ZS 120 or 180 - best daily driver..
Discussion
Evening all!
Currently have a 52 plate MG ZR 105 and although it's very nice, I have been rather tempted by the MG ZS for a little while. Now I know these are quite good value for money nowadays and after owning the ZR for almost a year now, I am getting to know the common MG failings and problems as of such.
Now the biggy.. I will most likely be getting a ZS - but which one to get..? I'd love a 180 but I know the fuel cost would rip a whole in my wallet and mainly insurance may be a tad steep as I've only just turned 21 years old! Or should I get the 120? Knowing it will get further on a tank of fuel, lower insurance costs but none of the character of the 180..?
Mpg is a small factor to play in this as I do a good 35 miles a day commute to work Monday to Friday, and I do love a good drive on the weekends - especially the morning hoon on a Sunday to let of a bit of steam from the week!
But would I be better off with the 120 over the 180 for daily use? Bit of a dilemma here...
Thanks, Rik
Currently have a 52 plate MG ZR 105 and although it's very nice, I have been rather tempted by the MG ZS for a little while. Now I know these are quite good value for money nowadays and after owning the ZR for almost a year now, I am getting to know the common MG failings and problems as of such.
Now the biggy.. I will most likely be getting a ZS - but which one to get..? I'd love a 180 but I know the fuel cost would rip a whole in my wallet and mainly insurance may be a tad steep as I've only just turned 21 years old! Or should I get the 120? Knowing it will get further on a tank of fuel, lower insurance costs but none of the character of the 180..?
Mpg is a small factor to play in this as I do a good 35 miles a day commute to work Monday to Friday, and I do love a good drive on the weekends - especially the morning hoon on a Sunday to let of a bit of steam from the week!
But would I be better off with the 120 over the 180 for daily use? Bit of a dilemma here...
Thanks, Rik
ZS's are as bad on fuel as you may think, but only as bad as any other 2.5 V6 on the road.
Dont let this put you off, I have one as a daily driver and have a 50 mile daily commute, I basically use a tank a week - £65, I think they are great cars, far better than the ZS120 which wont be any massive improvement over your ZR performance wise and you'll only get around another 50 miles to the tank in the real world
If you're that bothered about MPG amd insurance buy a ZR120 instead as they are much lighter and ideally fit a set of TF135 cams, that'll give you the extra pep you are after with sensible costs.
Other than that a 180 every time, you can always sell it again if the running costs get too much
Dont let this put you off, I have one as a daily driver and have a 50 mile daily commute, I basically use a tank a week - £65, I think they are great cars, far better than the ZS120 which wont be any massive improvement over your ZR performance wise and you'll only get around another 50 miles to the tank in the real world
If you're that bothered about MPG amd insurance buy a ZR120 instead as they are much lighter and ideally fit a set of TF135 cams, that'll give you the extra pep you are after with sensible costs.
Other than that a 180 every time, you can always sell it again if the running costs get too much
Ex X Power said:
ZS's are as bad on fuel as you may think, but only as bad as any other 2.5 V6 on the road.
Dont let this put you off, I have one as a daily driver and have a 50 mile daily commute, I basically use a tank a week - £65, I think they are great cars, far better than the ZS120 which wont be any massive improvement over your ZR performance wise and you'll only get around another 50 miles to the tank in the real world
If you're that bothered about MPG amd insurance buy a ZR120 instead as they are much lighter and ideally fit a set of TF135 cams, that'll give you the extra pep you are after with sensible costs.
Other than that a 180 every time, you can always sell it again if the running costs get too much
Okay, thanks a lot for the advice! I will have a good think and consider my options, mainly insurance cost at my age though! Dont let this put you off, I have one as a daily driver and have a 50 mile daily commute, I basically use a tank a week - £65, I think they are great cars, far better than the ZS120 which wont be any massive improvement over your ZR performance wise and you'll only get around another 50 miles to the tank in the real world
If you're that bothered about MPG amd insurance buy a ZR120 instead as they are much lighter and ideally fit a set of TF135 cams, that'll give you the extra pep you are after with sensible costs.
Other than that a 180 every time, you can always sell it again if the running costs get too much
but I hope I can get the 180 over the 120 anyway for that reason! So how many miles would you say you could get to a tank on the 180? My ZR gets around 265iah miles from £45 fill up - a lot smaller tank than the ZS - 45 litres if I remember correctly! Lol
Rik
Not sure what you will get to a full tank as i never fill mine up ! I do know i average around 35mpg on a steady run and around 28mpg if driven like you stole it. Not bad at all for a V6, think the owners with poor mpg figures maybe need their cars tuned. Insurance will be your biggest issue.
