RE: Ford Sierra XR4x4i 2.9i: Spotted

[BiggestVern]

f1nn said:

They never made an XR4x4 Estate.

They did make a 2.8i, and perhaps the later 2.9i, but I seem to think they only offered a 2.0 twin cam later in the production run, 4x4 estate in the Ghia trim level.

Essentially the same thing of course.

Ford made a Sierra 4x4 Ghia estate in both 2.8 and 2.9 litre forms. I know because I had one from new.

[BiggestVern]

Rod Leach, well known purveyor of AC Cobras, had a Power Engineering supercharged XR4x4 in the late 80's. It was road tested by Autocar at the time. Not massively powerful but it had some serious torque.

[ac-289]

had my 2.8i XR4x4 for 25 years! I put 180k miles on it and absolutely loved it - especially in the snow. Only problem was it wouldn't handbrake as the centre diff would lock the front wheels. Dropped the springs an inch which gave it a lovely stance and camber / caster gain. Gave a lovely feel to the steering.
Moonstone blue with the RS 7 spokes, lovely. Tried more recent FWD fords and they just frustrate me with understeer and torque or numb steering.
Because I had the car so long, it stopped me from experiencing other cars but I've made up for that since.... Has anyone spotted a Fiat 131 Mirafiori Sport??

[aaron_2000]

ac-289 said:

had my 2.8i XR4x4 for 25 years! I put 180k miles on it and absolutely loved it - especially in the snow. Only problem was it wouldn't handbrake as the centre diff would lock the front wheels. Dropped the springs an inch which gave it a lovely stance and camber / caster gain. Gave a lovely feel to the steering.
Moonstone blue with the RS 7 spokes, lovely. Tried more recent FWD fords and they just frustrate me with understeer and torque or numb steering.
Because I had the car so long, it stopped me from experiencing other cars but I've made up for that since.... Has anyone spotted a Fiat 131 Mirafiori Sport??

What happened to it?

[Dave Hedgehog]

Iceicebsby1980 said:

Don't know much about these . Think the 3dr looks better could be a good buy for someone who wants the rs cosworth version but can't afford it .

mine part done 31 years ago

by the time it was turbo charged etc it would have been cheaper to buy a cossie lol

[neil-1323bolts]

hers my XR with 2.9 24v Cosworth conversion , I spent a small fortune modifying it , good times though loved it , questionable choice of wheels ,it sounded awesome

[rallycross]

I always liked the Sierra's and over the years must have driven every model variant there was.
I had Cosworths for a few years but at the same time I also had an old XR4x4 that I used for towing the racing car, it was a great old thing.

My one was an early facelift car on an E plate in white just like the one below, I saw it advertised on LOOT from an old chap who was giving up driving due to losing his vision, he had owned the car for 12 years or so and it was in great condition, just needed a clean up, not bad for £250. Nobody wanted them back then, it was what I needed with a tow bar, 4 wheel drive and full history.

I used that to go all round the country the only problem I had with it was the gearbox got noisy, this was a weak spot on these cars (my dad had a turbo technics early model XR4x4 / 250bhp version which went through 2 gearboxes in its first 2 years). Got a 2nd hand gearbox for £75 and that cured that problem.

[s m]

Dave Hedgehog said:

Iceicebsby1980 said:

Don't know much about these . Think the 3dr looks better could be a good buy for someone who wants the rs cosworth version but can't afford it .

mine part done 31 years ago

by the time it was turbo charged etc it would have been cheaper to buy a cossie lol

[quality matters]

I have a white 1988 E plate 2.8. I bought it as a cheap winter hack about 4 years ago when running an E46 M3 but the BMW is long gone and I still have the Sierra.

[smilo996]

Used to have a red one with a Power Engineering supercharger upgrade. Apart from the trully terrible interior, it was pretty good. Made mince meat of many sportscars of the time. A kind of Fawd RS4. 😩

[smilo996]

Agent57 said:

Those look like wheel trims. What happened to the 7 spoke alloys?

Yah, er mostly people who could not afford Porschars and Audi’s.

[spaximus]

I worked at a Ford dealers and we built a few specials of the XR 4x4 especially the estate versions. With Turbo conversions, which were quite crude by todays standards, they flew. What many miss is even with the relatively low power, the low weight meant they were not hauling every extra we now demand.

They needed a bit stiffer roll bars and lowering a tad to get the best out of them but I loved driving these.

[SebringMan]

gigglebug said:

Does anyone know what the chain is from the key slot to the dash? Is that original or something the owner has added?

It's an immobiliser, called T.H.E Immobiliser. It uses the key on the chain to make the circuit. Hateful things. I don't mind immobilisers but those are a bit of a bad design, but it was when immobilisers first hit the scene too!

Got to love an old Sierra! I often conisdered buy an XR4x4 but for me the boat has passed for now. Well, that's a lie. I'd have to sell my cars however.

[s m]

smilo996 said:

Agent57 said:

Those look like wheel trims. What happened to the 7 spoke alloys?

Yah, er mostly people who could not afford Porschars and Audi’s.

I think, unlike now, Porsche hadn't got a 4wd saloon - closest size-wize was a 944 but hadn't really got a snowy roads capability.

Audi had the 90 quattro which was a real competitor, but as you say, was about 20% more to buy new. In '85 a 90 quattro would cost about £13,500 and a Sierra about £11500.

4wd is popular again for the saloon car masses judging at the number of X-drive 3-series around

[TooMany2cvs]

s m said:

I think, unlike now, Porsche hadn't got a 4wd saloon

Well, until eight years ago...

[s m]

BiggestVern said:

Rod Leach, well known purveyor of AC Cobras, had a Power Engineering supercharged XR4x4 in the late 80's. It was road tested by Autocar at the time. Not massively powerful but it had some serious torque.

I remember that - he had a personalised number plate on it - 4 ROD - Russell Bulgin did the article

Quite a few mags at the time tested these Sprintex supercharged conversions and they made fast cross country cars with 240bhp





Police evaluated them and Cumbria police ordered half a dozen converted cars

[anonymous-user]

s m said:

I think, unlike now, Porsche hadn't got a 4wd saloon - closest size-wize was a 944 but hadn't really got a snowy roads capability.

Audi had the 90 quattro which was a real competitor, but as you say, was about 20% more to buy new. In '85 a 90 quattro would cost about £13,500 and a Sierra about £11500.

4wd is popular again for the saloon car masses judging at the number of X-drive 3-series around

No self respecting young man would be seen in an Audi back then. They were old men's boring saloons.

[aaron_2000]

Well I knew I would, from reading this I'm now looking for XR4x4's. Thinking of going to see this one

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Sierra-XR4x4-2-9-M...

[TheAngryDog]

aaron_2000 said:

Well I knew I would, from reading this I'm now looking for XR4x4's. Thinking of going to see this one

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Sierra-XR4x4-2-9-M...

This has been for sale for a while IIRC

[cerb4.5lee]

TheAngryDog said:

aaron_2000 said:

Well I knew I would, from reading this I'm now looking for XR4x4's. Thinking of going to see this one

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Sierra-XR4x4-2-9-M...

This has been for sale for a while IIRC

It has, the chap who's selling it is good to deal with though, and I test drove a Mk5 RS2000 that he had in a few years back.

This thread has really made me want another Xr4x4 big time!