Explain: Ford Escort Cosworth
Discussion
JayTee94 said:
Reasons I Dislike
but that is not an ideal start in my opinion as the wheelbase is too short for long distance motoring.
Having re-read the drivel sorry OP.but that is not an ideal start in my opinion as the wheelbase is too short for long distance motoring.
Where do you get that pearl of wisdom from ?
"Too short for long distance motoring"
It was fine when i drove from Misano to Calais almost non stop in 2010
Don't know how many miles that is.......look it up before your bedtime.
Si_steve said:
There was a time when I would have given anything for an Escort/Sierra with the legendary Cosworth name on it.
Now I'm not so sure.
Sure It's still a dream car of mine, mostly because of a childhood fascination with them as when I stayed in Aylesbury as a child a neighbours friend had a Mallard green one and the whaletail/extreme styling was what caught my attention.
But Now I think it would better kept as a dream as the 212bhp (is that right for these with the T25?) would probably disappoint me after having my daily which is 256bhp and a whole lot more torque. Sure I could get one and spend a small fortune on making it faster...but when it has cost me £150 to go from 170 to256bhp on this car it's seeming like the more sensible option.
On the other hand how hard would it be to put a Saab engine into a sierra with an omega gearbox......*off to browse classifieds
*
A small fortune? One of the prime advantages of any version of Cosworth is the ease & cheapness of tuning.Now I'm not so sure.
Sure It's still a dream car of mine, mostly because of a childhood fascination with them as when I stayed in Aylesbury as a child a neighbours friend had a Mallard green one and the whaletail/extreme styling was what caught my attention.
But Now I think it would better kept as a dream as the 212bhp (is that right for these with the T25?) would probably disappoint me after having my daily which is 256bhp and a whole lot more torque. Sure I could get one and spend a small fortune on making it faster...but when it has cost me £150 to go from 170 to256bhp on this car it's seeming like the more sensible option.
On the other hand how hard would it be to put a Saab engine into a sierra with an omega gearbox......*off to browse classifieds
*Especially the big turbo Escort, with the T34 you can easily push 350Bhp+ with just a set of injectors, an actuator, 3 bar map sensor & a chip. Looking at £4-500 for brand new kit, which would take you 2 hours max to fit.
If you want to go further the world is your oyster.
My personal favourite is a 400Bhp/400Lbs ft conversion, all bolt on without touching the core engine, doable for £1k.
400Bhp with huge midranget torque is a very, very fast car!
People saying they are laggy might not appreciate the difference between boost threshold & actual turbo lag, it is simply a case of driving the car properly, same as most tuned N/A engines needing to get "on cam" before they actually start to go sonwhere!
iva cosworth said:
Having re-read the drivel sorry OP.
Where do you get that pearl of wisdom from ?
"Too short for long distance motoring"
It was fine when i drove from Misano to Calais almost non stop in 2010
Don't know how many miles that is.......look it up before your bedtime.
The only reason why I said that was just in relation against the rivals of the same bracket/age. I think the RS2, Lotus Carlton are better at that - it is not to say the EC would be bad, just not an ideal car (in my opinion) . I knew you would pick up on that point though, I thought you would supply pictures though. Where do you get that pearl of wisdom from ?
"Too short for long distance motoring"
It was fine when i drove from Misano to Calais almost non stop in 2010
Don't know how many miles that is.......look it up before your bedtime.
Anyway, I probably go to bed after you.
Edited by JayTee94 on Wednesday 7th November 21:47
JayTee94 said:
The only reason why I said that was just in relation against the rivals of the same bracket/age. I think the RS2, Lotus Carlton are better at that - it is not to say the EC would be bad, just not an ideal car (in my opinion) .
I would say they were only rivals in terms of cost to buy now. The Lotus Carlton and RS2 were much more expensive cars and a different target market when all new
JayTee94 said:
The only reason why I said that was just in relation against the rivals of the same bracket/age. I think the RS2, Lotus Carlton are better at that
They are roughly the same age/era but at the time the Cosworth was a bargain compared to the other two. If I remember right the Escort was a bit over 20k the others were near double that. So not a fair comparison? 
It's an interesting question, and generally, I think I do 'get' the escort cosworth. But while it's definitely an interesting looking car - along with the likes of the delta integrale, and had a certain specialness that the competition will lack, if you were looking to buy this 'type' of car, I can't help but feel that you'd end up with an evo or impreza.
I guess it's one of those cars you would have to buy more for what it is rather than what it can do IMO.
I guess it's one of those cars you would have to buy more for what it is rather than what it can do IMO.
interloper said:
JayTee94 said:
The only reason why I said that was just in relation against the rivals of the same bracket/age. I think the RS2, Lotus Carlton are better at that
They are roughly the same age/era but at the time the Cosworth was a bargain compared to the other two. If I remember right the Escort was a bit over 20k the others were near double that. So not a fair comparison? Oh dear, what have I started. How many locations have you been to Iva?!
