fell as the reputation of the model deteriorated, especially as soon as J.D. Power surveys criticised initial quality and reliability publicly. JD Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm founded in 1968 by James David Power III. This was especially damaging as at the same time, the same core vehicle, the Acura Legend was doing extremely well in America. The Acura Legend, sold as the Honda Legend outside the US, Canada, and parts of China, was a sporty Luxury vehicle sold from

Parts for the Sterling 825/827 are still readily available due to the fact that it was mechnically largely identical to the much more popular Acura Legend.

In Europe especially, the 800 was hampered by Honda's adherence to packaging its own characteristic double-wishbone front suspension. This allowed a low bonnet-line but restricted the total suspension-travel, which in-turn could not give the 800 the executive car ride qualities and traction on poorly surfaced roads which were necessary for it to compete. The first 2. 5 L engine also lacked low-end torque, which particularly affected its "drivability". The 4-cylinder cars suffered from reliability problems, thanks to the fragile Lucas fuel injection systems which Rover used. Lucas Industries plc was a famous manufacturer of components for the motor industry and aerospace industry

-It should be noted that the 2. 5 L Honda V6 is a completely different engine from the Rover KV6 Engine introduced in 1996, although the two share the same nominal 2. The KV6 automotive Engine is a techologically-advanced 24 valve quad cam V6 engine available in 2 5 L capacity and a V6 architecture. -

Early build quality of the 800 was reportedly fairly poor, (J.D. Power) with trim, electrics and paintwork problems. JD Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm founded in 1968 by James David Power III. The 800 did have a roomy and luxurious interior but this did not save the car from gaining a poor reputation from which it never really recovered. Corrosion problems in early models also marred its reputation.

By 1989, the 2. 5 L engine was enlarged to 2. 7 L, the expensive Maestro-derived instrumentation had been changed to gauges sourced from a different component-builder (losing the oil pressure gauge and voltmeter in the process) and build quality had improved but cost-cutting had started. The Austin Maestro is a mid-sized 5-door Hatchback Car that was produced from 1983 to 1994 initially by the Austin Rover subsidiary of British However these changes were too late to prevent the US-market version from being withdrawn after poor sales. A budget version of the 800 using an 8-valve (rather than 16) O-Series engine was introduced, but was short-lived. The BL O-Series engine was a Straight-4 Automobile engine family produced by British Leyland (BL as a development of the BMC B-Series engine

The original version of the Rover 800 was one of the most popular cars in Britain's full-sized executive car market, which at this stage was effectively split into two strong sectors — mainstream brands such as Ford and Vauxhall, and prestige brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following Vauxhall Motors is a British automobile company It is a subsidiary of General Motors Corporation (GM and is part of GM Europe. ( BMW) (Bavarian Motor Works is an independent German automobile manufacturer founded in 1916 Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of luxury Automobiles Buses coaches and Trucks It is currently a division of the It was a strong competitor for the likes of the Ford Granada/Scorpio and Vauxhall Carlton. The Ford Granada was an Executive car manufactured by Ford Europe at both its German factory in Köln ( Cologne) and its British factory in Dagenham The Vauxhall Carlton is an Executive car that was sold by Vauxhall in the United Kingdom from 1978 to 1994

1997 Rover Vitesse Coupé (post-R17 facelift)

1995 Rover 825SD saloon, rear view (post-R17 facelift)

1992: the R17 major facelift

In early 1992, the 800 was reskinned and re-engineered under the R17 codename This saw the re-introduction of the traditional Rover grille and more curvaceous bodywork. The scope of the design change was restricted by the need to retain the core XX structure, including the door structure and skin design.

The redesign was a partial answer to major press and market criticism of the 'folded paper' school of design and the quest for better aerodynamics that had led to many cars appearing very similar, especially from the front. The redesign found much favour and as a result the car's sales enjoyed a renaissance, the 800 series becoming Britain's best selling executive car in the early to mid 1990s.

Following concerted efforts to learn from the problems that had hit the early model years, especially under the more extreme American market and climatic conditions, quality in general had improved dramatically by this stage, but the decision to leave the US market had already fallen.

Coupé

A two-door ("three-box", booted) coupé version followed later that year. This had been originally developed with the American market in mind but was never sold there, Rover having pulled out of the US market before the coupé's launch. It was, however, sold to other export markets. Eighty percent of the interior and exterior of the 800 coupe was finished by hand.

