Apart from a lot of new bodywork and a general stiffening of structural parts, there’s been a very serious change in the suspension system. Instead of the old Hydragas setup, there’s been a switch to a brand new but traditional coil spring effort. There have also been upgrades to the existing range of 1.8-litre engines, and the introduction of a 1.6-litre unit which straight away puts the TF on an engine size par with its major competitor here, the Mazda MX-5. In visual terms, the front end has been made much more strong in looks. There’s also been a major rejigging of the rear, with an inbuilt spoiler on the boot lid. Between this and the front changes, there has been a very real improvement in anti-lift behaviour, so that the car under speed is substantially steadier on the road. The steering has been changed too. Stars: 8/10

Of the MG’d Rovers, this one looks the least updone, except for the Subaru WRX-like rear spoiler - indeed, the Subaru resemblance is uncanny - but as a driver’s car it is seriously good, particularly the one with the 2.5-litre V6 under the hood that outputs 175bhp and has bags of torque. Of the three MGs in contention, it is probably the best balanced of the lot, predictable and even practical on normal road use - we tried to find its limits on a racetrack and failed. Your Subaru neighbour might snigger when you bring it home, but he’ll find it hard enough to get away from you. And maybe the ZS is as yet unknown to the guys who make it a point to steal Subarus. One thing, you’ll never go back to a straight Rover 45. Duh ... would you have been there anyway? Stars: 7/10

A Rover 75 on speed, and how that nice but somewhat staid old lady is changed. Certainly in the looks department, the ZT has become instantly more aggressive-looking and that wild front end is backed up by good handling and ‘move-over’ power from two variants of the fettled V6 2.5-litre, 158bhp or 190bhp respectively. The timber has been withdrawn from the cabin, which is finished in nice techno shades of grey, and the retro style of the original’s instrumentation has been similarly new-millenniumed. Not as brisk perhaps as the ZS, but very entertaining when you get the chance to extend it. And the looks on the faces of Rover-sniggerers is worth every individual extra bhp that they’ve coaxed from the car. A tourer (estate) version gets the ZT-T designation. Stars: 8/10

They call it a supermini and it is then probably the biggest such in the class, but the 1.1-litre engine that allows the description doesn’t do anything to excuse the existence of this old car. There is lots of equipment, and it is comfortable, and if you go for the 1.4-litre you;ll actually get marginally better fuel consumption. Sales have about halved this year, but there are still between 250-300 people out there who have enough faith in the Rover name to get on the bottom of its property ladder. Listen, there ARE worse, and they’re mostly smaller, and this car is so mature that there are unlikely to be any serious faults left. There have been rumours of a replacement, but so far that’s all that they seem to be. Full marks to MG Rover, though, for hanging in there when everybody thought they were dead. Stars: 5/10