Squeezing More Value
by David Finlay (30 Sep 03)

There are various ways of looking at the Streetwise concept. Here's one I prepared earlier: after a period in which MG Rover has, for various reasons, been unable to bring a new small hatchback to the market, the Streetwise is yet another way of squeezing value out of the old Rover 200, a car which has already been reincarnated as both the 25 and the sporty MG ZS.

Thrifty use of existing material, I call it. But there are other ways of describing the process, and I wouldn't want to be accused of being uncharitable. So let's start again.

Okay. The Streetwise can also be considered as the next logical step in the evolution of lifestyle off-roaders. Once upon a time, people bought vehicles which were very good at off-roading, but never used them for that purpose. Manufacturers responded to this by building vehicles which were not particularly good at off-roading, and people bought those too (sometimes extending the idea by fitting wide tyres and low-profile tyres so that they were even less good at off-roading).

 
Since there is obviously a demand for cars which look as if they should go off-road but don't, MG Rover has gone a step further and created something which was never intended to have any off-road capability at all, but still retains the important styling cues.

And so the Streetwise, which is really an ordinary 25 in almost every mechanical respect, has been festooned with large bumpers, wheel arch spats, sills and side rubbing strips. The man in charge of this styling exercise was the celebrated Peter Stevens, whose team included several people in the 25-35 age group which is the car's target market.

On The High Side

MG Rover makes no claim at all that the Streetwise will travel far from the beaten track, but there is one hint of off-road thinking in that the ride height is considerably greater than that of a standard 25.

Subtitled "the urban on-roader", the Streetwise does indeed look a lot more aggressive and - MG Rover's own description - funky than the 25, perhaps more so from either end than from the side. The appearance is enhanced by sturdy roof rails which are not there just for show, since they can carry loads of up to 65kg.

By the end of the year, there will be four engine options, three of them available right now. These are the 1.4-litre K-Series petrol unit with 83bhp, the same thing in 102bhp form and the 100bhp two-litre L-Series turbo diesel. One of the cars tested here uses the 108bhp 1.6 K-Series which won't actually go on sale for a few weeks yet. It's also available with an approved aftermarket LPG conversion which costs a reasonable £995 once the Powershift grant has had its effect.

You may have spotted that three-quarters of the engines in this line-up produce maximum power outputs within a range of just 8bhp. MG Rover insists that there are good reasons for offering a choice of a 1.4 and a 1.6 with similar performance but different characteristics, although it does strike me as being a slightly finicky way of going about things.

The interesting thing about the two 1.4s is that, despite the wide gap in performance, their fuel consumption (38.7mpg combined) and CO2 (174g/km) figures are identical. Our fuel economy testing feature suggests why this might be the case as far as the officially measured cycle is concerned, but it's reasonable to assume that the 83bhp engine will be more economical in the real world.

Sporty, Up To A Point

Another point that may have struck you is that none of the engines is particularly powerful. That's because the Streetwise was never intended as a performance car - it's not part of the concept, and it would in any case mean that the Streetwise was starting to impinge on MG ZS territory.

All the same, there's quite a lot of sportiness about the Streetwise. You can choose a three-door body style as well as a five-door, and all three trim levels - standard, S and SE - include seats with a lot of side support. If anything, in fact, too much of it. The sides of the seats are very large, very firm and very close together, to the extent that they dug into me and created tender spots about my person. Anyone of greater circumference than myself may find this a problem.

Another sporty aspect is the fact that the suspension is quite stiff, producing a ride which is firm without being excessively crashy. Now, MG Rover's chassis people are a seriously talented bunch, and they have managed to make the Streetwise a very sharp handler, but there is a problem. As a recent feature on the subject explained, the way to increase tyre grip is to reduce weight transfer across the car. Raising the ride height and stiffening the suspension are two excellent ways of increasing weight transfer and therefore reducing grip, which is bad news for the Streetwise.

 
Actually, the excellent balance between the front and rear of the Streetwise means that it remains pretty stable most of the time. But the LPG-converted 1.6 I drove first did not inspire confidence on corners and I felt I had to be especially careful, partly because the roads were damp but partly also because there was always the suggestion - never confirmed by experience, I should add - that one end or the other was about to let go.

The most nerve-wracking situation is when you have, say, a gentle right-hand approach to a tighter left-hand corner. At the moment of switching from right to left you can feel the weight transferring across the car like billy-o, which is not a comfortable sensation.

It's The Diesel Again

Time constraints meant I couldn't try out either of the 1.4s, but they are presumably similar. I did go out in the turbo diesel, though, and rather surprisingly this felt much better. MG Rover says that the diesel engine weighs twice as much as the K-Series, and in compensating for this the suspension department has actually created a far friendlier car. It doesn't feel quite as sharp, but nor does it make you feel that the maximum level of grip is approaching fast.

Despite the modest power output, and because of the fact that it produces nearly twice as much torque as the 1.6, the diesel is considerably quicker. It also blows all the K-Series versions out of the water - even the less powerful 1.4 - in terms of fuel economy and CO2 emissions, for which the figures are 47.1mpg combined and 159g/km respectively.

Priced between the 1.4 and 1.6 petrol versions, the diesel will be the cheapest of the range to run and is certainly the most enjoyable to drive. It would without question be my personal choice.

Of the cars on sale now, prices range from £9295 for the 83bhp 1.4 three-door in standard trim to £12,795 for the five-door turbo diesel SE. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the 1.6 will be slightly more expensive than the diesel, and a 1.8-litre - the only version with automatic transmission - will presumably cost more again.

Options include the LPG conversion for the 1.6, five seats for all models (standard format is four seats with a storage box between the two in the rear) and Becker Traffic Pro satellite navigation. One item which is fitted as standard to every car is the Trafficmaster alert system, which gives comprehensive information of any queues within a five-mile radius or up to 20 miles directly ahead.

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