MG Montego 2.0 Litre Turbo, A demonstration by Steve Soper
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- This along with it's brother's the, Maestro and Metro Turbo's became very much the leaders in the hot hatch scene back in the 80's. Here Steve Soper takes the Montego through it's paces at Thruxton. This is a dealership Video, which was given to dealers at the time. Want to know more? Give us a shout via our website www.bcmgoc.co.uk.
This video is an amazing snapshot of Britain nearly 40 years ago. Great!
30 years ago you mean
1980 is 40 years ago
B reg was August 1984 to August 1985.
@@markellis4229 This wasn't 1980 though was it you fool.
@@martf8014 Who rattled your cage Lol 😂
Man, I miss the Eighties so much I miss the seventies too. I thought I'd get old and be happy, unfortunately not so.
Especially now with all this COVID crap just to make it even more miserable.
Yes I thought that with age would come happiness but all I find myself yearning for is times gone by.
I don't think any of us are 😂
Enjoyed that blast from the past. Preferred the early cars with the herringbone patterned material seats. Some of the most comfortable seats I've ever used for long trips.
Serial MG Montego Turbo and Maestro Turbo owner here. One time I had seven Montego Turbos, got images of them all. What I did not have was a large barn or I'd still have them. Now only own one. A low mileage very early MK1 in Silver Leaf. Was my daily driver until I stopped using it twenty years ago. Turned down many offers for it. Safely tucked away in my garage. My daily drivers now being other MG saloons. MG ZT / ZT-T Petrol 1.8T Turbos and my Sunday and high days car another MG ZT Saloon with a Mustang V8.
Puzzled so many here mention torque steer. When properly set up, none of mine did that. I kept the best one but the fastest one had some suspension and brake mods in previous ownership. One thing they skimped on was the size of the Coolant Radiator. About two thirds the size of the one in the MG EFi. That size reduction to allow two large intercooler pipes to pass at the side.
I removed the larger brass ( not plastic ) side tank radiator from a breaker yard MG Montego EFi and had a custom Triple Core radiator made up using those metal side tanks which increased the coolant volume of the Radiator. That enabled the car to be cruised all day long well into three figures with so called superior cars like Mercedes struggling to keep up and failing to do so. Best £100 I ever spent on a modification. That car still exists in enthusiast ownership.
My sons and their car mad friends constantly ask me to put mine back on the road and take it to shows. Despite what all the Clarkson wannabees would have you believe, they were far better cars than their opinions of them.
Great cars and great memories. Could tell you many more stories like those I rescued from the dark. dank depths of the leafy Forest of Dean. One became my reliable daily driver. It came with Tow Bar and electrics. Used to rescue work colleagues' cars because they knew I had a twin axle braked trailer. With a colleague's Toyota loaded on the trailer, driving smoothly those cars would return mid-30s mpg towing a loaded trailer. Not a mistake, careful fuel checks later confirmed those consumption figures. That Toyota needed a replacement engine. Driving using that addictive boost without a trailer, mid teens mpg not unknown. Those O-Series engines in all their forms were bullet proof provided maintained properly. Some well over 200,000 miles and still running smooth. Some used as taxis or workhorses even higher mileages. My example a mere 74,000. Probably worth more now than my Mustang V8 MG.
Yes, no rose tinteds involved, those 1980s were indeed great days and their cars many gone forever but, not forgotten.
ahh the 80's when times were better and not so much of today's bullshit to contend with!!!Bliss :)
Spot on 👍🏻
100%, but I still preferred the 90's.
agreed
👊👊👊
Apart from the part where Steve Soper said the car shares some characteristics with a racing car.
Seeing London in the 1980s made me want to cry. A cleaner, calmer, cheaper and more civilised place.
Take it you missed the London riots in the 80s 😂😂
@@thomaswilliams4546 Can't characterise a whole city because that.
It was a filthy shithole
@ROJ54321 Where a three bedroom terraced house in the East End is worth almost £700,000. Ridiculous
I moved to London in 1981 stayed for 20 years, glad l moved out. It's a shit hole now.
My gosh after seeing this I'm definitely going to need a cup of tea.
