Discussion
I've fancied one for ages but the big engine (poor MPG) has always put me off as a daily driver/family car.
My daily (Passat 140TDi Estate) is costing me an absolute fortune at the moment & is proving to be somewhat unreliable (A modern VAG, really?
) so I'm thinking about jumping ship.
What are the vairous pitfalls of owning these things, do they respond well to LPG & a mapping session, how easy is it to extract power (without resorting to super charging), parts availability, what are they like to drive & what are the various specs?
By the way, I'm fanciying the later face-lifted version, if that makes any difference.
Another thing to consider is the insurance & tax side of it, I don't want to get stung for £800+ for FC cover, so are there any specialists to bear in mind?
To me it's a 'proper car', I've got to have one, I just need to know the facts first
My daily (Passat 140TDi Estate) is costing me an absolute fortune at the moment & is proving to be somewhat unreliable (A modern VAG, really?
) so I'm thinking about jumping ship.What are the vairous pitfalls of owning these things, do they respond well to LPG & a mapping session, how easy is it to extract power (without resorting to super charging), parts availability, what are they like to drive & what are the various specs?
By the way, I'm fanciying the later face-lifted version, if that makes any difference.
Another thing to consider is the insurance & tax side of it, I don't want to get stung for £800+ for FC cover, so are there any specialists to bear in mind?
To me it's a 'proper car', I've got to have one, I just need to know the facts first
I got my 260 at 21 (now nearly 23) so probably can't help with insurance costs; having said that, if you're over 30 I believe Peter Best are recommended.
Fuel wise, I tend to average around 22-23mpg with a mixture of driving, but I do have a fairly heavy right foot (something to do with the sound the thing makes!). Parts/servicing wise, most parts are available, with some uprated standard parts from the owners club, two-sixties.com. Oil change around 5-6000 miles and you're set, pretty much. Just check that the car has the orange clip fitted to the fuel pump (cheap to sort) and that the rear springs are intact (not really a problem with the face-lift cars).
There are a few other things that are 'weak spots', such as the top heater hose (cheap fix) and noisy air-con compressors, but I don't think anything's really a showstopper/dealbreaker.
Modifications are fairly straight forward, pretty much any part that will fit a '99-'04 Mustang will fit (engine wise) and will net useful - if somewhat small - gains without spending too much. Then, of course, there's supercharging to 400+bhp!
Handling... It is a heavy-ish car, but to be honest, it handles it very well and is quite fun to chuck around B roads while still being fine to cruise up motorways in. I took mine to Switzerland earlier this year, so can vouch for that (and I have a slightly lower suspension setup) after doing ~2000 miles in 4 days.
Specs are Non-SE and SE, although Non's tend to have some options on them (like mine). With an SE expect leather, sat nav/TV, auto wipers, dimming mirror, full electrics, etc. As a side note, Mk1's didn't get TC (and better for it I hear) or cruise control, but Mk2's did.
Oh, and tax should be £260 (I think) UNLESS you get one registered after March(?) 2006 which will be £4**.
Sorry for that wall of text! There's probably loads I've missed. If you're near Derby I'd be happy to show you what it does
Fuel wise, I tend to average around 22-23mpg with a mixture of driving, but I do have a fairly heavy right foot (something to do with the sound the thing makes!). Parts/servicing wise, most parts are available, with some uprated standard parts from the owners club, two-sixties.com. Oil change around 5-6000 miles and you're set, pretty much. Just check that the car has the orange clip fitted to the fuel pump (cheap to sort) and that the rear springs are intact (not really a problem with the face-lift cars).
There are a few other things that are 'weak spots', such as the top heater hose (cheap fix) and noisy air-con compressors, but I don't think anything's really a showstopper/dealbreaker.
Modifications are fairly straight forward, pretty much any part that will fit a '99-'04 Mustang will fit (engine wise) and will net useful - if somewhat small - gains without spending too much. Then, of course, there's supercharging to 400+bhp!
Handling... It is a heavy-ish car, but to be honest, it handles it very well and is quite fun to chuck around B roads while still being fine to cruise up motorways in. I took mine to Switzerland earlier this year, so can vouch for that (and I have a slightly lower suspension setup) after doing ~2000 miles in 4 days.
