Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Well I had to replace it with something to drive into work without having to pay the ULEZ charge, so when this popped up on Facebook market place I liked the look of it so went to see it & inevitably bought it home & it is an MG ZR 1.4 16V in metallic grey, with 80 odd thousand miles on it. I've had it for about 5 months now and it's just passed it's first MOT in my possession after first failing on a track rod end, about an hour's work to replace.
I don't think it's going to last to long in my possession as the ride is in my opinion is awful, I put it down to the big 17" alloys and the little 45 profile rubber bands they call tyre's, don't get me wrong it handles well & is very chuckable around the corners, but I think I must be getting old.

I presume it will be the stiffened suspension too.

They build the "sport" models for road holding at speed and not for comfort.

A few recreational herbs help to numb the harshness of the ride. I think that is what these young 'uns believe anyway.

Always liked the look of the mg z series, particularly the facelight cars,just always been put of by the petrol head gasket issues. Years ago I bought a 3 year old diesel zs version, did 80k in 4 years then the recently replaced cambelt got thrown off by the alternator tensioner siezing and feeding the alternator belt into it. Until then it was a great car and drove nice, seem to remember having 50 profile tyres fitted to it. Just a bit dated on the interior.

The petrol head gaskets (K Series), was often said to be due to excess movement of the head on the block,

however more common was the thermostat failing prematurely allowing a sudden rush of cold coolant from the radiator into the hot engine causing thermal shock.

Regular servicing to a good standard and diligance with the thermostat should minimise worries in this area.

Never heard about the thermostat issue before, you live and learn. I've also been told to use the land rover kit to repair the engine that Ford developed.

Love a good Rover.
I've been tempted by the 45 and 75 as a replacement for the Cavalier as a daily driver. Didn't actually know that they were ulez exempt.
What's the K-series 1.4 like on power compared to the Cav?

James McGrath wrote: ↑Sun Nov 28, 2021 11:44 pm Love a good Rover.
I've been tempted by the 45 and 75 as a replacement for the Cavalier as a daily driver. Didn't actually know that they were ulez exempt.
What's the K-series 1.4 like on power compared to the Cav?

The smaller engined cars are exempt but this V6 cars aren't. Rover did some weird engine size choices, the ZR had 1.4 & 1.8
The 1.4 has 101 BHP
1.8 has 115 BHP

ZS 1.6 109 BHP
1.8 115 BHP
2.5 V6 175 BHP

But although mine allegedly has more BHP in a smaller lighter car it seems to be slower and less responsive on the motorway, it's quite nippy around town though.
The 1.8 has the same power output as the 1.8 SE 8V in my old MK2 astra SRI so much for 10 years of development.
The Motorsport 1.8 8V had only 89 BHP.

It's gone I couldn't take the bone shaker ride anymore.

iangsi wrote: ↑Sun May 29, 2022 6:06 pm It's gone I couldn't take the bone shaker ride anymore.

Bad setup on the suspension?
What replaced it then?

Reading back, it appears the big wheels and low profile tyres were giving a harsh ride in the early days.

Sadly it is usually a case of looking at non-Sports models for a softer comfortable ride, at the expense of having something less sporty to look at.

It was a combination of the wheels,tyres and stiff suspension that was so stiff there was barely any movement in it when you tried to push it down.
It's replacement there's a story to, when the London mayor started his plans for the dreaded ulez zone we sold our 2000 plate mk4 fiesta with only 30,000 miles on & got a Audi A3 1.2 TFSI on a 60 plate as a shared family car. So I bought a 64 plate Corsa D as the new family car & I claimed the Audi a much more civilized ride.

So glad I don't live down sarth with all these restriction zones in play.
Hopefully you're enjoying the car anyhow.

Envoy CDX wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 6:47 pm So glad I don't live down sarth with all these restriction zones in play.
Hopefully you're enjoying the car anyhow.

I might have to sell the GSI as well, next year their planning to expand it by August 2023

iangsi wrote: ↑Wed Jun 01, 2022 5:19 pm

Envoy CDX wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 6:47 pm So glad I don't live down sarth with all these restriction zones in play.
Hopefully you're enjoying the car anyhow.

I might have to sell the GSI as well, next year their planning to expand it by August 2023

Ah man, that is rotten

Sadly we will all be forced to just look at them instead of drive them, unless we can convert to hybrid or electric.

Only a matter of a few years, seeing as nobody of stature is trying to tackle fuel prices issue.
The addition of clean air zones will simply force people to migrate to electric power quicker.
All part of the governments bigger plan.