As well as bourbon biscuits
Absolutely classic, what I give for a run in one of those now! Had 3 mg metro turbos and loved them.
I had a 1986 turbo for 5 years never let me down had it running 200bhp lowered handled superb and very quick , plenty of torque steer but that just added to the fun
Loved mine - had it boost modified so I could turn it up to 200hp. Put that to the front wheels and you felt the torque steer but man it was quick from a standing start - not to mention that mid range pull made overtaking a breeze.
Found it very reliable too - never had a problem.
Watched this in 2024 - 10 years after it was first posted and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Much better than some of the stuff on TV! A huge Thank-You!
LMAO. I love how Steve Soper answered the questions on the brakes and steering like a true politician. Mine had the worst torque steer of any car I have ever driven and the brakes were hopeless and faded in no time at all when on a blast.
Having said that, I fucking loved the car and miss it dearly. So much fun.
And it danced around like a ballerina too. It felt so much faster than the 7.4 secs they said. Went through a few back in the day.
@@risk0systemsuk171 that’s because you had to wait a full 4 seconds for the turbo to kick in. Once on song though, not much could keep up.
Yep the steering was pretty sketchy but I would love to have another to play with
They even warned you about the torque steer at 7:47. Definitely politician speak!
Brakes were terrible but ace car
Had a Rover Montego 2.0 Turbo Diesel Estate DLX . Best .reliable comfy car I ever had . Wish I still had it.
Nothing but memories of the British car manufacturers well done to everybody for buying German cars.
the good old days brought a smile .thank you
“Not my words, but the words of Top Gear magazine!”
Nothing but good memories of this car, wish I still owned one! Better times then in so many ways! 👍
Such optimism ❤
I had one of these in the late 80's . Loved it
I remember getting stopped in my 1990 MG EFi by the Police around 1996/7, I started shouting at the copper, why have you stopped me? I wasn't speeding, my lights all work, my tyres are good etc. He replied, sorry son but Northumbria Police got one of the first MG Turbo Police demonstrators back in 1984 and I was assigned it. I loved it! I just wanted to look at your car. I ended up letting him have a drive of it 🤣🤣
It's amazing to think that these 'good old days' were really not THAT long ago. Punk had already come and gone. But how different it all seems now.
had a mg Montero efi.really good car comfy .reliable never let me down sold it with 128.000 miles .unlike the golf I traded for pile of crap never touch a very again.
VW and Audi overpriced unreliable junk
@@mudachuka12345 Not really. My A4 3.0 V6 tdi is a quality car. Although I won't buy an Audi again as I associate the brand with total wankers who can't drive. Obviously I'm not one of them because I have both HGV licences,😄😄😇.
Nice to see The Saint - taken for a ride.
Remember this time well, wish I could go back.
Whenever I speak to someone called Steve I always make a point of saying Steve in every sentence.
Radio 1 😂🔥
I call them steve even if it's not Steve.
Oh yes... tried to find a video of this mint machine for years... behold!!!
I had a 2.0 se in red just like the one in the video. Never had a problem loved the power and handling really comfortable car. Never had a car that comes near this beast. Off the clock on the iom tt mountain section held like a dream.
Oooh happy days wish I had it now regretted selling it.
Can you imagine going back in time with a similar performance car of today - minds would be totally blown!
modern performance cars a FAR too fast.
And very easy to drive. They do everything for you. No skill needed.
What an excellent video. I had a MG Maestro 2.0 EFI back in the day. It kept breaking down but was pretty quick at the time.
I had one as a company car same red and same upholstery. Absolute belter of a car. Overtaking on motorways was a hoot. If you were coming up behind somebody in the outside lane and had to slow down then you just dipped the clutch pick up the revs and let the clutch in again giving you max power at 70 mph and off it went like a rocket.
And when you put your foot down it automatically changed lane!
so much suspension travel on cornering
Mate of mine traded his Capri for one of these, was a quick car but as soon as it hit a corner it was leaning a bit much if i remember correctly, quicker than my Opel Manta Gte though.
