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MG ZR ZS ZT Technical - VW Diesel power units for the Zeds?

Snippet item in AUTOCAR 6 November explores possibility of MG-R obtaining VW turbo diesels for the Zeds to replace the current BMW ones..

IIRC, the BMW unit gives 115 against the 149ish bhp for the 1.9 litre VW unit. Apparently this power difference is responsible for sale losses as most similar diesel competitors have around 150 bhp to offer.

I've spoken to several R75 Diesel owners who are delighted with their cars and the BMW engines. Imagine their reaction with around 30% more poke ... :)
John McFeely

Some Maestros had VW boxes?

K
Kelvin

John,

Having recently driven a ZT 135 CDT (and virtually decided it'll replace my R75 KV6), I must praise the BMW M47 TD4 engine that it uses. The BMW M47 engine is also avialable in outputs up to 150 PS in the 3 series, and whilst the ZT 135 gets by with 131 PS, it feels much more responsive through the gears than the 116 PS version of the same M47 engine in the current R75 CDT. In reality the torque output of a diesel is more important in real driving conditions than its ultimate bhp figure.
My advice to anyone is try the ZT 135 CDT - it's a fine vehicle.

What MGR really needs is an improved version of their L series diesel with common rail injection and more torque for the ZR and ZS. In current form the L series is well off the pace compared to what Ford, VW and Peugeot can offer in Golfs / Focus / 307 platforms.
I suppose with the R25 & R45 platforms getting on a bit, MGR wouldn't find it economic to get type approval to fit another manufacturers engine in the R25/45 platforms. It would make more sense to get the 2 litre L series more competative with the latest Bosch common rail injection.
Adrian

Very much agree with you Adrian but the existing L series has reasonable power-it mainly needs to be smoother,less noisy & have less vibration.Would the Bosch CRI alone resolve these deficiencies ?
andrew

I guess that the ignition would be smoother andrew, but I think that the L-series is fundamentally an old engine now.

I suspect that MGR have more pressing needs for their cash than financing new diesel engine development - and are probably happy to develop relations with other companies to obtain their diesels in the short term.

The other main problem with the BMW engine that Autocar highlighted, other than power, was cost. The company isn't making much money on the sales of diesel 75/ZTs. The VW deal would give them a much cheaper and more powerful engine - which would be perfect for them.
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed between 13/11/2002 and 14/11/2002

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