Specs are Non-SE and SE, although Non's tend to have some options on them (like mine). With an SE expect leather, sat nav/TV, auto wipers, dimming mirror, full electrics, etc. As a side note, Mk1's didn't get TC (and better for it I hear) or cruise control, but Mk2's did.
Oh, and tax should be £260 (I think) UNLESS you get one registered after March(?) 2006 which will be £4**.
Sorry for that wall of text! There's probably loads I've missed. If you're near Derby I'd be happy to show you what it does
Owned mine for 3 years and put 35K miles on it without any problems. Mine was professionally converted to run on LPG when i brought it, and it ran fine on it. They rekon about 10% less mpg with lpg, but at the much lower price, still much cheaper to run than petrol. It just need a service every year to change the 2 gas filters etc.
Absolutely fantastic car, and i do really miss it. Had Double Cobra exhausts on, and it sounded amazing
get onto www.two-sixties.com extremely helpful bunch of people, and will answer any questions that you have.
Don`t know where you are based, but Nick at Austion Garages looks after several 260`s and knows them inside out. Well worth travelling to. www.austingarages.co.uk
Good luck with your search. I guarantee you will not regret it
Absolutely fantastic car, and i do really miss it. Had Double Cobra exhausts on, and it sounded amazing
get onto www.two-sixties.com extremely helpful bunch of people, and will answer any questions that you have.
Don`t know where you are based, but Nick at Austion Garages looks after several 260`s and knows them inside out. Well worth travelling to. www.austingarages.co.uk
Good luck with your search. I guarantee you will not regret it
Edited by S6 ROR on Wednesday 26th October 10:47
Whereabouts are you based? There's bound to be a member on two-sixties within reasonable distance if you want to have a mooch around one, given that you can't exactly find them on every car lot!
One thing you should be aware of in considering engine modifications is that you have to drop the block to get the covers off (due to a tight fit at the bulkhead), so this immediately adds to the expense of things like changing cams.
On the plus side, however, MGR always intended to launch a supercharged ZT385 model as well, but couldn't afford to build two different specs of running gear. This means that other than upgrading your brake pads, you can essentially forget about needing to follow the usual upgrade mantra of brakes before suspension before power, as everything is rated to run at around 450bhp.
You will probably find when you first test drive one that it is disappointingly slow. Then you'll look at the speedo and realise you're moving around 20mph faster than you'd realised!
I'm far from the only one to have experienced this, and I rarely struggle to keep up on PH hoons (unless it's raining and just about everyone else pitched up in a Scooby or a 911 Turbo like last time, leaving me and one Tiv to make just the occasional contact with them! 
)
Overall, I've had mine for 6 years now, which is about 3 years longer than I've ever owned anything else, and I'd really struggle to find something else to replace it! It's a practical (in every respect other than fuel economy) estate when I need it to be, and also perfectly well suited to chucking around B roads (and I've only once made my wife sick on a hoon
), and relies on a very, very good chassis to keep it on the road, rather than falling back on lots of electronics to do the job.
One thing you should be aware of in considering engine modifications is that you have to drop the block to get the covers off (due to a tight fit at the bulkhead), so this immediately adds to the expense of things like changing cams.
On the plus side, however, MGR always intended to launch a supercharged ZT385 model as well, but couldn't afford to build two different specs of running gear. This means that other than upgrading your brake pads, you can essentially forget about needing to follow the usual upgrade mantra of brakes before suspension before power, as everything is rated to run at around 450bhp.
You will probably find when you first test drive one that it is disappointingly slow. Then you'll look at the speedo and realise you're moving around 20mph faster than you'd realised!
I'm far from the only one to have experienced this, and I rarely struggle to keep up on PH hoons (unless it's raining and just about everyone else pitched up in a Scooby or a 911 Turbo like last time, leaving me and one Tiv to make just the occasional contact with them! )Overall, I've had mine for 6 years now, which is about 3 years longer than I've ever owned anything else, and I'd really struggle to find something else to replace it! It's a practical (in every respect other than fuel economy) estate when I need it to be, and also perfectly well suited to chucking around B roads (and I've only once made my wife sick on a hoon
), and relies on a very, very good chassis to keep it on the road, rather than falling back on lots of electronics to do the job.I'm in Devon.
