The First...
‘Today, an R8 is still a civilised and sprightly car to drive’
R8, Metro, R8 MKII:
The K-series made its debut in the 1989 Rover 200 ‘R8’ – the company’s most important new car since the 1981 Metro, as it would (hopefully) bring the brand back to competitiveness in the most hotly-contested area of the car market, where the Ford Escort was king.
It’s easy to lose sight of just how much of a game-changer the R8 was in a modern context, but the new car was a complete sea-change in terms of quality for the much-maligned British manufacturer. Using production techniques honed in partnership with Honda, the R8 was beautifully finished, with inch-perfect panel gaps, plush interiors and high grade interior plastics unlike anything to have ever come off the Longbridge production line before it. The introduction of the 400 R8 saloon the following year added even more appeal to the range.
There were three engines available at launch – the 1.6-litre Honda D-series, and two versions of Rover’s all new 1.4-litre K’. Rover was thinking way ahead of its time with the new engine. As well as modern manufacturing techniques, centred on its all-alloy construction, the original press literature recognised the trend for reduced emissions and a need to extract more power out of lower capacity engines. If you look at the number of high-power, small-displacement engines available on the market today, you can see
just how advanced the notion of the K-series was. It was of ‘sandwich’ construction, with the crankcase, block and head in layers, with through bolts to keep it all in check – indeed, it was these stretch bolts that would go on to become the engine’s Achilles Heel, but we’ll come to that later, as it was something that didn’t affect early engines anywhere near as badly. At launch, the engine came with a choice of a KIF carburettor or single-point fuel injection system, both 1.4-litre units developing 75bhp and 95bhp respectively. The 75bhp was an eight-valve engine, while the fuel-injected option had two valves per cylinder, making it one of the mostlively small engines of its time. The 1.1-litre K-series was also announced at the same time, but wouldn’t appear in the R8 at all – its launch being held back until the unveiling of the new Metro the following year. Unsurprisingly, the R8 met with a rapturous reception from the media, and while it failed to win the European Car of the Year Award (it was beaten by the Citroën XM), it did win several UK honours, including What Car? Car of the Year 1990, for the popular 214Si. Drive one today and it’s easy to see why – thirty years since its
debut, an R8 is still a very civilised and sprightly car to drive, with exceptional comfort and surprisingly agile handling.
The What Car? success was repeated again the following year, this time by the Metro, which was given a massive facelift in 1990. While the budget wouldn’t stretch to engineering a new bodyshell, the engine bay was substantially modified and the car reskinned, allowing for the 1.1-litre version of the K-series to replace the 40-year old A-series.
As well as the obvious power, emissions and refinement advantages, the K-series also allowed Rover to make the new Metro much more competitive with the addition of a more refined five-speed gearbox, though a four-speeder was still standard fare in the entry-level models and most special editions.
The 60bhp eight-valver was by far the most common Metro engine, but the fact that the block was the same size in the 1.4 also allowed Rover to create some more lively models with the 1.4-litre engine, which featured in the Metro S, GSI and GTA, while the 16v engine was later fitted to the Metro GTI – in the small bodyshell, it was a mean performer. As many tuners today will tell you, you can go even further, too – the K-series 1.8 VVC drops straight in as in our test car, above).
The next chapter in the K-series story came in 1994, when the R8 was given a mid-life facelift, taking on the new corporate radiator grille introduced on the facelifted 800 and a new multi-point fuel injection system.
The eight-valve unit, offered only on base models, remained largely unchanged other than losing its carburettor in favour of fuel injection, while the twin-cam 16v model was given a power boost, to 103bhp. It was the most powerful and fastest 1.4-litre car on the market at the time, just 7bhp behind the 1.6-litre Honda engine in the Rover 216/416.
They may have more of a ‘grandad’ image thanks to a grille that gave them the look of a modern-day Vanden Plas Allegro, but those facelifted R8s were rapid little cars that were hugely entertaining to drive.