Q848620 · 2008–2011

Rover 200

The Rover 200 Series, and later the Rover 25, are a series of small family cars that were produced at the Longbridge factory by former British manufacturer Rover from 1984 until 2005 over four distinct generations. The Rover 200 was conceived in partnership with Honda originally as a four-door saloon car based on the Honda Ballade. The second generation introduced in 1989 was made in three or five-door hatchback forms, as well a coupé and cabriolet (in relatively small numbers). Its sister model, the Honda Concerto was built on the same production line. The third generation Rover 200 was introduced in 1995 and was developed independently by Rover on the platform of its predecessor. This car was downsized and was available as a three or five-door hatchback. The model was facelifted in 1999 and renamed as the Rover 25, with a higher performance variant sold as the MG ZR with mechanical changes to the suspension. Production ceased in 2005 when MG Rover went into administration.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Predecessor: Austin Maestro · Successor: MG 3

All Q848620 Rover 200 data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years → + Compare

Rover 200 (SD3; 1984–1989)

The original Rover 200 (sometimes referred to by the codename SD3) was the replacement for the earlier Triumph Acclaim, and was the second product of the alliance between British Leyland (BL) and Honda. Only available as a four-door saloon, the 200 series was intended to be more upmarket than the company's Maestro and Montego models, which the 200 Series came in between in terms of size. It was launched on 19 June 1984, at which time there was still a high demand for small family saloons, with many manufacturers selling this type of car under a different nameplate to similar-sized hatchbacks. For example, Ford was selling the saloon version of the Escort as the Orion, the saloon version of the Volkswagen Golf was called the Jetta, and Vauxhall soon launched an Astra-based saloon called the Belmont. The Rover 200 Series, however, was not based on a hatchback. Earlier in 1984, Austin Rover had confirmed that the successor to the Acclaim would be badged as a Rover rather than a Triumph – a decision which signalled the end for the Triumph brand. The move was seen as controversial as the Rover brand had long been associated with large executive saloons as well as the Land Rover and Range Rover, and there were fears that its application to a small Japanese-derived compact would devalue the Rover name. Essentially, the 200 series was a British-built Honda Ballade, the original design of which had been collaborated upon by both companies. Engines employed were either the Honda Civic derived E series 'EV2' 71 PS (52 kW; 70 bhp) 1.3-litre 12-valve engine, or British Leyland's own S-series engine in 1.6-litre format (both in 86 PS (63 kW; 85 bhp) carburettor and 103 PS (76 kW; 102 bhp) Lucas EFi form). The resulting cars were badged as either Rover 213 or Rover 216. The 213 used e

Rover 200 (R8; 1989–1995)

The R8 Rover 200, sometimes referred to as the Mk 2 Rover 200, was launched on 11 October 1989. Unlike the Mk 1, Ballade-based, 200, this model was a five-door hatchback designed to replace the Maestro while the saloon variant, called the 400 Series, was effectively the replacement for the previous Rover 200 Series when it was launched in April 1990. The 400 had a different name in an effort to position it slightly upmarket from the hatchback version, analogous to the Ford Orion, the saloon version of the Ford Escort. Once again, the model was designed in collaboration with Honda, who produced the new designed-for-Europe Concerto model, and the two models shared production lines at Rover's Longbridge factory. The 200 and Concerto itself were based on the 4th generation Civic (EC), of which the 3-door hatchback, coupé CRX and saloon versions were sold in the United Kingdom. The R8 200 was the first car to be introduced by the newly privatised Rover Group. The Maestro continued alongside the Rover 200 hatchback as a budget option until production finished in December 1994. In the autumn of 1992, the 200 received a mild facelift, featuring redesigned front indicator lights, but unlike its 400 sibling, which was also facelifted at the same time, the car did not feature a new grille (which Rover reintroduced on the 1992 R17 facelift of the Rover 800) or new body coloured bumpers. This led to some owners retro-fitting the 400's new grille on to the 200. In 1993 Rover finally added the new grille and body coloured bumpers to the 200 range. Body styles. The 200 also spawned three-door hatchback, coupé and convertible versions, while the 400 eventually spawned an estate version, referred to as the Tourer. These latter variants were solely Rover designed and produced products,

Rover 200 (R3; 1995–1999)