These cars were so light....about the same as a modern fiat 500, I owned one back in 1989 ,build quality was shocking, as was handling but Jesus they were fast....I had a guy in a V8 Ferrari come to over take me, as he did I nailed it and he was next to me in shock as I held,held,held and he had to pull back in, no word of a lie and one of my greatest driving memories..... epic
As a Talbot enthousiast on the mainland really via the Chrysler Alpine there has allways been somekind of an connection to the british car products. Sadly though over here those were rarely seen over here. Well that's too bad really since british manufacturers had their compatetives really like this magnifficent MG Montego Turbo. Great car, great perfomance and nice design and for a familycar really. Thankyou for the lovely video.
Thank you for uploading the video.
I feel that they could have had an epic car with this one if they just made them with galvanised steel.
Drove from Woodford Green in Essex to Devon in my E reg mg montego turbo back in 1997, fun driving 😊
Had one as a young man with all the badges removed. A very quick car - too quick for the chassis and drive train but the looks as it beat everything away from the lights was a great feeling.
Yes happy memories back in the eighties being a Austin Rover salesman in 1985 I can relate to the launch of this model so excited with my 1.6 HL in Moonraker Blue
the dealer redlines it all the way to the customers house..
That's what they do lol, give it a good 'test'. It's not my new car...
Hahaha
That gift pack list should have ended with “...and 5 complimentary tows to the nearest Rover dealership.”
Speak as you find I was loaned a 2 litre turbo while my car was in for a service, and all I can say it was one hell of a motor and I think that is was more than capable of taking on any thing in the same class made in Europe ( and before any one tries to take the pxss .i was a front line Ambulance man for 32 years driving both Ambulances and first response cars ,and so I do Know how to drive at speed)
4:16 drive around that track with frightening body roll and the throw on the gearbox about a mile long, Then steve soper say " feels like a racing car" priceless !
It was so slobby and its handling and bounced about how can you say that it handles well
To be fair, all cars rolled in the '80s
@@allenmontrasio8962 - Exactly. High profile, skinny tyres are to blame. Can't have been more than 195's. However, was in one about 30 years ago as a kid and I seemed to remember that the ride was nice.
@@allenmontrasio8962 XRs didn’t. 205 GTis didn’t. Golf GTis didn’t. Need I go on?
@@raftonpounder6696 xr3i / rs turbo's had excellent handling. They were way ahead of their time, the body rot let them down though.
Volkswagen seemed to have solved the rust problem by 1980.
When all you want is a time machine to take you back to the good old days.
Dam things used torque steer themselves into the nearest hedge.
Roy H and the skinny steering wheel was murder to hang onto!! I went straight over a roundabout in my old mans when it refused to turn
Only if you're a bad driver!
They were never that bad - they were fast as hell though
I remember driving one of these back in the 90's. Very quick in a straight line but it didn't like corners or braking. Was very impressed they managed to get that much power from a single SU carb!
It's easy to look back through rose tinted glasses, in the 80s and 90s most people had next to nothing, no internet and a BMW or Merc was a rare sight on the road, but it felt like you had a future, a house cost £20,000 not £200,000 and a religious extremist was someone who gave the kids too much chocolate at Easter.
I miss those days
I remember my dad having a 1990 montego 2.0 gti and it was quite a good car, quiet, refined and not a patch of rust. Before that he had a rover sd1 3500v8 SE 5 speed manual that had a drink problem lol.
My father had the automatic SD1 V8. Loved the car, but didn't love the fuel consumption. He borrowed a Ford Granada diesel and could make the trip to and from Scotland on a tank, whereas the SD1 had to be refilled 3 times haha.
looks right enough, and a gift for the ladies. I'll have one.
Drove one back in the early ninties, was owned by a car dealer. He thrashed it, never broke down. He had been quite anti British cars prior to it. Knew of another one that had been modified for the track, blew everything away on the day I saw it. Group of Evo/WRX enthusiasts were looking it over in the pits puzzled by the carb and single OHC?. Plenty of torque.
bunning63 v
Much of the aftermarket tuning industry is utter tosh. I worked in ARG experimental on the test beds, We could get loadsa power without billy bullshit straight through exhausts or pointless polishing of heads.
