MG X-Power WR

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MG X-Power WR
Image:WR X-Power.jpg
Manufacturer	MG X-Power
Production	2003-2005 64 road cars (as SV) 2008-Present (as WR)
Predecessor	MG XPower SV
Class	Sports car
Body style(s)	2-door coupé
Layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine(s)	4.6-litre V8
Wheelbase	2670 mm
Length	4480 mm
Width	1900 mm
Height	1320 mm
Designer	Peter Stevens

The MG X-Power SV (Sport Veloce) was a sports car made in Modena, Italy in a factory owned by Vaccari & Bosi and leased by MG Rover and Longbridge, UK. It was based on the platform of the Qvale Mangusta, formerly the De Tomaso Bigua. When MG Rover went bust and their assets liquidised MG X-Power was passed on to the administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers. But now a new SV has emerged.

1 The Story So Far
2 Production
3 Performance
4 Gallery
5 External links

[edit] The Story So Far

In 2001 MG Rover bought Qvale Automotive Srl, a failing Italian sports car manufacturer for £10 million, one attraction was the potential sales in the United States, as the Mangusta had already been homologated for the American market. From this MG used the floor plan of the Mangusta to design a totaly new car. MG Rover set up MG X80 Ltd. It was originally revealed as a show car, the MG X80, but it was considered too sedate. So designer by Peter Stevens set about making the car more aggressive. The first SV concept was unveiled at the 2002 Birmingham motor show where it was greeted very warmly by the press. MG confirmed that when they left the motor show they had 27 confirmed orders.

The production process was complex, partly caused by using carbon fibre to make the body panels. The basic body parts were made in the UK by SP Systems and then shipped to Belco Avia near Turin for assembly into body panels. These were then assembled into a complete body shell and fitted onto the box frame chassis and running gear and shipped to the MG Rover Longbridge factory to be trimmed and finished.

When MG Rover went bust on April 7th 2005 the administrators came and MG X-Power was passed to PricewaterhouseCoopers, after discussions between William Riley and PwhC and an agreement was made in early 2008, to purchase MG X-Power for £2 million.

[edit] Production

Riley's company, MG Sports and Racing Europe, is currently occupying a 2.5 acre factory site in Eardiston, near Tenbury Wells, where 17 people are currently employed. Riley hopes to produce 6 cars a month, and he has already sold seven, with another 35 other advance orders in the bag. Mr Riley plans to eventually launch a purpose built 100,000 sq ft factory within the M5 corridor, employing between 150 and 200 people, many of which will be ex-MGRover workers.

[edit] Performance

The base MG XPower SV was powered by a 320 bhp (239 kW) 4.6 L Ford Modular V8^[1] but was expensive due to the complex carbon fibre body. Both manual and automatic transmissions were available. The manual car had a top speed of 165 mph (266 km/h) and a 0-60 mph (97 km/h) time of 5.3 seconds.^[2]Club Sport options, for customers who wished to use their SVs on the track, were planned but never produced. They included a 5·0 L 1,000 bhp (700 kW) version, thanks to factory-approved nitrous oxide injection kits, though the basic version had 410 hp (306 kW) with speed limited to 195 mph (314 km/h).

The 2004 MG SV-R featured a more highly tuned 5.0 L 32-valve V8 with 385 bhp (287 kW) and is believed to have a top speed of around 175 mph (282 km/h) and a 0-60 mph (97 km/h) time of 4.9 seconds.^[2]

The SV-S version used the 4.6 litre engine but was fitted with a supercharger to match the 385 bhp (287 kW) of the 5.0 litre versions. Only 3 were made. One SV-R was fitted with a supercharger to become the SV-RS.^[2]