Powertrain (2000-2005)
POWERTRAIN Limited was a very busy company between 2000 and 2005 - Keith Adams explains how it was working on an exciting range of developments which would have modernised MG Rover's engine line-up and powered that company’s cars confidently into the future...
A new range of petrol and diesel engines featured some very exciting technology and could well have transformed Powertrain into the engine supplier of choice for the British specialist car industry, while pushing MG Rover towards the forefront of its class.
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A bold future
The well-respected KV6 engine and the cars it powered... A snapshot of happier times at Powertrain.
AS the UK press gleefully reported from time to time, both the K-Series petrol engine and L-Series diesel were seen as past their prime. The reality of the situation was that, although they were encouragingly light and efficient, they had also earned a reputation for fragility. Thanks to the efforts of the BBC's Watchdog programme and MG Rover's refusal to field any kind of defence against a myriad of allegations, the story became so widespread that public perception became distorted whenever the subject of Rover engines was raised in conversation.
The K-Series did, of course, suffer from the famous weakness of its head gaskets and effort was made during production to put the fault right – but, as has been widely reported, these efforts were not wholly successful. Speaking in confidence to AROnline before the company went into administration, one production engineer said: "we knew exactly what we needed to do to put the K-Series right, but management simply wouldn't allow us to do it... it was frustrating to see such a fine engine dragged through the gutter by mean spirited management."
The truth was that, shortly after the formation of MG Rover Group Limited in 2000 and the subsequent splintering of the business, Powertrain Limited was moving rapidly towards a significant update for the K-Series, which not only would have seen it pass the upcoming EUIV emission regulations, but also address the traditional K-Series weak spots.
EUIV Petrols
It is well-known that, when BMW bought Rover back in 1994, it was quietly impressed by the ability of the K-Series engine. However, forward model plans favoured its replacement for the launch of the Rover 55 (in 2002/2003). The huge Hams Hall facility in Birmingham would have been fully up to speed by this date and BMW's NG four-cylinder engines would have slotted straight in. The Rover 75 would have also received these engines shortly after the Rover 55, when it received its first major facelift.
However, when BMW dropped Rover, Hams Hall would become a modern-day Cofton Hackett – a huge engine plant permanently destined to produce a new and exciting power unit and well under capacity. Once this option closed to MG Rover, it was clear that development of the existing engines was the only way forwards. In the end, the new engine would have been a revamping of the existing K-Series, but with careful attention paid to the production tolerances and an interesting technical update for the top-spec engines.
One engineer who worked on the project told AROnline: "The name of the game was 'dual cam phasing'. Basically, the inlet system was the same as BMW's Bi-Vanos system and worked in a similar way to the VVC system, but simplified, so it would be cheaper and easier to produce. Reliability was also a very serious factor."
He added: "This was only to be fitted to the 1.8 engine though. It didn't really increase power to the VVC levels, but it was an improvement over standard (i.e., 140PS instead of the standard 1.8's 120PS)."
Nic Fasci, a former MG Rover homolgation engineer told us: "The EUIV project was going very well and some of the engines were ready to go, notably the 135 TF engine and the 160VVC for TF and ZR. Some of the 25 engines were being tested and some results were in the throes of being submitted for homologation. Looking at my old diary, there were some more tests booked in for the end of April, some in June for 75/ZT testing...
"Stuff was ready to go in some shape or form and everything would have met the October 1st cut-off point for the change from EUIII to IV legislation. Some calibration work would have carried on but things were ready to go. The only other engine that was EUIV compliant was the 4.6 V8 that went into the MG ZT 260 and the Rover 75 V8. My manager had been out to visit our good friends at Roush in the USA to do something else and they had kindly done an EUIV calibration for the engine. The cars (manual and auto) had been tested and all of the paperwork had all been submitted to the VCA and returned with the all important "Row B" limits certification rubber stamp. Oddly enough, the engine that had the biggest capacity was the "easiest" to upgrade to EUIV limits with no major engineering changes. EUIV was another step closer."
The engine was planned for use in the RDX10 (Rover 75/MG ZT) and was slated for a launch in January 2006. All other EUIV compliant engines were to have been much closer to the current K-Series unit and would have only differed in detail. According to the same engineer, it would have only taken further calibration to get the existing unit within the new regulations.
Thanks to various unnamed engineers, and Nic Fasci for their invaluable help in compiling this feature.
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