I had a 2 litre efi reg no F231HBW,sold it with over 100,000 on the clock,great to drive
We had a 1,6 mayfair D535WMY and a 2.0 vanden plas E411FGX
Had one it was bloody awesome ex British Leyland test vehicle. Number of times I outmatched so called performance cars. Regarding top speed, my was very early version. I personally had mine up to 155 MPH. It would only stop when you chickened out. The odometer was against backside of the zero stop and rev counter was clocking just shy of 6500rpm. It was stolen when it had 99,000 miles on the clock.
We used to race a MG Maestro Turbo at Castle combe in the saloon car championship, Managed over 400BHP (pump petrol, fuel injected Motec ECU Big valved high compression steel bottom end) out of the 8v motor, anyone disbelieving speak to Keith at Dialynx the Audi tuning specialist who we raced against as we did over take his well tuned turbo A4.
These cars got their faults like they all have but the torque of the 8v when the turbo kicks in intoxicating!
Its interesting to note that all the hot hatches from the 1980's prices are rising fast.
I know I saw you , and Keith Murray's reign lasted quite a while in that red car 😆 The MG was pretty wayward though,the Volvo 244 turbo won the European Touring Car Championship with its 400 bhp on standard engine components, 5 years before the MG came out, fuel injection of course as standard. It also won the Bathurst 1000, Great seeing it pass the V12 Jag up the hill ! There is one of these historic volvo ETCC cars for sale at the moment @ £350,000
Used to have a Montego Countryman 2.0 EFI in 1988 bad rust issues around wheel arches but was reliable and had amazing acceleration and pick up even when going up Steep hills and when fully loaded with passengers and camping gear and suitcases on roof rack lol. Raced a Golf GTI in it once and was neck and neck.
Who was driving the Golf, Stevie Wonder? :-D
It's the voice of the guy doing the voice-over that has me hearing "......and it has Don't Panic on the cover, in large friendly letters". 😄
I think you could be right
Blimey I had one of these. Lovely motor to drive. Brings back lots of memories
I never thought I’d see Steve Soper driving Alejandro Sosa around London.
As a fan of British car have a real goosebumps to seeing this... I've owned a black MG Montego who times before was owned by my uncle an ex British Leyland dealer in Italy... Have only good memories of this car and in general of the British Leyland (later Rover) ❤️🔝
Alan Partridge’s first car was a montego. Not a lot of people know that.
my father had a rover montego 2.0 gti that was quite nippy but the MG turbo was in league of its own.
I had a mint MG Montego 2.0 Litre Turbo back in....late 1980's and the performance was stella (in the day) to easy to dismiss now days.
Stellar? Who was stella?
@@woodbine66 i think it's a lager
Very quick even by todays standards for a 4 door saloon
@@benzobrimzs Or could be a new strain of Corona virus 😂
Great video. With the Saint too.
One of my dream cars. I would love one of these
5:56 I think the temperature gauge is heading into the red, which is why they finish at the track. Could be the head gasket.
Twice my head gasket went it also burned through the rubber oil return pipe from turbo to sump dumped all the oil on the road a car driven by a work colleague done a 360 behind he reckoned it was a miracle that I'd missed the oil on the road😜😜
Ahhhh, memories. I had one. Was stolen 3 times, by the same toe rags.
Did they bring it back when they’d finished?
Anything with mildly enhanced performance got stolen in the 80’s. Saturday and Sunday mornings in the countryside were spent spotting stolen and sometimes burnt out hot hatches. The manufacturer attitude to anti theft security was cynical: a screwdriver was all that was required to access and drive away your pride and joy.
@@simondavies4603 Screwdriver and a 1ft length of Scaffold was all that was required.. Montego MG especially the Turbo was the ram raiders car of choice back in the day because you could pop the boot from the drivers seat.
That was one of the most cringe worthy things I've ever seen, I just kept seeing Alan Partridge 😂😂
I'm not driving a mini metro... I'm not driving a min metro!