The next generation Rover 200 was unveiled at the London Motor Show in October 1995 with a press launch in Italy in late November. Codenamed R3, it was smaller than the previous Honda-based R8 cars. This was due to Rover's need to replace the ageing Metro, which by now was 15 years old. Although some elements of the previous 200 / 400 were carried over (most notably the front structure, heater, steering and front suspension), this 200 became the Rover Group's first new mass-market car to be designed in-house since the Austin Montego in 1984. Honda were contracted by Rover to provide tooling and feasibility experts working alongside their Rover colleagues both in Japan and in the Design Studio at Canley. This was also at a time when Honda were moving production of the Honda Concerto replacement from Longbridge to Swindon, freeing up capacity for 60,000 units at Rover. At this point, the car had a cut-down version of the previous car's rear floor and suspension and was codenamed SK3 but was not sufficiently profitable. After a delay, to consider several options to maintain production volumes at Longbridge, the SK3 project was revised by the Rover Engineering Team. The major change being a Maestro/Montego derived H-frame rear suspension package that allowed fitment of a fuel tank, a full-size spare wheel and an exhaust silencer whilst retaining a good-sized boot, as opposed to only 3-out-of-4 that the carry-over R8 rear suspension allowed in the SK3 package. This also saved over £100 per car allowing the project to be approved for production. The new programme was renamed R3, to align with other programmes. The R3 featured a completely redesigned interior and dashboard to accommodate the fitment of a passenger airbag in line with new safety standards. Changes to the front

Rover 25 (1999–2005)

A facelifted version of the Rover 200, renamed the Rover 25 (internal codename Jewel) was unveiled at the London Motor Show on 6 October 1999 and launched in showrooms in Britain on 25 November. It was repositioned and priced to compete with the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa, rather than larger cars like the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra. This version used similar frontal styling to the larger 75 model. The chassis had been uprated to give sportier handling (suspension and steering setup from 200vi) and the front end had been restyled to give it the corporate Rover look first seen in the range-topping 75, a number of safety improvements and interior changes were made, but the 25 was instantly recognisable as a reworked 200 Series. The 1.4 L, 1.6 L, and 1.8 L petrol engines as well as the 2.0 L diesel were all carried over from the previous range. CVT automatic gearboxes were carried over from the R3 200, with 'Steptronic' (later 'Stepspeed' post-BMW demerger) semi-automatic system available from late 2000. R65 manual gearboxes were again carried over but were later superseded by Ford 'IB5' units in mid-2003. The 1.8-litre engined cars and all diesels used Rover's PG1 5-speed manual gearbox throughout the car's life. The Rover 25 also saw the introduction, from autumn 2000, of the 16V twin-cam version of the 1.1 L K-Series engine, replacing the 1.1 single-cam 8-valve K-Series engine previously found in the Rover 211i. This development saw power boosted from 60 to 75 PS (44 to 55 kW; 59 to 74 bhp). Trim levels, variants, and facelift. Initially available in i, iE, iS, iL and GTi trim levels, a range topping iXL model was introduced in 2002 adding full leather upholstery, passenger airbag and 15-inch 'Coronet' alloy wheels to the iL specification. Initially available wit

Powertrains

These were the engines available for the Rover 200 (1995–1999) and Rover 25 (1999–2005). Each engine was modified at regular intervals throughout its life with economy and emissions improving with the changes.

Motorsport

=== British Touring Car Championship === A Rover 216 GTI briefly raced in the 1991 British Touring Car Championship. Grahame Davis drove the car with his own Moto-Build team running it. He entered six races but only made the start at Oulton Park and retired after 3 laps with engine problems. One Make Racing. A one-make motor racing series for the Rover 200 series ran from 1991 to 1996. The series was introduced to replace the MG Metro Turbo Challenge that had run in various guises from 1981 to 1990. From 1991 to 1993, the series used the Rover 216 and was called the Dunlop Rover GTI Championship. The series upgraded to the Rover 220 from 1994 onwards and was renamed the Dunlop Rover Turbo Cup. In 1991, the series supported the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and Eddie Jordan raced in the #1 Celebrity Car, finishing 9th. In 1996, Tiff Needell raced in the series at Castle Combe for a feature on Top Gear.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name

Rover 200 Series, Rover 25

Manufacturer

British Leyland (1984–1988)Rover Group (1988–2000)MG Rover (2000–2005)

Production

(China: 2008–2011), 1984–1989 (Rover 200 MkI), 1989–1995 (Rover 200 MkII), 1995–1999 (Rover 200 MkIII), 1999–2004 (Rover 25 MkI), 2004–2005 (Rover 25 MkII), 2003–2005 (Rover Streetwise), 2008–2011 (MG 3 SW) (China)

Assembly

United Kingdom: Longbridge, Birmingham

Class

Small family car (C) (1984–1999), Supermini (B) (1999–2005)

Layout

Front-engine, front-wheel-drive

Predecessor

Triumph Acclaim, Austin Maestro (for MkII), Austin Metro (for MkIII)

Successor

Rover 400 HH-R (for MkII)MG 5 (for Rover 25)MG 3 (for MG)

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

• Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1857228CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_200_/_25CC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1373235780 · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rover_214.jpgPublic domain · Photo: Sebastian F · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.

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