The Rover 600 is a British large family sedan car produced by Rover from 1993 to 1999. The model is based on the European version of 5th generation Honda Accord. Despite the significant differences in appearance, the 600 has many similarities from the technical side with the Japanese counterpart. In 1997, the car was restyled. The model has more than a dozen modifications with various equipment of the power unit. A total of 272,512 cars were sold.
The “six hundredth” series was equipped with Honda engines of 1.8, 2.0 and 2.3 liters, developing 116-158 hp. But under the hood of the most powerful modification of the Rover 620ti was a British two-liter turbocharged engine, the return of which was 200 hp. Also, the sedan was equipped with a two-liter Rover turbodiesel with a power of 105 hp.
The front of the Rover 600 sedan is decorated with a small chrome grille, with vertical stripes, divided in the center by a wide chrome line. It also has the classic emblem of the Rover company, which has passed more than one generation without changes. The front optics are more interesting, it is accepted that many Rovers have acquired optics with two headlights or round lenses. According to many motorists, the latest models resembled a Jaguar car in design, but here in the Rover 600, on the contrary, in many ways it resembles a Volvo or Honda Accord.
The front optics of the Rover 600 are elongated, with characteristic white glass. In optics, the separated part of the low and high beams is clearly visible, but still they are not round, but rectangular. The front bumper is made in the style of those times of British cars, its top is distinguished by a strict line, and the lower part is decorated with a large additional grille for better engine airflow.
Depending on the configuration of the Rover 600 sedan, fog lights will be installed on the left and right of the bumper; in the basic configuration, there will be holes without plugs in their place. The hood of the sedan is still in a simple style, unlike other models of this manufacturer, it opens along with the radiator grille, the central part is slightly raised, due to two lines from the grille to the A-pillars. For the time of release of the Rover 600 sedan, it was typical to insert the windshield into the opening, but despite the chrome trim, the engineers decided to glue the glass.
The side of the Rover 600 sedan highlights the features of the 90s well. Firstly, these are plastic moldings on the bottom of the doors, and secondly, door handles and large mirrors, as for a sedan. Turn signal indicators are located on the front fenders, the design lines that can often be seen on modern cars are simply absent. The side mirrors of the Rover 600 are not small enough, but this style was in the 90s. Starting with the basic configuration of the sedan, heated and electrically adjustable mirrors.
The rear of the Rover 600 sedan is not like other cars, although if you look closely, there are features of Jaguar, and the same Volvo. Most emphasize the hind feet, straight on the inside, and slightly rounded on the outside. The trunk lid of the Rover 600 has its own features, the end part is slightly curved, thereby creating the feeling of a small spoiler. The company logo is also placed here. It is worth noting that the designers initially assigned a depressed surface with a chrome frame along the contour for the license plates. The rear bumper of the Rover 600 sedan, like the front one, is decorated with an extruded line at the top, the lower part is slightly wrapped, with a recess for the exhaust system. The owners of this sedan have repeatedly noted that it is near the exhaust system that there are most problems. Designers initially poorly thought out the size of the recess, and over time it melts, burns from the temperature of the exhaust pipe.
The roof of the Rover 600 sedan is solid in the basic configuration, in the maximum configuration it has a sunroof and a place for attaching roof rails. Fasteners for an additional trunk can be purchased separately, as they are not included in the package even in the top version. In general, the appearance of the Rover 600 sedan is quite stylish, despite the years of the car, it still remains desirable among lovers of the classics, and even as a budget foreign car.
The appearance of the Rover 600 sedan is even more or less unique, with some features of well-known brands, but the interior is in many ways reminiscent of the Honda Accord. Most sedans produced were right-hand drive, but there were also left-hand drive variants.
Most of all, the protruding front passenger airbag of the Rover 600 is noticeable on the central panel. This is done in many cars of the company; in the event of an accident, it will not be necessary to change the entire panel, but it will be enough to replace only the airbag by closing it back with a plug. Engineers installed two air inlets in the central part of the front panel, a small on-board computer with a monochrome display was placed a little lower, there is also air conditioning for the basic configuration or climate control for the top version of the Rover 600 sedan.
According to the standard, a cassette audio system was installed on the Rover 600 sedan, but almost none of them survived to this day, as car owners preferred to replace the old equipment with modern radio tape recorders. Below, behind two hidden panels, there is an ashtray and a cigarette lighter.
The driving position of the Rover 600 is largely reminiscent of the old Honda Accord. The instrument panel is large and the speedometer, tachometer and other gauges are clearly visible. Left and right on the panel are the buttons for controlling the backlight, foglights and other devices. The steering wheel looks luxurious, the upper part is decorated with a wooden insert, and the rest is made of soft plastic.
The biggest difference between the Rover 600 and the famous Honda Accord is the front seats, unlike the hard and rough on the Japanese car, the British installed their modified ones. Soft landing, increased lateral support and large headrests, this is what distinguishes the front row of seats. The second row is also soft, with a sheathed side part near the doors. As the owners note, on the one hand, such seats are a luxury, but long-distance trips will make themselves felt, the back will gradually start to hurt.
The interior of the Rover 600 sedan is mainly made in light colors: beige, white or gray, but there were also black shades. Only high-quality leather and velor were used as the material. Along the perimeter of the interior, you can see a lot of wooden inserts, which once again emphasizes the luxury and British style of the car.
The interior of the Rover 600 sedan, although taken from the famous Honda Accord of those times, British designers tried to add luxury and comfort as much as possible. Still, there is a minus, in any configuration of the Rover 600 sedan, having reached 3000 rpm on the tachometer, the engine is clearly audible, but at lower speeds, the sound insulation fulfills its purpose well.
The 2.0-liter Rover 20T4G turbo engine was produced in the UK from 1991 to 1999 and was installed on charged versions of the concern’s popular models with an index of 200, 400, 600 and 800. Engineers had to limit the torque of this engine due to the weak PG1 gearbox.
The 2.0-liter diesel engine Rover 20T2N was produced by the concern from 1994 to 2005 and was installed on models with indices 200, 400, 600, as well as the first generation Land Rover Freelander. The same power unit is found on European versions of the sixth generation Honda Accord.
The 2.3-liter Honda H23A engine was assembled at the company’s Japanese plant from 1992 to 2002 and installed on some modifications of the fourth-generation Accord and Prelude models. There were two versions of the motor: with a black cover without VTEC and charged with a blue cover.
The 2.0-liter Honda F20A gasoline engine was produced by the concern from 1989 to 2002 and was installed on a number of popular models of the Japanese company, primarily on the Accord and Prelude. There were three carburetor and five injection modifications of the F20A power unit.
The 1.8-liter Honda F18B gasoline engine was produced by the company from 1993 to 2002 and was installed in the fifth and sixth generations of the very popular worldwide Accord model. The F18B motor is found in a single modification, however, with varying degrees of forcing.
