hickabilly Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Anybody familiar w/ these cars? I've got a chance to pick up an '89 for cheap. From what I gather, it's kinda like the StarQuest's fatter slower German-American cousin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrazilBoy Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 get it ,its a mustang svo in a different skin...it won several touring car championships... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turborusty Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 ,its a mustang svo in a different skin... Which also means it's a fancy-bodied Pinto, who doesn't want that? Turborusty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hickabilly Posted June 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 get it ,its a mustang svo in a different skin. Minus the all-important intercooler. Plus, this one in particular is an automatic. Still, it is intriguing. And considering my Quest is KO'd at least until the detective handling my case gets off stinkin' paternity leave, and my truck is really too much of a creampuff to risk parking in my neighborhood, I have half a mind to spring for some cheap wheels. I'm gonna go give the Merkur a more thorough inspection tomorrow. If I think it'll last me at least a couple months w/o having to put too much effort into it, I might spring for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrazilBoy Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Nothing better than a go fast beater on the cheap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haztoys1 Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 (edited) Got two in the shop customer cars ...Rally mods..... Rallyed over seas hard core ... Google "Ford Sierra Cosworth" ......... Cool cars .... Can of worms in this country as a Quest is to deal with on parts on some stuff... Have two in my stash of cars ... Will play with them some day ... Some parts are ez Ford stuff .. Some parts Euro Ford ... Mustang and XRt4 are in differant anuff to be on other worlds ... What do you need to know ... ?.. What color is it may I ask ........Can get you to people who are really into the car if you need ... David Hazardous Toys inc Edited June 5, 2009 by Haztoys1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlowinUp54B's Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 What do you want to know about them? I helped a friend get his running then he traded it for a blown up 302.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverarrow89 Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Ok weird day....I did an eBay search for an Xr4Ti this morning to see what was out there..never thought about the car before today other than I wanted one in high school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack_Morris Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanta Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Get it - my sister owns one, a 1985 hardtop - family used to have one back in the 90s as well - awesome cars with some PEP once you IC them They have a pretty large aftermarket support, there was even an article in some car review magazine called Canyon Carvers which pitched the Starion against the XR4Ti ( both cars have macpherson front struts with IRS ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patra_is_here Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 this could be u http://homepage.mac.com/limefrog/thumbsup.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carguygibby Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Absolutely get it. 2.3 turbo motor bulletproof, a lot can be done with these cars. As some of the other guys mentioned, their German and British cousins the Ford Sierra Cosworth and Sierra XR4i hatchbacks were great cars. The Cosworth 4-door was a real sleeper too, they were very popular with bank robbers in Britain, seriously! Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sully Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 do eeeeeet!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hickabilly Posted June 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 s ... What do you need to know ... ?.. What color is it may I ask ........Can get you to people who are really into the car if you need ... David Hazardous Toys inc Wasn't looking for anything specific as far as needing to know. Just trying to get a feel for how the car is generally viewed, as it is a rarity, and probably turbo-4 banger enthusiasts (such as all of you) would know more than most. I swear I'm not a masochist-- I always start out just lookin' for a cheap honda or toyota or somethin'- but really the only ones in my price range are crappy burned out ricers or college kid cars w/ 800000000000000 neglectful miles on them. Then I stumble across this one in a million car that's in way better shape than any dropped civic, but totally enigmatic in its own right. Found the Quest the same way. I should know more tomorrow. Right now all I can tell you is the guy selling it says it runs just fine (and I've dealt with him before- he's a good honest dude). Beyond that, I know its got a puddle of x-mission fluid under it, but if Ford's C3 tranny is anything like the C6 -with which I am very familiar, it could just need a couple days of good driving to seal back up. We'll see. ...and David- it's brown and browner with a brown on brown interior. Seriously- reminds me of when my dog barfed up Arby's curly fries- only with a black stripe along the bottom of the sides. But hey, I'm not that concerned w/ appearances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastfail Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 My buddy got one and threw on a bigger turbo (Holset I believe), front mount(conquest) and 18lbs and it's pretty nasty. It's got super high miles and auto as well, but still runs like a champ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie88TSi Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 I've had two of them, an 86 and an 89. The 89's are pretty friggin' rare. Not as rare as say an 89 Starion, but pretty damn close. They share nothing with a Mustang SVO except for the engine... IMO, the Mustang SVO doesn't even come close to the XR4Ti. The XR4Ti is a much more comfortable and better handling platform. They're a blast to drive, I'd definately pick it up if I were you. They handle awesome from the factory. The auto in those are somewhat delicate, of course the 5spds are just as delicate. The XR4Ti community is very similar to the StarQuest community, same type of issues that we commonly face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrazilBoy Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 heres a bit of history on that 2.3 turbo it was produced in Brazil for the world and used in our rwd turbo escorts.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasQuest Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 "Our" escorts meaning u.s.? Nope, we never got the rwd escort's over here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrazilBoy Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 (edited) "Our" escorts meaning u.s.? Nope, we never got the rwd escort's over here. "Our" Escorts RS Turbo as in Brazil like this http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2006/09/237683025_5be2edf4d1.jpg http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/7099/fordescortxr3ifront2007zh0.jpg Edited June 5, 2009 by BrazilBoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasQuest Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Oh man that's nice. Shame on Ford for giving us mazda based escorts! :character0269: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carguygibby Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 "Our" Escorts RS Turbo as in Brazil like this http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2006/09/237683025_5be2edf4d1.jpg http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/7099/fordescortxr3ifront2007zh0.jpg The US Escorts (similar to the Mk. 3 and 4 in Europe) got the 1.9 CVH motor, European ones had 1.6 CVH EFI motors in the XR3i, the same in RS Turbo plus the turbo, both FWD. I know because I had a 1990 XR3i, fast little beastie! RSTurbo more so. Maybe Brazil had 2.3 motors in the Escort Mk. 1 and 2, those were RWD? Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macrophage Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 My brother had a Merkur it was nice and fast but the auto tranny was garbage, when you lean on it a little the atf would come out of it for some reason. i recommend the manual tranny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasQuest Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 The US Escorts (similar to the Mk. 3 and 4 in Europe) got the 1.9 CVH motor, European ones had 1.6 CVH EFI motors in the XR3i, the same in RS Turbo plus the turbo, both FWD. I know because I had a 1990 XR3i, fast little beastie! RSTurbo more so. Maybe Brazil had 2.3 motors in the Escort Mk. 1 and 2, those were RWD? Colin Oh I know. Trust me dude I know all about escorts, I've been tuning them for years. Yeah yeah bring on the flaming, I've got my fire suit on. :hmm3grin2orange: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTTY Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Not the best looking car around, but good,strong and fun to drive cars, buy it ! :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hickabilly Posted June 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2009 Took it for a spin today. Gotta say, overall I like it. Was a little worried when I first turned it over, as it was idling pretty rough. But found a vac hose had come off the turbo. Plugged it back in and she smoothed right out. It is much more comfortable than the Quest, both in leg space (for my 6'5"ness) and overall ride comfort. As far as acceleration/performance- it is not the Quest by any means; but once ya get it goin' and stick the throttle, it downshifts from 3rd to 2nd and pulls solid. Really the only issue was it'd slip out of 1st at red lights- and I'd have to rev her a bit to get it back. I had added some transmission fluid to it before the drive... maybe I should've added a bit more. Other than that (and the boost gauge), everything works. Lookin' like I'm gonna be having that Merk. ...as soon as dude can find the stupid title. (Really, how do people not know where their important papers are!?!? That's what file cabinets are for. Seriously, they're like 30 bucks at Office Depot) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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