1996 minor facelift

A 1998 820 Sterling saloon (post-R17 facelift)

Interior of an 820 Sterling (with aftermarket gearknob) showing passenger airbag cover where pre-1996 models had a shelf

A facelift in 1996 provided few exterior changes, the most noticeable being the painting of previously black rubbing strips on all models except the coupé and the revision of the suspension system. Grille fins became silver in colour, instead of their former black. Climate control, passive immobilisation and a passenger airbag became standard, and a 6-disc CD auto-changer was fitted to all models apart from the entry 'i' model. An airbag is part of a vehicle's safety restraint system a flexible envelope designed for rapid inflation in an automobile Collision, to prevent vehicle occupants A Compact Disc (also known as a CD) is an Optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio Security technology was upgraded with a change from infra red to radio frequency for the remote door key. Wood finishes were expanded, with a coachwork line and 'ROVER' on the door cards, accentuating the new, pleated seat finishes and deep pile rugs. Unusual pleated door card leather and fabric finishes capped off a comfortable interior, much of which was hand-made with what Rover called "the craftsman's touch".

Although the 800 had fallen behind the opposition considerably (few mechanical changes were made, apart from the introduction of the Rover KV6 Engine which replaced the Honda 2. The KV6 automotive Engine is a techologically-advanced 24 valve quad cam V6 engine available in 2 7 V6 in 1996), it was a steady seller until 1999, when it was replaced by the Rover 75. This article is about the motor vehicle produced 1999–2005 For the original Rover 75 of 1949–59 see Rover P4.

Motorsport

On 6 June 1990 Tony Pond completed the first ever lap of the famous TT motorcycle course on the Isle Of Man at an average of over 100 mph (160 km/h) in a car — a Rover 827 Vitesse, standard apart form safety features and racing tyres. Events 1508 - Maximilian I Holy Roman Emperor, is defeated in Friulia by Venetian forces; he is forced to sign a three-year Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar)

Users

The 800 was a keystone of the British government's car fleet throughout its life, following a tradition of using British-made Rover and Jaguar models. The car was also used by many British police forces. Law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales (administration of Police matters

Famous owners include Neil Hamilton, Peter Mandelson, Clement Freud, Max Bygraves and Michael Parkinson. Mostyn Neil Hamilton (born March 9, 1949) is a former Barrister, Teacher and Conservative Member of Parliament in the Peter Benjamin Mandelson (born 21 October 1953 called "Mandy" by much of the British News media, is a British Labour Politician who is the serving Sir Clement Raphael Freud (born 24 April 1924) is a British writer broadcaster and former politician Max Bygraves OBE (born 16 October 1922 in Rotherhithe, London as Walter William Bygraves) is an English Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE (born March 28 1935) is an English broadcaster and Journalist. Tony Blair owned an early 800 in the 1980s, and the vice-chancellor of Middlesex University had two — one for personal use and one for official duties. Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair (born 6 May 1953 is a British Politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to Middlesex University is a University in north London, England, located in the historic county boundaries of Middlesex (from which

Production figures

Model designations

Unlike many other manufacturers who used numerical model naming systems, Rover never settled on a permanent standard for the majority of their cars. However, for the following designations are an approximate guide:

• 820 – 4-cylinder 8-valve carburetted models
• 820e – 4-cylinder 16-valve single point injected models
• 820i – 4-cylinder 16-valve multi point injected models
• 825i – pre-1988 6-cylinder models
• 827i – post-1988 6-cylinder and US models

Following the 1992 R17 facelift, the convention was simplified to:

• 820i – 4-cylinder 16-valve multi point injected models
• 825D – 4-cylinder diesel models
• 827i – 6-cylinder models

In 1996, the engine designations were dropped, and the model badges simply read "800".

These designations do not include the additional letters added to indicate trim level, i. e. combinations of letters including "S" and "L", giving models such as for example the 825SD or 820Si.

External links

• The Austin Rover unofficial resource site — Rover 800 and related models development story
• "The Rover 800 website"
• Rover 800 and Sterling discussion group
• "Rover 825SD 800 Coupe 825i SD1 and Land Rover Web Site" — with a large section on the diesel version of the car, which contains otherwise difficult to find information including repair tips.
• rover800.co.uk — Rover 800 owners community with extensive galleries