___________________________
Thanks for the replies thus far, most posters have given me the EC a new light and I can now appreciate some qualities and I have learnt things in the process. In regards to the questions;
-- I did not want age to get into the discussion - I am only 17, but I cannot see where it has any relevance in this topic, granted I was not around for reviews and launch but that does not mean I do not appreciate older cars - I just never got the hype and asked for reasons why they appealed to you.
-- I have yet to drive one, and my opinion might change when I do but no one seems keen on giving an EC to a 17 for obvious reasons.
-- Thanks Baryonx - I did not know that it went into that much development.
___________________________
I am pleased I have started this thread, it has given me new insight into the car and I can see the reasons as to why people rate it so high. Thanks, any more comments welcome.
Note: I will leave tonight with a parting thought though, some posters are saying they need £x amount spending on them to get to a certain standard. Is that an indication that it has a weak area that people have now improved upon. I do not hear those stories regarding any RS2, Lotus Carltons or even 205GTi - owners of those automobiles never seem as though they need more.
___________________________
Thanks for the replies thus far, most posters have given me the EC a new light and I can now appreciate some qualities and I have learnt things in the process. In regards to the questions;
-- I did not want age to get into the discussion - I am only 17, but I cannot see where it has any relevance in this topic, granted I was not around for reviews and launch but that does not mean I do not appreciate older cars - I just never got the hype and asked for reasons why they appealed to you.
-- I have yet to drive one, and my opinion might change when I do but no one seems keen on giving an EC to a 17 for obvious reasons.
-- Thanks Baryonx - I did not know that it went into that much development.
___________________________
I am pleased I have started this thread, it has given me new insight into the car and I can see the reasons as to why people rate it so high. Thanks, any more comments welcome.
Note: I will leave tonight with a parting thought though, some posters are saying they need £x amount spending on them to get to a certain standard. Is that an indication that it has a weak area that people have now improved upon. I do not hear those stories regarding any RS2, Lotus Carltons or even 205GTi - owners of those automobiles never seem as though they need more.
JayTee94 said:
Note: I will leave tonight with a parting thought though, some posters are saying they need £x amount spending on them to get to a certain standard.
I think its more if you spend X you can get to certain levels of extra performance, people always want more, especially as the Cosworth YB built its reputation on big boost and big power for sensible-ish money. In truth a standard car is still quick, it may not have huge grunt by todays standards but it weighs in about 200kg less than your modern fast Focuses and Golfs, power to weight ratios are always important! JayTee94 said:
Note: I will leave tonight with a parting thought though, some posters are saying they need £x amount spending on them to get to a certain standard. Is that an indication that it has a weak area that people have now improved upon. I do not hear those stories regarding any RS2, Lotus Carltons or even 205GTi - owners of those automobiles never seem as though they need more.
RS2, fairly tuneable, as was the Lotus Carlton I suppose, but they had no direct competition at the time really. Both of these were truly special in standard form back then. The 205GTI was all about feel and feedback. Stupid power would have missed the point completely.The upgrade thing is not a weak area far from it, Cosworth designed the engine to happily run 300 bhp when launched back in 1986 and Ford decided to release them (sierra) with a lower (safer for the public?) level of boost at around 205' bhp (later 220'bhp on the 4x4 versions).
It's a quick and simple process to release lots more boost at which point these cars really come alive, but it's an old school power delivery with lots of lag, and lots of grunt, relatively slow compared with modern turbo's.
I've owned all the different cosworth versions 3 door, 2 wd and 4 wd sapphires and Escort big turbo, the only standard spec one was a 4 wd sapphire and it was a real let down with standard boost and was quickly upgraded to 300+ bhp at which point it was a lot more fun.
I understand why the Escort Cosworth is valued so highly but never really got why people wanted them so much - of all the cosworths I had I always preferred the 4x4 sapphire to drive (and much nicer cabin) v's the Escos plus you didn't look like an Essex boy knob (well not quite as much as I felt when stuck in London traffic in the Escort doing 8 mpg going no where fast).
My escort was the homologation model with the big turbo and the water bag in the boot for the water injection but the group A Escos never did very well in the WRC until the Escort WRC model came out so I don't see these as having much of a motor sport pedigree ('not compared with the 3 door Rs500 touring cars anyway)
It's a quick and simple process to release lots more boost at which point these cars really come alive, but it's an old school power delivery with lots of lag, and lots of grunt, relatively slow compared with modern turbo's.
I've owned all the different cosworth versions 3 door, 2 wd and 4 wd sapphires and Escort big turbo, the only standard spec one was a 4 wd sapphire and it was a real let down with standard boost and was quickly upgraded to 300+ bhp at which point it was a lot more fun.
I understand why the Escort Cosworth is valued so highly but never really got why people wanted them so much - of all the cosworths I had I always preferred the 4x4 sapphire to drive (and much nicer cabin) v's the Escos plus you didn't look like an Essex boy knob (well not quite as much as I felt when stuck in London traffic in the Escort doing 8 mpg going no where fast).
My escort was the homologation model with the big turbo and the water bag in the boot for the water injection but the group A Escos never did very well in the WRC until the Escort WRC model came out so I don't see these as having much of a motor sport pedigree ('not compared with the 3 door Rs500 touring cars anyway)
Edited by rallycross on Wednesday 7th November 22:49
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