Rovers T series 2.0 engine

"Time for T"

The engine in the car is a 2 litre Multipoint fuel injection systems controlled by Rover MEMS engine management system. 

In standard form it generates 136 bhp - 0-60 in 7.8 seconds (not bad) and returns between 20 and 25 mpg (31 when rebuilt) - doesn't matter if I drive it hard or not!!

Power was fairly uninspiring up to about 2000 revs - at 3000 rpm the engine really starts to pull (this changed significantly when the engine was rebuilt!).

Rover told me it was an LT series build engine and other companies have told me it's a T Series engine. First gear hits about 30mph at redline and 2nd gear will see 60. Mid range power and torque are superb from this car. The car does not have a turbo engine (yet) this sees a sub 6.5 second sprint to 60 and puts out 190bhp in standard form 'easily' tweakable to 250bhp (By increasing the boost and adding air filter & decat exhaust & bolting on an ICON race computer, and I've also been informed you would also need a front mounted intercooler and water injection at this sort of power level.)

A turbo conversion would need a new gearbox as the standard gearbox is not strong enough to handle all of that power! - a Tweaked turbo engine could also wreck the standard turbo gearbox already noted as a weak spot in the turbo (Tomcat) models Modding the standard car could easily cost more than buying a turbo engine for conversion from a scrap yard donor. If you do switch in a turbo engine you'll need the donor MEMS and I suppose the immobiliser would need the original locking mechanism as well.

The clever thing about the Rover engine is that the MEMS engine management unit does not have tightly pre programmed ignition timing settings - it learns from your car and the way in which you drive it. After sniffing the exhaust fumes, looking at the load on the engine, the revs per minute and readings from sensors around the engine and comparing this with the last 200 miles driven it calculates the best fuel delivery and ignition timing .

My old engines sensor returned 1 pulse in every revolution of the crank whereas other engines (newer versions) can operate on 4 pulses every revolution (Including the rebuilt engine I added which had its original sensor) - you must ensure that the crank sensor you have is the compatible with your MEMS unit otherwise the car will not run and you'll have to take off the gearbox, flywheel and pull out the crank sensor and change it for the correct one. Gladly the correct crank sensor (the one from my first engine) sorted out the problem and the engine fired into life.

When you drop in a new engine or heavily modify an engine it may not run smoothly for a while - mine took about 200 miles before it ran smoothly I guess it has to learn the new timing settings to use. A recon engine with a crank grind gave me loads of torque low down (pulling very well from 1000 rpm) - and massive '!' fuel economy of 31 - 32 mpg!!

The rebuild engine is back and installed and it is running sweet - the car literally purrs and the 3'' Scorpion exhaust sounds fantastic - a real deep power sound.
My new fully reconditioned/rebuilt engine fitted - going really well more power - smoother and more refined this is the later engine from a Rover 800 - the mounts are different but the basic engine is the same T series (The Rover 600 2.0 engine also needs different mounts and the 600 gearbox will not fit a 200,400 or 800 easily as it is hydraulic!)

It should be putting out more power - the compression has been increased and the whole inside has been tidied up and polished, crank polish/grind new piston rings etc and with a better flowing exhaust and a piper-x air filter things are much easier going now and it purrs like a kitten I reckon we are getting closer to the 175bhp I wanted - will get the car dyno tested soon when it's been run in.

I am so pleased with the way the car is running now - I'm allowing a rather long, 1000 miles to fully bed in the new pistons and I can then start to really see what the car is capable of - I'll have to stick to 55mph 2500 rpm in 5th gear for the moment! The engine is now run in (It took me over a year to do the mileage) - things got better and better as everything bedded in. Now its run in I have used X1 superlube to protect the engine. I find Shell optimax to be the best fuel in terms of performance other 'supers' seem to cause a burbly tickover.

Out of interest the old ratios were 28 mph 1st gear redline / 58 mph 2nd Gear redline 3rd gear became illegal speeds so I didn't record a figure for it.

This article was written by Waynne Smith on TorqueCars, and I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Rover. You can leave a response below or join TorqueCars forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

If you liked this page please share it with your friends, drop a link to it in your favourite forum or use the bookmarking options to save it to your social media profile.

Check out TorqueCars new YouTube channel, and see their awesome new content...