To Switzerland and back
 

Well, on the back of getting my MG ZT 190+ back on the road and working, it needed a good shake out, and I had a job to do, rescuing the contents of a people carrier I had had to abandon near Basel. So, I set out on a 4 day round trip, across the Channel and using the non toll motorways to Luxembourg, and then on to southern Germany where I stayed for a couple of nights with an old friend. The MG ZT was brilliant. It never missed a beat, and I got nearly 35 mpg out of it - which, for a 2.5 V6 like this was pretty decent. My old Rover 75 with the 1.8 K series engine gave me around 40 mpg, so I was impressed. I made it to Basel, rescued the contents of the people carrier (which is due to be scrapped soon!) and then returned on the Sunday. That was a one stage return journey that took me around 15 hours in all, and apart from a burst front bulb in one of the dipped beams, all worked fine. And - all that driving, my back feels fine - the seats were really supportive, which is more than I can say for that people carrier when it did work... So, thumbs up for the MG ZT!:icon_lol:

Sounds heartening, how many miles?

This is exactly what the 75 excels at - long journeys in relaxed comfort. I recently drove 350 miles on a wet, Friday night to my brother's in Kent, with the usual stop-start stuff on the M11 and M25. Having a young puppy with us, we stopped 3 times on the journey, taking a total of 7hours, but still arrived fresh, and pain-free. The following day, we went to the in-laws in Gosport, better weather, and despite the M25, felt like a pleasant trip. 2 days later, and back to Cumbria - just 2 stops, and a lot of congestion in Staffs and Cheshire on the M6, but still arrived home feeling human. Unlike my previous, but newer Audi A4, which would have left me crippled with back and hip pain by Kent.

I like that, very good and it is nice to see that plus 30mpg by KV6 is not as amazing as sometimes thought. Chris .S.

about 2000 miles in all.

It is pretty decent really - 35 mpg - when my old Rover 75 was giving me around 40 mpg. Nearly new oil and filter in there, good tyres all at correct pressure. Just the obvious things to keep the engine running smoothly, and being sensible with the right foot on the pedal.
The sense of driving quality was very much to the fore in this long drive - a real pleasure.

An addendum - the blown lights - front dipped beam and rear brake light turned out to be bad connections along with missing wheel arch flap/ cover at the front. The xenon light had been shaken loose from its control box, and was working OK, just needed reconnecting, and a makeshift cover put on to stop water getting in. The brake light was also a loose connection, fixed fairly soon. Also the Norwegian fix for non working key fob locking worked a treat and restored my remote locking/ unlocking; worth bearing in mind if ever your keys play up like that.

The 75's just love this sort of run. I take my 75 down to the French Pyrenees each year and it just eats up the miles in comfort on the French roads, hours on end at 130km and still feel good after a full days driving.

another addendum - it wouldn't start yesterday; just a clicking noise. It was tipping it, so left it until today when I used some WD40 to see if it was damp, but no. I ended up using jump start cables from another car with engine running, and then it fired up OK. Took it down to the garage for a check - 5 miles or so - after turning off it then fired up OK from the key. The battery has a green 'health' light, but my mechanic is going to test it anyway as he says occasionally that can be misleading. Also a check for anything that is draining the battery - left it there so he could take his time with it. |More anon!

Anon - got the MG ZT back from the garage with a new battery; turned out it was dying, but the little green light was still on, just goes to show. Tested for any drain on charge, but nothing found, so with the new battery and a 3 year guarantee on it, here's hoping to some trouble free starting. Much misting up with this damp weather - have tried these spray on anti mist products for the inside of the glass, but they seem worse than useless.