We doubt any car has been so comprehensively reworked and has so little visually to show for it. Cynics might suggest that MG Rover had the money to do the engineering or the styling, but not both. In this instance we’re prepared to buy the official line, which states that the ZT 260 is a 21st-century Q-car in the style of the original BMW M5 and will let its performance on the road do the talking. If you want a rear-drive ZT to possess looks as aggressive as its performance, wait until the summer for the supercharged ZT 385.
For now, be assured that the transformation of the ZT under the skin is near enough total. The body-in-white needed modification to accommodate the engine, there is a new floor front and rear, and entirely new multi-link rear suspension.
The engine itself could scarcely be more different to the all-alloy quad-cam, four-valves-per-cylinder V6 K-series motor fitted in other ZTs. More commonly found under the bonnet of a million American Ford Mustangs, the 4.6-litre V8 is an archetypal slice of bent-eight Detroit iron. The heads are alloy, but each contains just a single camshaft and two valves per cylinder. Its 260bhp may sound impressive, but its specific output is significantly bettered not only by every other petrol-powered product in the group, but also by the likes of the Daewoo Matiz. Its torque is somewhat more impressive at 302lb ft at 4000rpm but, in reality, most of it is developed from little more than idle.
Power is directed rearward through the same Tremec five-speed ’box used by the Mustang, though with unique ratios and internally modified by MG Rover to improve its shift quality.
All ZTs have strut-type front and multi-link rear suspension and this one is no exception, except that at the front it has been heavily modified to cope with the weight of the engine and at the rear it is all new. The brakes are unchanged at the front, but new discs have been fitted at the rear, bigger than those up front. Anti-lock i