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Almost as many ducts and gills as the TVR Sagaris
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| RELIABILITY AND QUALITY RATING: |
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Obviously, this is an area where MG Rover does not have the budget of rivals like Porsche, Ferrari or Corvette, but development time and costs have probably exceeded those of niche manufacturers such as TVR and Noble. There shouldn't be too many reliability issues, the SV's chassis was developed in the late 1990s as the Qvale Mangusta and is finished and corrosion protected by proven Italian supercar suppliers. The carbon bodywork is produced by experts in the field, while mechanically, the SV uses a relatively common Ford 4.6-litre V8 engine, albeit bored to 5.0-litres in the R version (though this still doesn't seem over-stressed), and off-the-shelf gearboxes.
In terms of perceived quality, the SV does lag behind some of its rivals. Interior build is fine, but the single Ford column stalk, heater switches from the TF and vents from the ZR do not exude the same solidity as cheaper Porsches or TVRs (the latter, incidentally, has bespoke switchgear and vents). Otherwise, interior quality is fine, with a well-constructed dashboard and fairly coherent cabin layout.
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