5paul5 said:
Not sure what you will get to a full tank as i never fill mine up ! I do know i average around 35mpg on a steady run and around 28mpg if driven like you stole it. Not bad at all for a V6, think the owners with poor mpg figures maybe need their cars tuned. Insurance will be your biggest issue.
How do you figure out your mpg if you dont provide a mean point then?? ie filling the tank, using it and then noting how many litres you put in to fill it up again?Back to the O.P I genearlly do around 300 miles to 55L, for the sake of arguement we'll call that 12 gallons, therefore I average 25mpg on mixed town, A, B, town and motorway work, If youre giving it a proper kicking this will drop in to the mid teens, ie trackday work etc.
I have driven many ZS's over the year from new so know this is the typical figure for this car with me driving on a day to day basis.
As i say these cars are quite thirsty but so is any 2.5 V6, Vectras, Mondeos Alfas etc are all in this ball park
Ex X Power said:
How do you figure out your mpg if you dont provide a mean point then?? ie filling the tank, using it and then noting how many litres you put in to fill it up again?
Back to the O.P I genearlly do around 300 miles to 55L, for the sake of arguement we'll call that 12 gallons, therefore I average 25mpg on mixed town, A, B, town and motorway work, If youre giving it a proper kicking this will drop in to the mid teens, ie trackday work etc.
I have driven many ZS's over the year from new so know this is the typical figure for this car with me driving on a day to day basis.
As i say these cars are quite thirsty but so is any 2.5 V6, Vectras, Mondeos Alfas etc are all in this ball park
Thankyou for this! Back to the O.P I genearlly do around 300 miles to 55L, for the sake of arguement we'll call that 12 gallons, therefore I average 25mpg on mixed town, A, B, town and motorway work, If youre giving it a proper kicking this will drop in to the mid teens, ie trackday work etc.
I have driven many ZS's over the year from new so know this is the typical figure for this car with me driving on a day to day basis.
As i say these cars are quite thirsty but so is any 2.5 V6, Vectras, Mondeos Alfas etc are all in this ball park
at the moment i get around 260 miles from £45 which fills the tank in the ZR! And that gets a fair bit of abuse if I'm honest! I'll keep an eye out for a good local 180 for now then, if not I'll get a 120 for the time being and then progress onto the 180 a year or so down the line! Ex X Power said:
5paul5 said:
Not sure what you will get to a full tank as i never fill mine up ! I do know i average around 35mpg on a steady run and around 28mpg if driven like you stole it. Not bad at all for a V6, think the owners with poor mpg figures maybe need their cars tuned. Insurance will be your biggest issue.
How do you figure out your mpg if you dont provide a mean point then?? ie filling the tank, using it and then noting how many litres you put in to fill it up again?Back to the O.P I genearlly do around 300 miles to 55L, for the sake of arguement we'll call that 12 gallons, therefore I average 25mpg on mixed town, A, B, town and motorway work, If youre giving it a proper kicking this will drop in to the mid teens, ie trackday work etc.
I have driven many ZS's over the year from new so know this is the typical figure for this car with me driving on a day to day basis.
As i say these cars are quite thirsty but so is any 2.5 V6, Vectras, Mondeos Alfas etc are all in this ball park
Edited by 5paul5 on Monday 26th November 17:59
All depends on what you want..... grunt or a wine 1.8 120 is just a good as the 2.5 180 both great looking cars fine on fuel and offer a good family car but the 180 does have the extra body bits but these all fit the 45/zs so easy to fit and make a 1.8 look like a 180. even the mk2 stuff fits a mk1. dont be put off the kv6(2.5 V6)its a low revving engine and a motorway muncher youll get 43mpg and round town around 28mpg with 180 horses waiting to unleash hell. i give it 5 *****
Ex X Power said:
5paul5 said:
Not sure what you will get to a full tank as i never fill mine up ! I do know i average around 35mpg on a steady run and around 28mpg if driven like you stole it. Not bad at all for a V6, think the owners with poor mpg figures maybe need their cars tuned. Insurance will be your biggest issue.
How do you figure out your mpg if you dont provide a mean point then?? ie filling the tank, using it and then noting how many litres you put in to fill it up again?Back to the O.P I genearlly do around 300 miles to 55L, for the sake of arguement we'll call that 12 gallons, therefore I average 25mpg on mixed town, A, B, town and motorway work, If youre giving it a proper kicking this will drop in to the mid teens, ie trackday work etc.
I have driven many ZS's over the year from new so know this is the typical figure for this car with me driving on a day to day basis.
