RE: Ford Sierra XR-8: You Know You Want To
Discussion
Furyblade_Lee said:
Pictures? Love those, never actually seen one in the flesh!
I remember getting my XR4i aged 20, first powerful RWD car I had owned after years of racing and driving FWD cars. Me and a mate took it to a factory estate in New addington which we knew would be deserted and taught ourselves to oversteer in one Sunday evening! Bizzarely, we never actually span it, but slides varied between none and full lock monsters. No LSD so it was scrappy but what a hoot!
There you go:I remember getting my XR4i aged 20, first powerful RWD car I had owned after years of racing and driving FWD cars. Me and a mate took it to a factory estate in New addington which we knew would be deserted and taught ourselves to oversteer in one Sunday evening! Bizzarely, we never actually span it, but slides varied between none and full lock monsters. No LSD so it was scrappy but what a hoot!
I have fond memories of the XR8 racing at the East London (SA) circuit.
Standing in the pit lane, all you could hear (more feel!) was this rumble as they came up the back straight, and then as they rounded Beacon Bend and on to the main straight, the sound!!! It was awesome.
No silly silencers back then, just open exhausts.
Standing in the pit lane, all you could hear (more feel!) was this rumble as they came up the back straight, and then as they rounded Beacon Bend and on to the main straight, the sound!!! It was awesome.
No silly silencers back then, just open exhausts.
rayyan171 said:
nagsheadwarrior said:
The South Africans knocked up some wonderful things!
Perana Capri in yellow for me please.
IIRC the South African Land Rover Defender had a BMW engine in it. 2.8l M52 from the E39 series Perana Capri in yellow for me please.
Furyblade_Lee said:
vanschpunk said:
Funny this has popped up, when i just bought a Mercury Merkur XR4Ti just yesterday lol
(For anyone not clued up on them, its a lhd yank spec sierra xr4i, with a 2.3 turbo engine also found the the fox-body Mustangs)
Pictures? Love those, never actually seen one in the flesh!(For anyone not clued up on them, its a lhd yank spec sierra xr4i, with a 2.3 turbo engine also found the the fox-body Mustangs)
I remember getting my XR4i aged 20, first powerful RWD car I had owned after years of racing and driving FWD cars. Me and a mate took it to a factory estate in New addington which we knew would be deserted and taught ourselves to oversteer in one Sunday evening! Bizzarely, we never actually span it, but slides varied between none and full lock monsters. No LSD so it was scrappy but what a hoot!
Hooli said:
Furyblade_Lee said:
vanschpunk said:
Funny this has popped up, when i just bought a Mercury Merkur XR4Ti just yesterday lol
(For anyone not clued up on them, its a lhd yank spec sierra xr4i, with a 2.3 turbo engine also found the the fox-body Mustangs)
Pictures? Love those, never actually seen one in the flesh!(For anyone not clued up on them, its a lhd yank spec sierra xr4i, with a 2.3 turbo engine also found the the fox-body Mustangs)
I remember getting my XR4i aged 20, first powerful RWD car I had owned after years of racing and driving FWD cars. Me and a mate took it to a factory estate in New addington which we knew would be deserted and taught ourselves to oversteer in one Sunday evening! Bizzarely, we never actually span it, but slides varied between none and full lock monsters. No LSD so it was scrappy but what a hoot!
What a great thread.
To all my fellow Saffas out ther I say Howzit.
Most people don't realise the amount of "home-grown" cars made over there that never made the shores of Europe, Americas etc.
The XR8 was quite a mean beast as well as the XR6 with triples (six-pack carbs). Speaking of triples, Ford did a mk V Cortina called the X-O-Cet which was based on the XR6 Cortina but with a 6 pack arrangement and I recall the power output about to be either 190 or 220 bhp. It sure was a menace on the streets.
Here's a pic of my RSA Ford Fairmont GT, imported from Aus as XW Falcon GT CKD's and assembled to Saffa standards.
To all my fellow Saffas out ther I say Howzit.
Most people don't realise the amount of "home-grown" cars made over there that never made the shores of Europe, Americas etc.
The XR8 was quite a mean beast as well as the XR6 with triples (six-pack carbs). Speaking of triples, Ford did a mk V Cortina called the X-O-Cet which was based on the XR6 Cortina but with a 6 pack arrangement and I recall the power output about to be either 190 or 220 bhp. It sure was a menace on the streets.
Here's a pic of my RSA Ford Fairmont GT, imported from Aus as XW Falcon GT CKD's and assembled to Saffa standards.
s m said:
Hooli said:
Furyblade_Lee said:
vanschpunk said:
Funny this has popped up, when i just bought a Mercury Merkur XR4Ti just yesterday lol
(For anyone not clued up on them, its a lhd yank spec sierra xr4i, with a 2.3 turbo engine also found the the fox-body Mustangs)
Pictures? Love those, never actually seen one in the flesh!(For anyone not clued up on them, its a lhd yank spec sierra xr4i, with a 2.3 turbo engine also found the the fox-body Mustangs)
I remember getting my XR4i aged 20, first powerful RWD car I had owned after years of racing and driving FWD cars. Me and a mate took it to a factory estate in New addington which we knew would be deserted and taught ourselves to oversteer in one Sunday evening! Bizzarely, we never actually span it, but slides varied between none and full lock monsters. No LSD so it was scrappy but what a hoot!
Even living in the southern tip of Africa when these came out, I didn't see many at all.
I do have fond memories of going to illegal street racing in the Westrand part of Jo'burg. It moved around a bit, but was on for the most part, in the back streets of an industrial area.
There was a Datsun 120y Coupe that had a Nissan 280zx engine in it, and it used to pretty much annihilate anything it raced against. That was until a few guys came from Pretoria, one of them in an XR-8. It definitely wasn't standard..it made for a good race with the Datsun. It all depended on how the Datsun driver managed to control his initial wheelspin as to who was going to win. Good times, if a little dangerous!
I don't think I ever saw an XR-8 on the road either. In my many years on the East Rand I saw plenty of GTV6 3.0s, 327iS BMWs and Superbosses, I remember seeing quite a few 333is and 745is when I was too small to know what the significance of the cars were, and I even took on a Capri Perana in my 2l GTV (I did well too. I came second.)
But I don't recall ever seeing an XR-8.
But I don't recall ever seeing an XR-8.
nicknoo said:
What a great thread.
To all my fellow Saffas out ther I say Howzit.
Most people don't realise the amount of "home-grown" cars made over there that never made the shores of Europe, Americas etc.
The XR8 was quite a mean beast as well as the XR6 with triples (six-pack carbs). Speaking of triples, Ford did a mk V Cortina called the X-O-Cet which was based on the XR6 Cortina but with a 6 pack arrangement and I recall the power output about to be either 190 or 220 bhp. It sure was a menace on the streets.
Here's a pic of my RSA Ford Fairmont GT, imported from Aus as XW Falcon GT CKD's and assembled to Saffa standards.
Sweet ride To all my fellow Saffas out ther I say Howzit.
Most people don't realise the amount of "home-grown" cars made over there that never made the shores of Europe, Americas etc.
The XR8 was quite a mean beast as well as the XR6 with triples (six-pack carbs). Speaking of triples, Ford did a mk V Cortina called the X-O-Cet which was based on the XR6 Cortina but with a 6 pack arrangement and I recall the power output about to be either 190 or 220 bhp. It sure was a menace on the streets.
Here's a pic of my RSA Ford Fairmont GT, imported from Aus as XW Falcon GT CKD's and assembled to Saffa standards.
It was the XR6 interceptor that had the trpple webers (160 BHP), the X-ocet had a holly 4 barrel
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff