Rover 800 Coupe 2.7 Review and Drive - did they make a proper luxury coupe?

[@stevieboyNI]

What a fantastic car. I had two 800's back in the day. First being an 800 Stirling 4 door with this Honda V6 engine. That car was actually very reliable, drank fuel though. I then had a facelift 800 Vitesse on a P-reg with the 2.0 T-series turbo. Very quick car, surprised a few people. Again apart from a few electrical niggles it never really let me down.

[@mattaldridge347]

Loved the 800 coupe . You could either have the 827 (later 825) in Sterling or the Vitesse with the T16 2.0 Turbo. The Vitesse was more sporty looking with bigger wheels if I remember, but like the understated look or the Sterling. That creamy V6 and the luxury interior was the ultimate waftmobile.

[@stevie750iL]

I had a 'D' plate 820i single point fuel injection back in 1992. The single port injector failed. So I managed to fabricate a manifold when I was an apprentice in Rosyth dockyard. The manifold used a twin downdraft weber from a 3.0 litre Capri. I had John Muir from MV turbos in Carnock rejet it and set the fuel pressure via regulator. The car ran superb. Oh those were the days. Always wanted a "Tony Pond" red Vitesse.

[@alexrankin2235]

I have a very early 1987 820si, which I love. It would probably be the last car I’d sell from my collection.

[@badbusdriver7160]

In the late 90's I was working as a valeted in a garage in Wigan and I remember doing a full valet on one of these. This one was also in dark green, but it was a solid colour, not metallic. I didn't like that to start with, but it grew on me and by the time I'd finished I thought it really suited the car (though it would inevitably need more attention to keep poking tip top). It had the cream leather which, IMO, looked more special than the grey here. I disagree that the rear is plain though, I'd describe it (ignoring the awful looking towbar) as classy and discreet and I am so happy that it does not have a rear spoiler! Truly lovely car and very underrated.

[@Haroosh20]

Go Phil. You need to get a go of the Maestro Turbo for sure. I remember watching the shoot of the Rover and chatting with Mr Retrorachet. Great to see the final video.

[@Pyjamarama11]

I owned the Honda Legend coupe equivalent and it was a beautiful car I still mourn it by howling at the moon, on odd occasions Back in the 80's when the 2.7 appeared these were pretty powerful compared to what was on the market (BMW and Range Rover excluded)

[@markbanyard9695]

I enjoyed the review of the 800 coupe. I feel you are spot on with comments with build and quality it’s not the best but definitely not the worst. I’ve owned a Mk1 827 fastback and a Mk2 827 sterling coupe loved both of them. I’ve purchased just over a year ago a Mk2 820 Vitesse turbo fastback it’s definitely rough around the edges but it shifts. So if you fancy a drive to see the difference or even a review of it please get in touch with me.

[@SLAmey-mu9hd]

Great review.... Those Honda units sound delicious when you wring them out. I remember these being on the road and they really looked special back in the day.

[@stevejelly3161]

I saw a little Rover for sale way back in the 2000's ...... a diesel 2000 hatchback ...... leather trim and Air Con 🙂 . Yeh Peugeot engine ....... incredible mpg ....."old british interior" ...... and A/C .....🙂.... (drive it all day) . Lovely luxury car you have there 🙂

[@PeteYeado]

A great channel! Well done Chris for promoting old basically BL. They almost got it so right 😭. During the 80's/90's I owned and worked on many Maestros/Montegos. The MG 2.0 Efi was very understated. However, a word of warning on the 'O' series engine concerning the engine breather tube, the internals go rusty, distinintgrate and the parts flow around the engine with premature end of life to the crank bearings and oil pump, be warned! Seen it many times. Knew a bloke in the 90's who put the 820 16v engine in the Maestro, very nice, yet again Leyland, so close yet so far😢😢😢. Great channel 👍👍😍

[@paulelverstone8677]

I'll stick my neck out and say this was the best looking car Rover ever made. I think the coupe really suits the 800. I love the SD1 Vitesse also but this looks better imho...

[@redlineste4283]

The beeping sound when using the windows means it needs a reset. Think you hold the button for a few seconds when up. This will let the roof and windows work with one shot lowering etc. Had a 820 SLi and a 2.5 Sterling back in the day.

[@petrichor649]

Had one, brilliant car

[@nervo6321]

I had a 800 Vitesse in the same colour as this one , it went like a rocket

[@aslandama]

Very lovely car indeed.

[@mwbpo1]

Really great review, thank you. Great car, I owned a later model 800, a four door saloon with the early KV6 auto. It’s the only car that I wished I’d kept. I bought it for next to nothing with only 34k miles. Two years of cheap motoring and sold it for a profit, happy days.

[@banjia22]

I had a similar experience, had the 827 SLI on F plate. Drove like a dream, wished I had kept it. The Honda V6 was very good and reliable

[@dion5643]

Great video and a lovely car. I have a 825 coupe. Strangely in the back seat there is 3 seatbelt receivers for only 2 seatbelts, two are stowed together, like in a normal 800

[@raycroal]

these are beautiful coupes, i have always loved them

[@evileyes4070]

Lovely car like the Green ❤❤

[@benfel9403]

I had a 1993 820 Vitesse fastback in BRG. It was an epic car did insane mileage and set a serious record from Scotland to South West England back in 2003 that I cannot list the details of on here. I expected the hard drive was going to have lead to issues but it never did.

[@sdry1688]

Great content - lovely car - I has a lowly 2L in the same colour back in the 90s - the Coupe is very rare now - the worry with these cars is even a minor bump can result in the Ins Company writing the car off - I hope not and the owner can enjoy it for years to come

[@TheSaabClinicUK]

My dad used to have one of these, but it was a Manual. I remember we changed the cambelt when i was about 18 and it was a monster of a job. We did it though and it worked great afterwards. I have fond memories of "borrowing" it. It would rev right out to 7000rpm and made a great sound.

[@stuartn3522]

Lovely looking car. The red warning light on the Dashboard though; what was that about?

[@jaymorris3468]

Those Honda 2.7s where silky smooth.

[@averyalexander2303]

Yup, mine is smooth enough that I can easily balance a nickel on top of a valve cover at idle. Oddly enough, it doesn't feel overly smooth inside at idle (probably need to change the motor mounts), but other than that, it's so smooth and quiet that I sometimes end up looking at the tach to see what RPM I'm at. It sounds awesome when stepping on it though thanks to the 2 stage intake manifold and solenoid controlled variable intake silencer/resonator that opens up at heavy throttle and higher RPMs. Actually pretty impressive for an 80's engine.

[@Birmingham_racing]

I remember my friend getting insured on his dads rover 400 2 litre as a first car while rest of us had 1 litre cars

[@simonburleigh5551]

I had an 820 auto. The gearbox kickdown was brutal from 4th to 3rd on the motorway and the interior was not holding together with a peeling dashboard. The electrics would go on strike BL style, one out all out then 5 minutes later everything worked again.

[@sydsnott5042]

Good honest video Chris. Oh how this video brought back memories of my 800's. Had the 2.5 sterling manual box. So smooth. My Dad said it was like floating on air lol. Had the Rover body kit fitted to it. No it didn't spoil the Sterling image. Had the 2.7 Vitesse fastback manual box. Sheesh. Only 200cc difference But the 2.7 was so rapid. Had the 2.0 turbo vitesse too. Yes more torque and quicker and faster. Well it did have over 20bhp more lol. Each car was very reliable. I drove them sedately and like I stole them lol. Fuel back then was cheap as chips so I wasn't bothered about economy. Overall ruddy excellent cars. And yes I'd love another.

[@andrewwmacfadyen6958]

The 820 Efi was the best arll round, 800 Vitesse Turbo Sport was just 😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@derekjust5764]

I was taken out in a 827 sterling when nearly new and was very impressed very smooth through gears and constantly pulled, didn't drive it though 😅. I loved that era. Particular favourite was Citroen 2.5 twin turbo think cx, massive thing that goes like the wind.

