1984 Rover - Austin Maestro HLE 1.3 from UK and Ireland
Summary:
Economical Load Carrier
Faults:
Fuel pump replaced (Rover wanted £40), got one from local parts shop for £11.
Automatic choke failed on vehicle, therefore had a manual one fitted.
Other than that, nothing that I can remember.
General Comments:
This was the HLE version of the Maestro, complete with 3 speed and overdrive VW gearbox. It also had a silly light display in the centre of the dash, graduated from green to red to tell you when you were driving at the most economical speed. Bit of a gimmick really.
The car itself though was very versatile and was very roomy inside.
As to the A plus series engine, well it was ancient, but never gave any trouble.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 11th August, 2006
29th Jul 2009, 13:06
I had 1.3HLE. Impressed with legroom for rear passengers, general feeling of interior space and airiness. There was no power assisted steering, it didn't need it.
The straight line stability in a cross wind at speed on a motorway was amazing. Any Golf I have driven cannot come anywhere near it in this respect.
The 3 plus E gearbox was too widely spaced. 3rd gear often was often treated as top if high speed progress was to be maintained.
The luminous bar scale in the centre of the dashboard, was great if you wanted to drive economically around town and also at speeds no greater than 55 to 60 mph out of town. In a so-called professional review, this device was referred to as "a crude indicator of accelerator depression"
It was in fact a vacuum gauge display of the amount of suction in the carburettor. Using this device which was a great training aid to economical driving, made 42 - 56mph easily achievable in a variety of driving conditions.
It taught me how to drive economically, not necessarily slowly, in other cars since without a vacuum gauge.
In 15 years of ownership - the auto choke was changed to manual, 2 clutch cables were replaced and the only unscheduled garage job was a new water pump. Apart from this I did my own servicing. It was simple to work on.
Body rust-proofing could have been better, and the push rod 1.3 engine was noisy when revved hard.