XR4i's are great fun. Predecessor to the cosworth and extremely underrated living in the cossies shadow. My mate used to get reasonable mpg from his, about 25mpg with a modded engine but that soon dropped when he drove it hard. Look out for rot under the bodykit, although they are much better put together than standard sierras having been built by Karmann in germany. Great for a bit of tail out fun, sound great, go like a cat with a red hot poker up it's backside and cool as funk!
As Daveyboy says, massively underrated barges. I think of the later ones as a dirty slag of a car with that lazy V6. Early ones have that cool twin spoiler set up but I think they are starting to appreciate a little now. Later ones can still be had for not a lot of dollar and I'd rather have a V6 than a turbo'd four pot.
1986 Citroen 2CV Dolly Other things. Check out my Blog for the latest! www.hubnut.org
Horray another shameless chance to post a pic of my old beast........
Right with that over. It was the best car I ever owned, bar one small problem................ fuel economy don't expect to get over 20 mpg unless you drive like an old lady everwhere!
Other than that they are quality rooty V6 sounds awesome, RWD layout is superb, loads of spares avaliable (apart from rear qtr panels which are unique to the XR4i - so make sure they are in good condition, the same goes for the body kit) engines/transmission/suspension is easy to get hold of and cheap.
Dispite being a 2.8 V6, XR4i's arnt really that quick compared to its peers or modern cars. But its fast enough to loss the rear end and keep it there
As for buying rust is the main problem as I said before the rear qtr panel are rare and expensive, the transmission tunnel is another common place and under the body kit. Watch for crash damage its quite easy to loss the back end in the wet! Being a sporty car a lot will be thrashed so check for oil, coolant levels and mayo in the header tank. The colonge V6 is a bit tappy when cold, but if it sounds like a bag of nail the cam or the tappets will be fooked.
As for upgrades, the XR4x4 and Cosworth models are you oyster! Brakes, LSD, engines can all be robbed it fit. Granada 24v V6 also fit fairly easily for a nice N/A 200 bhp.
Plus they got to be good, cause I plan on buying another! Why did I sell it
My Dad p/x'ed his 2.9 powered,LSDed, freshly repainted 4i against an X plate ford cougar a couple of years ago. Still not happy about it. Every so often i remind him i'd have given him double what he got for it.
Depends on which engine/drivetrain as to fuel economy, 2.0 DOHC or 2.8/9, 2 or 4WD. I can tell you from my own experience that a 2.9 XR4x4 can be into single figures if you let it off the lead, but these will be the worst offenders obviously due to 4 wheel drive and biggest engines. (And a lot of them are Ex-police like mine so they may or may not have been played about with)
Whichever model youre after its not something you`ll regret, parts aint a problem if it breaks and they're all brilliant to drive in their own way (I`ve driven most configurations) and you can get both 4 and 6cyl ones with either 2WD or 4WD.
I take it we're talking 3-door XR4i? Wise choice! Good fun to drive, cheap to buy, cheap to repair, usually they're pretty solid too. There are still quite a few about which have been well cared for, unlike the "ordinary" mk1s.
Personally I like the 2.8 & 2.9 4x4s to drive too - very surefooted - but you lose the quality '80s styling.
The mk2 DOHC XR4x4 / XR4is are pretty lukewarm - nice cars, but not in the same ballpark (actually, not even the same sport).
**Paging MWF........**
My fleet: Suzuki GSX-R600Y SRAD with bald, melted tyres A borrowed Mondeo
Well I'm fairly certain I'm going for one, just need to either sell the GTI or find someone willing to do a P/X... Seventynine arnt you a bit older than me? I'm 19 and its less to insure than my golf, which is 890 something, then again don't you live in the ghetto?
Cheers
Edit.. Yes sorry, early 3dr XR4, just love the spoiler setup and the twin rear windows, who cares if it does stupid MPG... just to look at it outside is good enough really
Edit.. Yes sorry, early 3dr XR4, just love the spoiler setup and the twin rear windows, who cares if it does stupid MPG... just to look at it outside is good enough really
Good man! I promise you wont regret it, if you get a solid one! And the insurance is bizarrly low I paid £580 TPFT when I was 21 with 3 year ncb and that was only 2 years ago.
Its all been said really, just do it while these RWD classic fords are affordable. defo watch for rust and over shagged cars, a lad over on FSOC and other ford forums has welded all over his, proving they do go if neglected...but can be fixed
Fuel economy can be a real shock on these, the shonky old cologne boat anchor is terribly inefficient so you end up paying quite a lot to not go very fast. But that said the nature of the car with the big lazy v-formation engine and rwd makes them very satisfying to drive. Take the airbox lid off to bring out the noise.
I'm lucky enough to own one of the good ones, an ex concourse car I've had for a few years. Sadly many of these cars are in a general condition of neglect and are getting on for nearly twenty five years of service. They don't tend to get looked after like the Cosworths so finding a good one that's going to last can be hard.
It's really worth looking at the Turbo Technics conversions, these bolt on kits fit the standard engine and give 200bhp. I had one of these kits on an Xr4x4 and they transform the car. In my XR4i I have a rebuilt 3.1 Cologne. The 24v conversions look a great option and viable alternative to the turbo. It's also worth looking in the direction of the older Essex V6's which turn up tuned now and then. Handling as standard is again pretty poor but you can pick and choose from all the Cosworth options if you wish.
Perhaps the biggest downside of the XR4i (and Sierra's in general) is the lack of styling options. Many criticise going the obvious Cosworth route and try to seek alternative options but there really isn't a lot of options out there.
When it comes to reliability I've personally not had many problems with mine, or the XR4x4 before it.
I love my car to bits and getting in it in the summer and driving it is very special, they have a great feel to drive, torque, lazy, good noise and tend to catch peoples eye these days.
If you want to know anything I'm happy to try and help.
Well I'm fairly certain I'm going for one, just need to either sell the GTI or find someone willing to do a P/X... Seventynine arnt you a bit older than me? I'm 19 and its less to insure than my golf, which is 890 something, then again don't you live in the ghetto?
Cheers
Edit.. Yes sorry, early 3dr XR4, just love the spoiler setup and the twin rear windows, who cares if it does stupid MPG... just to look at it outside is good enough really
20, 2 years ncb, £1700 but then again, 16v 90 spec mk2 golf - £2100
Last Edit: Dec 15, 2006 10:38:01 GMT by SeventyNine
I paid £580 TPFT when I was 21 with 3 year ncb and that was only 2 years ago.