As i say these cars are quite thirsty but so is any 2.5 V6, Vectras, Mondeos Alfas etc are all in this ball park
When they first appeared about Y2000, my first experience of the MG ZS was a V6 factory mule. Boy did that fly. I was all set to get the V6 soon when visiting my local MG-R dealership, I tried their MG ZS120 demonstrator. That will do nicely. Given typical UK traffic density and road conditions, point to point journey times with the 1.8 and 2.5 would be very little difference. You could press on better as a daily driver with the smaller engined car. On the track, no question, go for the V6. However best daily driver, no question again. The 120.
Two MG ZS 120s in my family. I feel with the 1.8 engined version, whether by luck or superb judgement, they came up with a near perfect handling and balanced ordinary production car package when they produced the MG ZS 120. Until I sold it recently, I also had a 1.8 Rover 45 connoisseur. Nicer place to be than the ZS except when pressing on in the twisty bits.
These are they :~
2004 ZS 120 :~
2003 ZS 120 bought new May 2003 :~
and sad to see it go last week the 45 Connoisseur :~
Cars like these can be picked up for little money now. Nice ones are out there if you search with patience.
So, to answer your question, only you can do that. Drive both the in line 4 and V6 engine versions of the MG ZS( even the Rover 45 was available with a V6 ). Not just a spin round the block, at least ten miles in all the cars you are considering. Then decide which one is for you. Until you do that your current obvious pick of the bunch may change. Then having chosen, sit down and work out the finances... Insurance, VED and not least, fuel consumption.
Then having taken time and care to weigh all that up... go for it!
Find a nice one of any and you will not be disappointed. They are out there, just be patient.
SebastienClement said:
I have a rover 45 with the same engine as the ZS120. It's perfectly adequate for normal driving. But that's just it. It's adequate. It doesn't sound particularly nice, nor does it feel that quick, despite the 9sec 0-60 time.
Sound nice ... Remove the Air Filter for a brief run at 6-7000 rpm up and down the gears and then tell me it does not sound nice...
MGJohn, fantastic advice. I have been looking at the 120s a bit more closely, my heart would love to own a 180, but I think the VED and temptation to give it the beans every time I drive it may become a tad expensive! So my heads saying to go for the 120, and just to keep things nice, add a few 180 bits onto it so I can still have some of the looks even if I don't get as much of the grunt!
Have heard about the handling too! Apparently the chassis us based on the Honda Integra, praised quite highly if I remember?!
And yes the noise of the k series, even with a cheap one cone, is fantastic! My 1.4 ZR had a lovely spot around 5000rpm!
Rik
Have heard about the handling too! Apparently the chassis us based on the Honda Integra, praised quite highly if I remember?!
And yes the noise of the k series, even with a cheap one cone, is fantastic! My 1.4 ZR had a lovely spot around 5000rpm!
Rik
RikZR said:
MGJohn, fantastic advice. I have been looking at the 120s a bit more closely, my heart would love to own a 180, but I think the VED and temptation to give it the beans every time I drive it may become a tad expensive! So my heads saying to go for the 120, and just to keep things nice, add a few 180 bits onto it so I can still have some of the looks even if I don't get as much of the grunt!
Have heard about the handling too! Apparently the chassis us based on the Honda Integra, praised quite highly if I remember?!
And yes the noise of the k series, even with a cheap one cone, is fantastic! My 1.4 ZR had a lovely spot around 5000rpm!
Rik
Until you've had a half decent K-Series just behind your head at full chat as when driving my son's Lotus Elise S2, you have not really heard a K-Series in action.... as Mr. M. Walker would say FAN-TAS-TIC.Have heard about the handling too! Apparently the chassis us based on the Honda Integra, praised quite highly if I remember?!
And yes the noise of the k series, even with a cheap one cone, is fantastic! My 1.4 ZR had a lovely spot around 5000rpm!
Rik
The ZS has a lot of Honda DNA via the Rover 45 LINE. However, the underpinnings of the MG ZEDs have very little Honda content as I understand it. Remember Honda and Rover group were a working partnership for some years until the Bavarian mob bought the whole sheebang and everything after that was uber-vunderbar...
... Alx323 said:
Can I hijack this thread a bit and ask if any of you have any experience of the 120 engine versus the 1.6 K series? On paper there doesn't look to be much in it
Had two 1.6 Rover 45s. In most circumstances not much difference. However, with a full passenger load and their luggage that extra 200cc comes into play, particularly in hilly country.The 1.8 in both my ZS120s appears much more lively than the same engine in my recently sold Rover 45 Connoisseur. I do not think it was an illusion. However, the R45's ECU had certainly been 'got at' in previous ownership because there was a seal and label on it which untouched Rover ECUs never have. There was a phone number and company name on the label. I contacted them with the details but, they were not able to tell me what they had done to the ECU. It probably was just as powerful but, just did not seem to be. Point to point journey times would be near identical.
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