Daily Saphire?

[tagger14]

Hiya peeps,

Has anyone got any opinions or experience of using a Sapphire Cosworth as a daily driver? Not doing vast mileage @ about 10,000/ year.

Thanks!

[FussyFez]

Anyone looking to buy and run a cossie needs to be able to afford it twice over.

Many (most) are very ropey nowadays, often requiring rebuilds / new turbos etc.

Find a good one and you'll love it, but you'll also pay a premium for a nice one.

Expect crap fuel economy, but this isn't why you buy one.


I've been a ford nut for years, and I WILL own a cossie at some point, but only when I can afford to keep it in A1 condition, no expense spared.

[DougMcC]

I'm running a normal boggo Sierra as a daily driver, with at best 30 mpg so god knows what you'll get with a Cosworth.
I've run it through two reasonably ok winters now but the bodywork is starting to suffer badly. Just now it is in to replace two sills and a rear arch. They were perfect when I bought it.
Expect big bills!

[rallycross]

12 years ago I used to run one as my daily driver a 1991 4x4 with about 300 bhp, it was reliable and fun but wouldn't want to use one now even then you could tell it was getting old/tired if you find one good enough to use as a D/D almost a shame to put it to daily use.

Downsides
Huge lag makes stop start traffic hard work
Terrible mpg
Might get stolen
No aircon ( my one had a/c as I bought it in Italy but uk cars don't have a/c).

[TommoAE86]

Get this one... seems to be well looked after given the pictures in the advert... (no it's not mine)

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/ford/sierra/ford-sierra-xr-4x4-cosworth-powered-1988/2330755?isexperiment=true

[Olivera]

Not sensible as an everyday car as the winter road salt will simply eat through the bodywork unless you are very fastidious with cleaning and waxoiling.

[Devil2575]

Olivera said:

Not sensible as an everyday car as the winter road salt will simply eat through the bodywork unless you are very fastidious with cleaning and waxoiling.

I ran a Sierra about 15 years ago for well over 5 years and didn't have any real problems with rust.
If you buy a car without it and look after it you should be fine.

[cerb4.5lee]

Devil2575 said:

Olivera said:

Not sensible as an everyday car as the winter road salt will simply eat through the bodywork unless you are very fastidious with cleaning and waxoiling.

I ran a Sierra about 15 years ago for well over 5 years and didn't have any real problems with rust.
If you buy a car without it and look after it you should be fine.

I ran one of my old Sierra xr4x4`s from 1995 to 2001 and I looked after it and that didn't have any rust on it either...but I do appreciate Fords are generally renowned as being rust boxes though.

[treetops]

An ancient Sierra (even if its an RS) as a daily?? Really?

There's plenty better stuff out there, the novelty will very quickly wear off unless the car really is sorted and mint and that means plenty £.

Many horses will have escaped on the older, neglected examples, so it may not be as quick as you think...

Good luck.

[Devil2575]

Indeed. I suspect a Mondeo ST220 will be a lot cheaper to buy, far easier to maintain, better to drive and just as quick.

[r11co]

TommoAE86 said:

Get this one... seems to be well looked after given the pictures in the advert... (no it's not mine)

XR4x4 cossie thingy

A track-hack as a daily driver?! I think not.

Plus, that is an engine-transplant special.

PS. Edited the link to actually work.

[Qussz]

You also need to worry about the security of it, they were pretty easy to steal from what I remember.

[Leins]

Qussz said:

You also need to worry about the security of it, they were pretty easy to steal from what I remember.

Very much so. I believe that while new-ish BMWs have been grabbing the headlines as the latest prime theft target, the stealing of 80s classics has been going up in numbers as fast as their values

[s m]

Leins said:

Qussz said:

You also need to worry about the security of it, they were pretty easy to steal from what I remember.

