RE: Ford Fiesta XR2: Spotted

[wab172uk]

I lusted after an XR2 when I passed my test. Sadly I couldn't afford the insurance on top of car repayments. So that dream was put on hold .... indefinitely

[lunaunderscores]

I had an Mk2 XR2, it was badly affected by tinworm - I removed the body kit to weld the sills and there was nothing to weld to - chunks of car fell off

Car was okay, preferred the Nova GTE I had

[Rich Boy Spanner]

My Dad had one of these in the mid 1980's. The engine gave up at 20,000 miles by fogging out the M61 with burning oil, Ford rebuilt it under warranty. It then got broken into 6 times, each time breaking the quarter light and door lock. It was then involved in a crash when somebody pulled out in front of it, and at that point once it was repaired Dad gave up on it and sold it.
It was a nice car to be in, nippy and sounded good, a generally nice car for the time but you couldn't keep the scrotes away from them. I remember they aged badly too, like everything else with a CVH they seemed to be permanently burning oil and travelling with a haze behind them.

Edited by Rich Boy Spanner on Monday 4th March 11:25

[jakesmith]

greenarrow said:

The other one I would have loved was the old Citroen AX GT. 723KG and only 85 BHP but 0-60 in 8.5 seconds and incredibly nimble. You never see them for sale though and when you do, they're about £5,000

My friend may have one to sell let me know if you're interested

[Limpet]

warch said:

My brother had an Astra Mk2 1.6 GL which had a superb and much tougher engine that you could rev the guts out of, taking my CVH engine Orion past 4000rpm was a deeply unsettling experience.

Back in the early 90s, my then girlfriend had an Astra mk2 1.6L and a mate of ours had an XR2, both on C plates, both carb fed 1600cc fours. I always found it amusing that the XR2, for all its bodykit and red stripes, was no quicker at all than the Astra as a bum basic shopping car. The Vauxhall's engine also revved smoothly and willingly, which is not something you could ever say about the CVH. That said, the XR2 did handle better, but most things handled better than a mk2 Astra.

The CVH lump completely spoiled every car it was installed into, IMO.

[knebworth01]

All the comments on here about how bad the XR2 was, rubbish dynamics blah blah, just make me die! Back in the mid 90's (when I had a Mk2 XR2) people weren't so snobby about cars and their respctive dynamic traits, badges etc. We were 18 years old and the XR2 was cool to own, much like any other hot hatch. It looked fast and was cheap to buy.
I also had an Uno turbo which looked like postman pats van in comparison but did go very well too! Again, this was bought because it was a turbo and was cheap. Nobody cared that it wasnt really very good.
I think all these haters need to lighten up,they are obviously from the wrong era (or just so boring and serious)

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Yep, I had a CVH in my (in chronological order);
XR2 (mk2)
XR2i (mk3)
Escort RS Turbo (mk2 90)
Fiesta RS Turbo (mk3)

Not once did I complain about how bad an engine it was-I just used to rag the the arse out of them!

Refinement? Who cares? We were teenagers or early 20s and driving was about meeting up and chasing each other down country roads trying to reach a ton. Squishy tyres, lift off oversteer and trying to figure out heel and toe - and whether a scandi flick and lift or a grab of the handbrake would get it sideways easier.

That’s before you mention what else you got up to in them with Samantha and Vicky who needed a lift home

[Dale487]

knebworth01 said:

All the comments on here about how bad the XR2 was, rubbish dynamics blah blah, just make me die! Back in the mid 90's (when I had a Mk2 XR2) people weren't so snobby about cars and their respctive dynamic traits, badges etc. We were 18 years old and the XR2 was cool to own, much like any other hot hatch. It looked fast and was cheap to buy.
I also had an Uno turbo which looked like postman pats van in comparison but did go very well too! Again, this was bought because it was a turbo and was cheap. Nobody cared that it wasnt really very good.
I think all these haters need to lighten up,they are obviously from the wrong era (or just so boring and serious)

So the leased / PCP SUV of its day then?