Thanks for the info, i'm really keen, just need to get the Passat sorted (x4 injectors, wiring loom, airbag, flywheel!!, service, wheel bearing, anti-roll bar bush, erm.....oh yeah, and a full respray (as it's really rusty- you can poke a screwdriver through it in places!) which is being, well half of it anyway is being sorted next week by VW thankfully, once this is done, I'll be selling it on in January.
I've kind of lost confidence in the thing.
Shame really as it's really comfortable on long drives & I think it's quite a handsome car (for an estate anyway)
Thanks for the info, i'm really keen, just need to get the Passat sorted (x4 injectors, wiring loom, airbag, flywheel!!, service, wheel bearing, anti-roll bar bush, erm.....oh yeah, and a full respray (as it's really rusty- you can poke a screwdriver through it in places!) which is being, well half of it anyway is being sorted next week by VW thankfully, once this is done, I'll be selling it on in January.
I've kind of lost confidence in the thing.
Shame really as it's really comfortable on long drives & I think it's quite a handsome car (for an estate anyway)
Hi
I had one for 5 years and built up some info on it here:
Spunagains 260 pages
It is a bit out of date now and there are a few issues I may not have covered which are cropping up on as the cars get older.
I sold mine to get running costs down and to rationalise the fleet - sold 2 MGs to get 1 Mini! I never got more than 7500 miles out of the rear tyres for instance!
I loved it to bits and miss it, but it was not a cheap car to run.
Most of the niggles and issues I wound up getting and resolving, but most cars should have most of the main issues fixed by now.
There are cars that are nightmares (Poledriver's) for example. But some fab ones which have given few or no hassles.
I approached it as a 4 seat TVR - character, nice noise, but a certain amount of TLC and fettling to keep it running is to be expected.
Good luck
Regards
Spunagain
I had one for 5 years and built up some info on it here:
Spunagains 260 pages
It is a bit out of date now and there are a few issues I may not have covered which are cropping up on as the cars get older.
I sold mine to get running costs down and to rationalise the fleet - sold 2 MGs to get 1 Mini! I never got more than 7500 miles out of the rear tyres for instance!
I loved it to bits and miss it, but it was not a cheap car to run.
Most of the niggles and issues I wound up getting and resolving, but most cars should have most of the main issues fixed by now.
There are cars that are nightmares (Poledriver's) for example. But some fab ones which have given few or no hassles.
I approached it as a 4 seat TVR - character, nice noise, but a certain amount of TLC and fettling to keep it running is to be expected.
Good luck
Regards
Spunagain
Hi,
There are a few top cars for sale on the www.Two-sixties.com forum. All with history which can be traced through the forum. I have had mine for 30 months to date and its a keeper. It`s the best car I`ve owned & Yes its not cheap to run and they can eat tyres if you dont make sure the set-ups correct. But I still smile everytime a get in the car to drive it, the Roush Supercharger fitted in Feb this year helps :-), but even as a standard car the ZT260 is The last `Great British Muscle` car.
There are a few top cars for sale on the www.Two-sixties.com forum. All with history which can be traced through the forum. I have had mine for 30 months to date and its a keeper. It`s the best car I`ve owned & Yes its not cheap to run and they can eat tyres if you dont make sure the set-ups correct. But I still smile everytime a get in the car to drive it, the Roush Supercharger fitted in Feb this year helps :-), but even as a standard car the ZT260 is The last `Great British Muscle` car.
Bainzi said:
Hi,
There are a few top cars for sale on the www.Two-sixties.com forum. All with history which can be traced through the forum. I have had mine for 30 months to date and its a keeper. It`s the best car I`ve owned & Yes its not cheap to run and they can eat tyres if you dont make sure the set-ups correct. But I still smile everytime a get in the car to drive it, the Roush Supercharger fitted in Feb this year helps :-), but even as a standard car the ZT260 is The last `Great British Muscle` car.
Ooh... Where did you get a Roush blower fitted, and how much did it cost? Having driven one of the Kenne Bell ones, I wasn't overly convinced.There are a few top cars for sale on the www.Two-sixties.com forum. All with history which can be traced through the forum. I have had mine for 30 months to date and its a keeper. It`s the best car I`ve owned & Yes its not cheap to run and they can eat tyres if you dont make sure the set-ups correct. But I still smile everytime a get in the car to drive it, the Roush Supercharger fitted in Feb this year helps :-), but even as a standard car the ZT260 is The last `Great British Muscle` car.