Very much so. I believe that while new-ish BMWs have been grabbing the headlines as the latest prime theft target, the stealing of 80s classics has been going up in numbers as fast as their values

…and yet you will find people that do use old cars as daily drivers especially in the summer months, even nowadays.
As said, rust and five-fingered discount shoppers will be the biggest enemies.
Feasibility of it will depend on a few things imo
Type of journey you do ( this will massively affect the mpg figure you get ….and probably enjoyment )
Standard it will only be E46 330 performance….delivered in a different fashion
Availability of somewhere reasonably safe to park it on arrival. Alarms are only so good if it’s craned onto a low loader
The solidity and general condition of the car you pick to start with ( you’ll want to get it properly cleaned off, undersealed and waxoyled before you contemplate using it in the salt )
Your ability to fix small things yourself, spot forthcoming major maintenance and knowing a bit about the cars themselves.
You’ll know yourself whether it’s a real possibility for you

[Devil2575]

s m said:

Standard it will only be E46 330 performance….delivered in a different fashion

This for me would be the killer.

It offers no more performance than a much more modern car that can be bought for far less.
If you really want a Cossie then buy a good one and keep it nice, don't wreck one by using it as a daily hack.

[s m]

Devil2575 said:

This for me would be the killer.

It offers no more performance than a much more modern car that can be bought for far less.
.

Yep, this of course is true of all these similar old cars, E30 M3s, Integrales, Celica GT4s etc
You drive them standard as they're different and have a different feel to modern stuff

You won't be as fast as the latest AMG/M4/Golf R or whatever

[Leins]

s m said:

Type of journey you do ( this will massively affect the mpg figure you get ….and probably enjoyment )

Actually yes type of journey is a massive factor too. I tried it with my 24 yr old E30, but the commute involving quite a bit of traffic and a boring motorway crawl killed any enjoyment for me, so I handed in my PH card and reverted to an econobox instead. If I could have managed a back roads blast as part of it then maybe I'd have felt differently, but sitting in traffic on a rainy November morning with the car fogging up and getting jumpy by hearing too many phantom noises just wasn't for me. I have a lot of admiration for anyone who can deal with it though, and always feel a bit of a petrolhead fraud when I see someone commuting in something nice like a Mk2 Golf GTi or a 944

Saying that, some dry Fridays I do use the older cars for the commute, and the feel good factor is huge when you get an occasional wave or thumbs-up

Edited by Leins on Monday 15th September 15:04

[TheAngryDog]

I used one as a 60 miles a day daily back in 2002. It almost ruined it for me. They get hot inside, the clutch is heavy, yes you can convert it to hydraulic, and you need to if you get a 2wd as there is a part on the clutch pivot arm that has not been available for over 12 years and without it the clutch doesn't work very well.

The wiring looms will be toast by now after all of the heat cycles, the fuel pump wiring will need replacing as this is one of the reasons so many go pop, fuel pump doesn't get the voltage to supply sufficient fuel.

Parts are getting harder to come by as well. You can get them tuned to run on lambda one which means on a motorway run you may get 30mpg if you drive sensible, but who does that in a cossie?

They're bouncy, crashy, noisy, but oh so much fun. I miss mine, considered getting one last year instead of my M5. If I get enough money to get another to have as a toy then I would, but I wouldn't use one as a daily.

Prices are only going one way. Now is the time to get into one to keep if you can afford the maintenance.

[jonah35]

It will be fined buy one thats had money spent.

Of course its fine, the police used to use them along with many reps on motorways years ago.

Theyre comfy, still quick, parts are cheap and it wont depreciate. Just waxoyl it and keep it clean and keep on top of it mechanically.

It will be cheaper to run than a brand new mondeo diesel once depreciation factored in. They are reliable.

[s m]

TheAngryDog said:

I used one as a 60 miles a day daily back in 2002.
the fuel pump wiring will need replacing as this is one of the reasons so many go pop, fuel pump doesn't get the voltage to supply sufficient fuel.
.

Do the fan wiring as well if you get one