[neil-1323bolts]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Yep, I had a CVH in my (in chronological order);
XR2 (mk2)
XR2i (mk3)
Escort RS Turbo (mk2 90)
Fiesta RS Turbo (mk3)

Not once did I complain about how bad an engine it was-I just used to rag the the arse out of them!

Refinement? Who cares? We were teenagers or early 20s and driving was about meeting up and chasing each other down country roads trying to reach a ton. Squishy tyres, lift off oversteer and trying to figure out heel and toe - and whether a scandi flick and lift or a grab of the handbrake would get it sideways easier.

That’s before you mention what else you got up to in them with Samantha and Vicky who needed a lift home

This is so true , if from that era , I had a long line of cvh powered cars similar to yours , I enjoyed each one , and they were pretty reliable considering how they were driven . To me it was an ok engine , until the Zetec was released and then we started putting them in the xr2i , so approx 140bhp in a fiesta was pretty lively .

[J4CKO]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Yep, I had a CVH in my (in chronological order);
XR2 (mk2)
XR2i (mk3)
Escort RS Turbo (mk2 90)
Fiesta RS Turbo (mk3)

Not once did I complain about how bad an engine it was-I just used to rag the the arse out of them!

Refinement? Who cares? We were teenagers or early 20s and driving was about meeting up and chasing each other down country roads trying to reach a ton. Squishy tyres, lift off oversteer and trying to figure out heel and toe - and whether a scandi flick and lift or a grab of the handbrake would get it sideways easier.

That’s before you mention what else you got up to in them with Samantha and Vicky who needed a lift home

Its amazing how we used to enjoy what we now regard as crap cars, 205 GTI's were also a bit crap but you arent allowed to say that as they are now hallowed and beyond any criticism, my MK1 Golf GTI's seemed to have borrowed a braking system from the 850cc Polo such was its reluctance to slow down.

We just got on with it and didnt worry about what the chaps on the forum would think, wasnt that into power figures and managed to largely keep out of trouble, my Golf seemed so advanced and fast at the time but it was preceded by a 1.6 LS Capri which appeared to be powered by the trade winds and good intentions.

I was just happy to have a car, that it was a funky looking black Golf GTI was a massive bonus, an XR2 would have done.

Imagine letting us back then loose in a Golf R, I had a shot in a 180 bhp Integrale and was go smacked, its like we are getting like those spoilt cats nowadays, the ones that will only eat £3 a go cat food out of a foil pouch.

[castag]

Had 3 of these back in the day of various condition great fun little cars never in the same league as the mk2 golf etc but a gateway performance car never the less

[aaron_2000]

I would've had one over a 205 1.6 GTI. Red with pepperpot wheels

[Marlin45]

I had three of these with the last being a twin of the OP linked example (F89 DYD where are you now?).

Bodyroll - what's that? Adjustable Spax all round sorted that.

[LARK F1 GTR]

Someone local to me whan I was a kid had an XR2 40 - it was metallic blue & had a '40' going through the side stripe on it. I thought it was so damn cool! It had a colour coded bodykit (I think) I heard that it was called a 40 as it ran on Weber 40's - not sure if that was true though!

I also remember some very late 'G Reg' XR2's, there can't have been many of those!

It is quite crazy to think that years ago, these were stolen & dumped on almost every road you went down back in the late 90's!

[DazzaSport]

I owned a 1989 Mk2 XR2 in the 90's. It is one of the most fun cars I've owned in my life. Then again, mine wasn't standard.

Tuned to 135 HP (on the rollers). It was bored out to 1640cc, twin carbs, Kent rally cam, Kent vernier pulley. Leccy fuel pump. Aldon dizzy, 4-2-1 exhaust, etc, etc.

It was featured in Car & Car Conversions in 1996.

As you can imagine, 135 HP and 840 kg weight meant that it was plenty quick enough.

