RE: My First Car: Ford Escort XR3i

[useyourdellusion]

bob the viking said:

I was a Ford main dealer car mechanical from 1988 to 1991 and regualy serviced Mk3 and Mk4. Even back then C/D plate Mk4 were rusting away. I could only afford a W plate 1.3 Basic (plastic seats, leaking sunroof, no clock!), but it slowly turned into a XR3i look alike!!! Always throught the Mk3 handled better than a Mk4. RS Turbo Fiesta's were a bit scary through!

Weren't MK4 C/D plate Escorts made from low grade Polish steel? I seem to remember that being the rumour at the time.

kprm77 said:

Between my brother and myself, we had 3 XR3i's, a Y reg, A reg and B reg. Can't remember any serious problems with any of them (apart from my brother writing off the Y reg. That was the quickest of the three too).

My Y reg. had really sharp throttle response. It certainly felt a lot more urgent and more fun to be honest than later mk3's I drove. They seemed more sober in their power delivery.

[jonny996]

I had an early W plate XR3, N/A, not a XR3i it had a 4 speed box and always seemed a bit quicker than my mates XR3i.

[stevieb]

I had a 1989 F Plate XR3i after i smashed up my 205 Gti.. Wasnt as good to thorugh around as the pug but was a perfect condition low miler in diamond white. had covered 30k miles ( Over 11 years) when i got it..

Sold in Perfect condition and has been dry stored since by the current owner.

[T66ORA]

I bought this original XR3 back in 1982 when i came back from the Falklands,lost a couple of mates and thought "life is to short, if you want somthing, then buy it!" had it for 2 years and 33000 miles, wished i had waited a couple of months for the XR3i`s to come out, a far superior car IMO. Traded it in for the Daddy of the Ford range at that time the XR4i, which i still own to this day.


Excuse the grainyness of the photo it is 24yrs old

Edited by T66ORA on Friday 28th November 13:53

[Nolar Dog]

useyourdellusion said:

[

Weren't MK4 C/D plate Escorts made from low grade Polish steel? I seem to remember that being the rumour at the time.

As far as I know the rusting of '86/'87 cars was due to unprimed shells being left outside at Halewood during the many walk outs/strikes of that period.

[Alfaguy]

Funnily enough there is a similar discussion going on about the XR3i over on Octane.ie.

http://www.octane.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=21429

[JT944]

i had 2 red xr3s a 83 with 25ooo on and a 86 with 19000 both great cars the 86 had a full rs body kit alloys abs etc rag them to bits i got loads of bits from m/wilsons rally sport on kingstown for the mk 4 it went ok for a 1600 but i always wanted a 944

[nath123]

Had a black e reg xr3i back in 1996 great car loved it to bits, kept it for 2 yrs no real problems, everyone wanted to race you from the lights started to get a bit annoying after a while.My girlfriend had a nova gte at the same time she loved pulling away from me, just a bit quicker that little nova.

[wiredmht]

Sorry, but this piece was funny... They were terrible cars, lots of mates had them and didnt matter where they purchased them from, they still ended up the same way...

Anyway, looks like this Hundley chap, got a taste for good cars, look at his list of cars, if its the same guy..

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/profile.asp?m...

yes, I am new to this site, have far too much time on my hands...lol

Great site though....

[FELIX_5]

wiredmht said:

Sorry, but this piece was funny... They were terrible cars, lots of mates had them and didnt matter where they purchased them from, they still ended up the same way...

Anyway, looks like this Hundley chap, got a taste for good cars, look at his list of cars, if its the same guy..

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/profile.asp?m...

yes, I am new to this site, have far too much time on my hands...lol

Great site though....

All those cars and he's never had a Peugeot 205 GTi!! He hasn't lived, lol!!!

[mainline]

Waynester said:

Nope, in for a penny, in for a pound i thought, so...I got a white S2 Escort RS Turbo instead. Now that was a car to be seen in in 1990-91. Did mean i had to sell my soul to the devil himself to afford it though.
I looked good though, and that was all important when you were 20.

F79 TEL...where are you now?

I have had a look for F79 TEL on the DVLA Vehicle Check service and I can confirm that..............................................................................................

IT IS STILL ON THE ROAD MATE!

Yep, tax not due till end of May next year.

Now all you've got to do is track it down.

[Mk3Escy]

I love my mk3, would love a RS16i or 3i one day. Are any of you on: seriesoneturbo.co.uk ??

[B3pwr280bhp]

When I was a young lad my bessy mate had a lovely XR3, and the first time he ever let me drive it the front tyre blew out ;0) Karma?

[liner33]

I had a couple a 86 Red XR3i and a 90 White XR3i , the red one came grom the channel island and had a noisy gearbox the whole time i had it but never caused me any trouble , my wife presumably over -revved (she denies this) the white one and it needed a top end rebuild.

Used to love throwing it down the country lanes on the way to work , always arrived with a smile .

[useyourdellusion]

liner33 said:

I had a couple a 86 Red XR3i and a 90 White XR3i , the red one came grom the channel island and had a noisy gearbox the whole time i had it but never caused me any trouble , my wife presumably over -revved (she denies this) the white one and it needed a top end rebuild.

Both problems were absolutely typical with these. Just part of the ownership experience.

I think your wife deserves an apology on the second one.

[morgrp]

joz8968 said:

I've got a genuine soft spot for these. Especially in the Ford brochure's 'Sunburst Red' (as in the pic)... I had one in that hue as a temporary runaround (after someone wrote off my 'Grale).

They have very amusing - but safe and predictable - handling. It was all rock hard springing - not much finesse - but suited the 'typical' XR3i driver perfectly lol. You can get them at ludicrous angles in roundabouts, due to the fact that the huge understeer scrubs off most of the speed like a b'stard (so it all unfolds relatively slowly lol).

When ragging the crap out of it though, that 1.6 CVH engine suffered terribly with oil-draining away from the heads and awful valve-bounce!

I know that the carb'd XR3 was 96bhp/98lb ft (fitted in the Mk.2 XR2 too) and that the XR3i was 105bhp... but was the torque still 98lb ft (can't remember)?

I'd love to own a totally original, near-concours one in the Sunburst...

P.S. Of course, even more desirable at the time, was the rare as hen's teeth RS1600i, with the 'RS1600i' and striped bonnet black vinyl graphics, plus the twin-coil ignition. Anyone know the bhp/lb ft of these?

Edited by joz8968 on Monday 24th November 18:12

Think it was about 115bhp for the RS1600i

[Rugbyrice88]

my second car was a 1989 xr3i in diamond white (not so white parked near newer cars) but it had a power that rivaled most cars driven by the typical chavs. saldly it didn't last to long till the sills fell off, so replaced it with an 89 xr3i cabriolet and i still have that one however its now in th process of a second engine, thought after reaching 221K it was time to chage it.
In the summer with the roof down its a car the ladies love

[Bretts]

mainline said:

I have had a look for F79 TEL on the DVLA Vehicle Check service and I can confirm that..............................................................................................

IT IS STILL ON THE ROAD MATE!

Yep, tax not due till end of May next year.

Now all you've got to do is track it down.