There's A Wiggle Somewhere
by Ross Finlay (17 Dec 00)

Just as the 45 we tested recently is a modernised 400, so the 25 is an upgrade of the old 200. When it was launched last year, Rover made a pretty fair job, on a limited budget, of freshening up the exterior. Mind you, I don't really like the looks of the 75-style headlights, although there's no argument about their effectiveness.

Rover also continue to provide interior design, trim and detailing which show up some rival models as being quite amateurish looking. You don't get a high-tech interior, more a gentleman's-club approach: burr walnut inserts on the fascia, for instance, and a good solid grip of a well-padded wheel.

The three-door looks compact, but it has a reasonable amount of rear passenger room, for a 1.4 anyway, although it can be a bit of a struggle getting in and out of the back seats. There's decent luggage space.

When the 25 was introduced, BMW was in control at Longbridge. It encouraged the design team to turn the 25 into something approaching a "sporting supermini", and gave the nod to substantially altered spring rates, damper settings, wheel and tyre sizes, steering rack and so on.

But there's a definite limit to how much "sporting" the basic design of this car can take, especially when fitted with the smallest engine in the range. And with a fairly high average age of owners, how many of them are all that bothered? I did most of my mileage on motorways and A-class roads, and the 25 certainly cruised along very well, which is probably the task most owners will give their cars.

Livelier Colour Mix

Rover introduced the 25 with a lot of buzz-words like "matrix" and "colourways" to describe the model mix and trim options. There are certainly far more colour choices than the company used to offer, and the important thing about the interior is that it has a feel-good factor.

In any case, you can't help smiling at a car which offers an upholstery pattern called Wiggle. That doesn't come in the iS, though. It has sports-style seats trimmed in Orbital cloth.

The K-series engine, quite seriously modified for the 25, is the standard petrol unit in the range. There are three capacities and, in the 1.4-litre size, two different stages of tune. I'd rather go up a grade from the basic 82bhp version, and fortunately the iS has the more powerful type. This car isn't a lightweight for a modern 1.4, and it feels solidly built, but a three-figure power output certainly helps.

It also comes with 15" alloy wheels, front fog lamps, split-fold rear seats, repeater controls on the steering wheel for the radio/cassette player, and an effective-seeming alarm. Just a driver's airbag as standard, though.

Rover improved the electrics of the 25, bringing across several features from the more clean-sheet-of-paper 75. But there's one thing that bothers me. This was the third Rover test car out of the last four I've driven in which the airbag warning light suddenly came on and wouldn't go off.

I simply cannot convince myself that this kind of thing is 100% fail-safe, and I wish Rover would sort it out.

Price: £10,795
Capacity: 1396cc
Power: 101bhp
Maximum speed: 112mph
0-60mph: 10.2 seconds
Economy: 53.1mpg extra urban, 42.8mpg combined
Insurance: Group 6
Rover figures

Second Opinion:
I actually came round to thinking that this least powerful 25 was pretty brisk, but that was only on my third day, when I was in a hurry and started using the revs. At the sort of engine speeds most owners will use, it's sluggish. Similarly, the handling was good, but only when pressing hard on roads with lots of dips and crests. In normal use it feels nervous, and frankly none too stable - or, in a word, wiggly. It's almost as if Rover had deliberately set this car up to appeal to the people who will not consider buying it, while completely disregarding the people who might. Not a great success. David Finlay.

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