I had no issues with the handling / steering. It was a great little car to throw about. Although I will agree about the brakes. I warped a new set within weeks of fitting them after a dicing with a Mk1 Escort RS Turbo.

Looks wise, I preferred to keep the car largely looking stock. I wasn't into the 'Max Power' look. It was only really the exhaust pipe and the noise coming from the car that gave the game away.

I don't agree that the engine was 'rough'. Coarse sounding in stock form - yes. But not rough. Badly maintained examples - lacking oil changes could get noisy. My tuned car on twin carbs sounded glorious down thin streets. The harmony created by the two carbs and the exhaust sounded epic. The CVH was actually a pretty tough unit - as long as it did receive regular oil changes. After the engine out rebuild / tuning, I did 52k of hard miles with that engine - and it was still sounding brilliant and plenty powerful when I sold it.

I should have kept it. It was one of the most 'alive' cars I've ever owned. It will always have a special place in my heart. Sob. LOL.

[generationx]

LARK F1 GTR said:

Someone local to me whan I was a kid had an XR2 40 - it was metallic blue & had a '40' going through the side stripe on it. I thought it was so damn cool! It had a colour coded bodykit (I think) I heard that it was called a 40 as it ran on Weber 40's - not sure if that was true though!

I remember that edition, probably a run-out for the Mk2. I’ve been wracking (sp?) my brain trying to remember why it was called so, I worked for Ford in Dunton at the time. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t much more than paint and trim, maybe it was a dealer special celebrating something like Essex Ford’s (the local BIG franchise at the time) 40th anniversary?

(Edited for more spelling fails)

Edited by generationx on Monday 4th March 17:45

[manracer]

Dale487 said:

manracer said:

When I was about 9 my parents went out to buy a new sofa in their trusty maroon Lada Riva and came back with a 6 month old silver E reg XR2 from the local Ford dealer. Such a step up being dropped at school in the ford after the lada.

My at the time 16 year old sisters boyfriend had a Renault 5 turbo, I loved both cars and knew I was a petrol head already.

Going out to buy a sofa in a Lada Riva but coming back with an XR2 needs further explanation - I'm not sure dealers took many Ladas in on part-ex against an XR2, probably just the one.

I think that in the months prior my parents financial situation got a bit better and my mum was fed up of my dad being tight (this was our 3rd lada), she then saw the shiny silver xr2 at the ford showroom as they drove past en route to sofa shop and the next thing I know is that it appears. Our next door neighbour took offense as he always liked to be one up so traded his Sierra in for a cavalier gsi 2000 4x4, that was a nice car at the time.

I don't recall us getting a new sofa any time soon after but I do remember many fond trips to my see my grandad in Lytham St Anne's. Also being the first in our street to get sky TV haha, the random stuff we remember!

[LaurasOtherHalf]

manracer said:

I don't recall us getting a new sofa any time soon after but I do remember many fond trips to my see my grandad in Lytham St Anne's. Also being the first in our street to get sky TV haha, the random important stuff we remember!

FTFY

And that’s what these old cars should be about, a nice little slice of nostalgia that you can still punt about and show off at the local classic car meet.

Heck I even turned my ad-blocker off to see the advert on Sunday when this tread popped up but it had sold already.

For £7k or so I wouldn’t mind one at all, as long as it was in good enough condition to use as well as polish.

[blade7]

There's some powerful rose tinted specs in evidence on this thread....

[s m]

J4CKO said:

Its amazing how we used to enjoy what we now regard as crap cars, 205 GTI's were also a bit crap but you arent allowed to say that as they are now hallowed and beyond any criticism, my MK1 Golf GTI's seemed to have borrowed a braking system from the 850cc Polo such was its reluctance to slow down.

We just got on with it and didnt worry about what the chaps on the forum would think...

Very true about the Mk1 Gti Jacko - I had a black 1800 and brakes were pretty poor
It went OK but I was glad to get back to another RS Escort.
Cars really did have a lot of individual 'character' back then!