They rebadged it you fool 😂
Steve steve Steve STEVE
bloody wonderful video if only the government helped us a bit more with our motor industry autin rover would still be alive
an industry that can't sustain itself shouldn't be bailed out with tax money
But we spent £1.162 trillion bailing out failed banks.
do the word "too big to fail" mean anything to you? also, the bank bailout is globally regarded a huge failure
Yeah, too big to fail means bullshit to me. They should have been nationalised or broken up. It really takes this piss when the same government could put a fraction of our money into saving jobs in manufacturing. It's a no brainer when it can save the public in the long run. One rule for the greedy bankers another for the workers in the mills and factories.
Here in Iceland, we nationalised the banks to horrible results. Worked fine at first, but then the bank execs started paying themselves excuberant bonuses again.
I've got a 26 year old Toyota Corolla 1993 L reg, it's got 145,000 miles on the clock, not a single a sign of any rust anywhere, the 1.6 petrol engine sounds as sweet as when it left the factory.
Its just a fact of the matter, the Japanese design and manufacture cars to last and last and last.
I understand the quality on Toyota cars since starting production in Britain has gone downhill,, but the one's "Made in Japan" were overly engineered cars designed and engineered to last 30/35 years provided you took care of them and got them serviced and maintained as per Toyota schedules.
People say the Japanese destroyed the British car industry, but it was the Brits who destroyed the British car industry, by producing junk like this, my old man had a Montego in the early nineties, at 4 years old it was starting to Rust as if it was a 40 year old car. Absolutely pants was the British car industry. Yes it was sad so many people, good people lost their jobs, but it was inevitable, you just couldn't keep producing absolutely poorly designed and shockingly low quality rust bucket cars and expect to keep afloat, especially in the face of vastly superior build quality and reliable Japanese cars.
I had a 1997 corolla, it was a vin number starting "J" meaning it was made in Japan. The car was bulletproof, only needed to replace battery in 7 years.
i had one the same colour Targa red identical as the one in this video loved my MG TURBO,
Pride of Longbridge on today! 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Sadly no more😒
my uncle has a brand new mg montego and a brand new metro city x in his barn. he was a partner in an austin rover dealership that closed in the mid 80`s and some of the inventory found its way into his barn ! he had others including a new mini van and an ital estate which were sold a few years back, he kept getting pestered by a car magazine to do a feature but he always refused .
If he ever decides to sell either of them I would like to know!!
1987 prices new : Montego Turbo £11K ; E30 M3 £29K... Got to Monte Carlo in the Montego that year in less than a day; 4-up plus luggage; cruising at 120mph... Yes, torque steer and 3rd gear wheel spin 👍 - or you could go for a Capri / Sierra 2.8i and exit off backwards thru a hedge via wild oversteer ?
These had terrific torque steer, under acceleration you had to turn 3/4 turn left to go straight. Then if you lifted off throttle, you had to correct steering or hit kerb.
strangemansasses sounds like an old teacher that we had. He was a cross dresser and wore stockings under his cords. He also had a cacky brown Allegro. Brilliant MG vid
😂😂👍
Had 2 of these in the early 90's both fully tuned by Motobuild.
They were wicked monsters with torque steer that needed real muscle to keep them in a straight line but amazing performance that would give more expensive super cars a run for their money. I eventually went for a 420 GSi Turbo which was another amazing car but still with the torque steer problem, although Polly Bushes did help a bit.
I regret having sold the MG Turbo's and the 420 Turbo and if all of them hadnt rusted away I would certainly have these models again.
SO you have never owned a proper car then to compare it against ?
My mate had a Motobuild tuned one. Animal of a car. Wheelspin in 3rd in the bone dry, front tyres were toast in 3,000 miles, and it used to throw in the odd broken driveshaft just for fun. I do remember absolutely wasting a 325i in it down a motorway slip though. And yes, he was trying. He was solo. We were four up. Good times :-)
Nice bit of nostalgia there, they weren't such bad cars after all. I remember a mate's D reg Turbo attracting the attention of the local constabulary one night years ago!
Yeh that’s because they got stolen so much.
I loved the turbo, pity I didn't own it, it was the Financial Director's. Still at least I tried it 😁
How times change. Loved my MG Metro turbo stage 3 by Avonbar.
