Largely, yes. It helps that the 75's still a cracking car in the first place. Although it's a few years old now, its interior is still an excellent place to spend time. The seats - leather covered and electrically operated in the V8 - are sumptuous, and the cabin ambience and materials are first-rate, although the electronic graphics used on the binnacle and centre console's display screens could be tidier, while rear legroom should be better. But it's the refined type of car that suits a big, woofly V8 motor like the 4.6-litre, Ford of America-sourced lump that sits under its bonnet.
And a gem of an engine it is, too, a real charmer. It has an extremely wide and accessible rev-range, pulling usefully from idle right through to its rev-limit on the other side of 6,000rpm. Which means that, in second gear on the four-speed auto (four speeds is plenty and, if you want a manual, buy the sportier MG version), one can drive from 10mph to around 90mph. In top, meanwhile, barely 2,000rpm is registering as the car approaches 70mph.
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| Interior is still a great place spend time |
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Performance is brisk. Nought to 60mph is a claimed 6.8 seconds, with a top speed of 151mph. The 75 V8 isn't short of pace, but it doesn't feel as urgent as you'd expect a 260bhp V8 to - it feels heavier than its 1,680kg kerb weight. That's partly because peak power comes in at 6,000rpm, while peak torque of 302lb ft doesn't arrive until 4000rpm, making the 75 feel slightly leggier than even its long gearing implies. It's a wee-bit thirsty, too, returning 21mpg on the combined cycle, with CO2 emissions of some 319g/km.
Around town, the engine noise is all burble and idle potency, at cruising speed it's a hushed thrum, while at full chat there's plenty of V8 growl. But at all times, the cabin remains well insulated: even at full throttle, noise isn't excessive, while one feels no resonance from behind the steering wheel.
