Frustrated V6 owner
 

My last car was a Stag with the 3.5L Rover V8. Maybe because it was a simple engine with crude carbs it attracted a wealth of enthusiasts eager to tweak and tune to get more go out of her. While I assume all Rover V6 owners agree our car is delightfully smooth with a lovely purrrrrrr, as Trikey said "it ain't got no guts." Big Russ has checked it over, all the consumables are recent and I've tightened the throttle cable - but it's still a poor performer compared to my remapped 160 Diesel. Putting it in "Sports" mode makes no difference yet it really does with the Diesel. (Mileage now 84K). Yes you have to floor the throttle to get some zip, and then it's slow to react. I would have hoped that a 2.5L V6 would have been a sporty drive but it's most definitely not.

So is there anyone out there having a go at the KV6 to liven it up a bit: no a lot?

Have you read up about the VIS motors? Maybe some clues.


TC

Yep: Big Russ said they're fine.

That’s because of the design of the engine and the inlet tract in the manifold. All multi valve engines have to be revved to get the best from them and the V6 is no different. Rev it to the max in every gear and enjoy the sound after 3,000 rpm. If you don’t want to do that you’ll have to go back to old school with two valves per cylinder and more power lower down the rev range

Most of the sluggishness is down to the gearboxes, they are (insert derogatory phrase here) terrible at transferring power and are slow to react. But remember they are an old gearbox now and compare them to many modern boxes, they are a hell of a lot more reliable. It also doesn't help they are underpowered in a heavy car nowadays.
Compare it to a zs 180 and they are worlds apart. A manual in a lightweight body with useful gear ratios they keep up with the quicker cars of today. There's a lot of potential in the v6 in my opinion , however there's no following for an otherwise sound engine.

I used to drive hearses and limousines just before I retired. The trip home, was always quicker than the trip out. (Just to let the engines breathe you know!).:D Consequently, my V6 always seems quick and has a nice growl when you open it up (which for me is rarely!).

My kv6 drives as it should, vis motors kick in around 3200 rpm, then at around 5000 rpm sounds like a formula 1 racing car, auto box normally changes gear at 6500 rpm. However last Saturday on the way back from nano meet with a boy racer on my tail in a Golf GTi, floored it, changed down 2 gears and went into the red at 7200 rpm, boy did it sound good, young lad behind must have wondered what was under the bonnet. Drive it as a sports car and it will perform!

7200rpm? Christopher Columbus! . . . . please publicise the reg. no. to ensure I avoid that car if it ever comes up for sale.

Maybe the engine was swapped and a 2.0 v6 put in there. :eek::getmecoat:

The engine is a 2 litre KV6 short stroke high revs.