Now running an A200d merc stage 2.
240bhp and 370 ft/lbs torque. 0-60mph 4.9 secs. 70-110 about the same time. 150mph top end. Plus 65mpg easy driving 😊
Amazing video, thanks for posting 👍😁
How cools that a free watch and MG key fobs :)
I learnt to drive in my dad's 1985 montego 1.6 mayfair. The day I passed my test he bought a 2.0 efi vanden plas. That thing scared the shit out of me!
I had a black one C494HOV. Loved it.
I love the mg Montego turbo I driven one of my mates car thay are so fun to drive I can say more exciting than my Clio sport 😀
My father had one in the late 80’s early 90’s-same colour as the start of video. I remember 2 things...terrible torque steer when floored, and it caught fire going down the motorway as the dealers forgot to replace the heat protection under the floor after a service from the exhaust. Queue huge fire on hard shoulder and end of car.
My brother had one of these back in the day. All white classic look. That thing could move.
Everywhere was the same in the 80s
Wonderful 😊
My boss had one, I crashed it. I parked it with the damage hidden and he drove off without noticing. Next day he was complaining someone had damaged his car last night in the pub car park :)
The best part was at 1:35 with the SD1 in the background. The styling on the Montego is uninteresting, even with MG badges and a sporting paint job I don’t dream of owning one like I do an SD1, even with build quality issues etc.
fagAshLil1234 The 3.5 V8 SD1 is an absolute monster. You tune one of those or turbo it and not much will keep up on a straight road even today! lol.
I had one of these kept blowing engines on it. I bought it with a blown engine and eventually blew two more! Didn't realise previous owner had open'd the waste gate and when we put the engine in and had it tested on a rolling road it was pushing 185 bhp.
I remember the Montego Turbo, it was a rust bucket but it was a very quick car for its time.
The same Power as the rover V8 engine 😆
I used to like the simple dash an indicator storks an horn on side
" Is it fast Steve" 🤣
Looks like a great car, just a shame about the terrible fuel economy!
Where could I test drive one? I could be persuaded depending on the price
I once "blew up" an MG Montego on the M6. It wasn't the loudest bang, but there was a lot of smoke. It turned out to be the cork rocker cover gasket failing and spraying oil everywhere.
I would have gone for the Maestro Turbo: bloody quick.
I wonder if anyone has one of these plus a MG Metro Turbo.
That would be a delightful little classic car duo. My Mum had a Metro City,Maestro City and a Rover 216s. We had a Montego 1.6 and Gti estate in the too.
Had one these in the nineties.Interesting to drive and a bit of a handful in the snow due to the turbo lag.
7:47 what you actually mean is it has RIDICULOUS TORQUE STEER
8:30 - Nice shoes! haha
What does that mean? I had one of these cars ant it wasn't a problem whatsoever that I can recall. Loved it.
@@TheLRider I had one and i do remember it being a bit of an issue out of a corner under acceleration in lower gears
I wonder if the music is available as a single?
Anyway, I had a 87 Montego Turbo around 1990 and loved it, design faults and all. For its time it was fast and very torque. Inside it was huge, light and airy. For sure I could get it to change lanes on damp motorway using just the accelerator and it didn’t have go-cart suspension, but it kept me entertained. I went from Montego to a VW Scirocco which was SO unreliable, slow and uncomfortable. You needed real skill to start he VW from cold. Never again.
Is the "completed claim form" that the customer must sign on hand over of the new car (referred to at the end of the video) just so the customer can get their first warranty claim in before they leave the dealer?
So good that Soper ended up selling BMWs 😂
8.30.......love the tassled loafers so loved by sales reps of the era. Funny, now they are en vogue again, except they are worn by fashion conscious young women!
It's impressive a car that size could hit 60 from rest in just over 7 seconds with just 150bhp.
7.7 seconds 1.1 Tonne and 148hp, todays heavy equivalent 1.5 Tonne cars need 220hp+ to get near.
“Pull off the circuit now”…. Yeah because it can only do one lap at that pace 😆 loved my dad’s blue MG Montego! But “tremendous torque” 🤣🤣