Hi Kermit,
I bought the S/C from Barry (260`s) this time last year, He had bought a new unused, complete S/C`d engine from Mr Riley (An X-Power Sports and Racing engine which MG were going to fit to the SV-S)he was going to put it into a re-worked 75 but changed his plans and sold it to me. I helped him take the S/C off his engine in Dec last year and then had the S/C fitted to my engine and then mapped at Jamsport Racing Northampton. Jamie and his team let me watch / fit it on the 11 Feb this year. Total cost including the buying fitting and mapping was £3500. An expensive toy but it goes like s**t off the shovel and sounds fantastic :-). There are two Roush S/C for sale at the moment. Not bad as there are only six or seven on the road.
Some pictures of the fitting. http://s1087.photobucket.com/albums/j462/Bainzi/Ro...
Regards
I bought the S/C from Barry (260`s) this time last year, He had bought a new unused, complete S/C`d engine from Mr Riley (An X-Power Sports and Racing engine which MG were going to fit to the SV-S)he was going to put it into a re-worked 75 but changed his plans and sold it to me. I helped him take the S/C off his engine in Dec last year and then had the S/C fitted to my engine and then mapped at Jamsport Racing Northampton. Jamie and his team let me watch / fit it on the 11 Feb this year. Total cost including the buying fitting and mapping was £3500. An expensive toy but it goes like s**t off the shovel and sounds fantastic :-). There are two Roush S/C for sale at the moment. Not bad as there are only six or seven on the road.
Some pictures of the fitting. http://s1087.photobucket.com/albums/j462/Bainzi/Ro...
Regards
Edited by Bainzi on Friday 4th November 00:06
Its a great advert lol, As you can imagine I will be very interested to see what the car goes for. The owner has just joined the Two-Sixties forum the engine was fitted 12 months ago and we are just trying to establish where he got it from. The cars previous owner sold it due to the original engine giving him problems. The price is hi but its a rare car. ZT-T`s go for more than ZT saloons, add the very rare paint (only a few ZT-Ts had it) then add the supercharger and the price will be somewhere between 10K and 15K. A Black none SE ZT with a K&B S/C was sold last yesr for less than £10.500. If I didnt already have the Roush on mine, but had another 260 in good condition. I would be tempted to offer 15k for the one for sale, then sell mine for 7.500 (Average price at the moment) and end up with a very rare car for £7500!!!
Bainzi said:
Its a great advert lol, As you can imagine I will be very interested to see what the car goes for. The owner has just joined the Two-Sixties forum the engine was fitted 12 months ago and we are just trying to establish where he got it from. The cars previous owner sold it due to the original engine giving him problems. The price is hi but its a rare car. ZT-T`s go for more than ZT saloons, add the very rare paint (only a few ZT-Ts had it) then add the supercharger and the price will be somewhere between 10K and 15K. A Black none SE ZT with a K&B S/C was sold last yesr for less than £10.500. If I didnt already have the Roush on mine, but had another 260 in good condition. I would be tempted to offer 15k for the one for sale, then sell mine for 7.500 (Average price at the moment) and end up with a very rare car for £7500!!!
I have considered doing that but swapping the engines out then selling the previously supercharged one as normally aspirated, as there are none rarer than mine, and I like the colour!For what it's worth, I've had my 260 for about 4 months now and I absolutely love it. It is by far the best car I've owned in my 23 years of driving and the noise is just completely infectious!!
Mines a mark 1 with only 21000 miles on the clock and has led and will continue to lead a very cosseted life. It's absolutely mint in every way and is defo a keeper.
The biggest thing for me is the rarity of it and that makes it very special indeed and is another reason why I like driving it. I've taken it to a couple of local car meets and it certainly draws the attention by either people who don't know what it is to people who do know but have never seen one in the flesh.
I would thoroughly recommend buying one of these special machines!!
Mines a mark 1 with only 21000 miles on the clock and has led and will continue to lead a very cosseted life. It's absolutely mint in every way and is defo a keeper.
The biggest thing for me is the rarity of it and that makes it very special indeed and is another reason why I like driving it. I've taken it to a couple of local car meets and it certainly draws the attention by either people who don't know what it is to people who do know but have never seen one in the flesh.
I would thoroughly recommend buying one of these special machines!!
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