[@badbusdriver7160]

There was no twin turbo CX (or indeed any other production Citroen), most powerful version had 168bhp from its 2.5 litre 4 cyl with (single) turbo. Fantastic cars though👍

[@JeremyWilliams-tz4xt]

I love these; I have a '98 Vitesse Coupe that I'll never sell, so comfortable, fast whether b roads or motorways. In many ways prefer it to my SD1 Vitesse, and certainly faster..

[@Birmingham_racing]

Same 2.7 from the Honda legend? My friends dad used to have a Honda legend 2.7 when I was a kid

[@michaelarchangel1163]

Did it not kick down and respond a bit better generally in Sport ?

[@MarkGelderland]

Beautiful car but finding one in the Netherlands is impossible; they were always rare, these days they're gone unfortunately.

[@manokent]

Owned a manual G reg 827 Vitesse in the late 1990s. Then a couple of 200bhp 820 Vitesse's through to 2010ish First 820 Vitesse was a saloon, but I missed the hatchback versatility...then I missed the saloon's lack of creaks and rattles... I personally think the revvy Honda engine deserves a manual gearbox. But that's moving away from the wafty luxo-barge ethos of the Sterling and 827 coupes. 820 T16 turbo in my two Vitesses was genuinely very grunty low down, but quite coarse. Bit of a flying machine if you hustled it. Loved them all, but I'm a bit odd 😅

[@TheFoolishboy9]

I had an 825 sterling manual. It would slip out of second gear and all the tiny seperate computers for the interior light and windscreen wipers failed. It had many things wrong with it (was a £400 Car), But i loved it. It had an electric reclining rear seat for flips sake. Cool car

[@bid84]

We didnt salt the roads in Ireland like the Uk so the cars tend to be less rusty underneath and around the arches

[@McGrory69]

I'm with you on tow bars but I instantly rule out buying any car with a tow bar fitted as you have no idea what sort of weight it's been dragging around and how often.

[@TipTopMotors.]

That's a very nice car. I was never really that keen on the mk2 800 but the only one i would have gone for would be the 800 Coupe and in the 2.7 format. I have owned a 1990 Mk1 827 Sterling since 1998. Lovely cars and i preferred the streamline styling, the Honda engine in my opinion is the one to have. Put it in sport mode and it could shift.MPG wasn't bad on a long run at a steady 70 i could get 34 mpg. I too am a big Rover fan and also own an MG Montego Turbo since 1990 and a Rover 75 V8 Tourer.

[@raycroal]

the earlier bonnet was much nicer i wonder if you could fit it onto the mk2 coupe, might need a bumper aswell ,that is if it fits

[@keithjones3720]

I owned a silver 800. Coupe. 1992 k plate. The Honda mechanicals were brilliant but the rover coachwork was a bit tacky to be honest.. but overall a very nice luxury barge... 😂

[@KarelBeelaertsvanBlokland]

Beautiful Rover design. Even better than the Honda Accord sibling!

[@RayTeggie-er7pb]

You mean honda legend, the accord was similar to the 600 series rover

[@RayTeggie-er7pb]

The met police ran the 827,s for traffic cars for a few years

[@Steve-gc5nt]

I'd take that over any dull EV

[@850glt]

Had an 800 Coupe many years ago and I have to disagree with you, the build quality was cheap and not even cheerful, the interior plastics squeaked all the time. Driving any distance was tiring and you knew you had done a shift if you went more than a couple of hundred miles in one day. I saw pictures of my old car last year when it attended the retrosh1te meeting at Lathalmond so you might see it there again this year

[@andrewwmacfadyen6958]

Nonsense

[@davidhill6733]

Gorgeous but not for me. 99% of these cars with the 2.7 litre engine were PRNDLs and any decent petrol-head hates autos. A 4 door saloon or hatch with the 2.7, five speed manual and no rust would be perfect.

[@mrlover4310]

I like rovers but luxury cars is not what rover do. Compare to mrecs bmw jags