RE: Ford Fiesta XR2: Spotted
Discussion
Like a few on here, I had one as my first car.
It was stripped to a bare shell, repainted and reassembled ready for my 17th Birthday.
First 6 months were on the standard carb set up, then upgraded to 40DCOEs, 285 cam/higher spec lifters and a head ported and polished with the largest vales possible in a CVH. End result was 135bhp at flywheel.
It had a 5 page feature in Fast Ford in 1998, still have a copy somewhere.
The clearest thing I remember was how shocking the brakes were.
It was stripped to a bare shell, repainted and reassembled ready for my 17th Birthday.
First 6 months were on the standard carb set up, then upgraded to 40DCOEs, 285 cam/higher spec lifters and a head ported and polished with the largest vales possible in a CVH. End result was 135bhp at flywheel.
It had a 5 page feature in Fast Ford in 1998, still have a copy somewhere.
The clearest thing I remember was how shocking the brakes were.
blade7 said:
CDP said:
The predecessor with a crossflow might be a better idea.
I had a mk1 XR2 briefly, if the mk2 wasn't as good they must really have been dire.
t.Ooh I restored my last one a couple of years ago and sold it on for similar money. I regret it now but didn't (and still don't) have storage space for it :-( They're so much fun to drive and mine didn't mind taking me all the way to the 'Ring and back including a couple of laps. I thought it would be way too slow and a bit boring on track but it was at least as much fun as taking my E46 M3 around there. Genuinely surprised me, and the write up is completely correct in that they love a bit of a thrash 
Memories!!
A 1987 (D reg) in mercury grey was my first car, at 19 years old, way back in March 1991. It cost me £4750 from the local Ford dealer and iirc , insurance (TPF&T) was around £600.
I can still remember picking it up and being chuffed to bits- I was driving my dads Volvo 343DL until this point, so the Fiesta with its light weight and 24bhp advantage, felt like a rocket in comparison! It was the first time id seen 100mph in a car and I had many happy days out and about with it and many young women got to experience its reclining passenger seat!
As others have said, the CVH was in fact rough as a badgers arse (should have been redlined at 3000rpm), had a crap gearchange, wasn't that quick compared to even ordinary cars (except the old mans Volvo) and handling was a bit, well, interesting. But it was much cheaper to buy than Peugeot 205 GTI/Uno Turbo and Golf GTI- and also to insure.
Great time with the car (over 6 years) and I still don't know how I managed to get a around a local, sharp curve DCW at an indicated 80mph. A few years later and my Impreza at the same speed felt reckless!
A 1987 (D reg) in mercury grey was my first car, at 19 years old, way back in March 1991. It cost me £4750 from the local Ford dealer and iirc , insurance (TPF&T) was around £600.
I can still remember picking it up and being chuffed to bits- I was driving my dads Volvo 343DL until this point, so the Fiesta with its light weight and 24bhp advantage, felt like a rocket in comparison! It was the first time id seen 100mph in a car and I had many happy days out and about with it and many young women got to experience its reclining passenger seat!
As others have said, the CVH was in fact rough as a badgers arse (should have been redlined at 3000rpm), had a crap gearchange, wasn't that quick compared to even ordinary cars (except the old mans Volvo) and handling was a bit, well, interesting. But it was much cheaper to buy than Peugeot 205 GTI/Uno Turbo and Golf GTI- and also to insure.
Great time with the car (over 6 years) and I still don't know how I managed to get a around a local, sharp curve DCW at an indicated 80mph. A few years later and my Impreza at the same speed felt reckless!
Gojira said:
J4CKO said:
Totally missing the point saying they werent very good, it didnt matter as it was the eighties and most cars were, objectively, crap.
This...Yep it is a steaming pile compared to -any- modern motor, but compared to the old BL rubbish I was driving at the time ( a ten-year-old Maxi!), it was deeply amazing
would I buy it now? No way, but I can understand exactly why someone would pay the asking price for it
To my surprise the XR2 was actually quite fun to bomb about in. I guess ford had begun to look forward at that point and as a result weren't so far off the pace any more.
the xr2s were actually pretty well put together but the stock cvh lumps were poor.
cam and a set of webers made a night and day difference had one that had a full bare shell rebuild back in the 90s i lost through a dodgy fuel hose splitting and torching it
. gutted is not the word, would be worth a fortune now.
cam and a set of webers made a night and day difference had one that had a full bare shell rebuild back in the 90s i lost through a dodgy fuel hose splitting and torching it
. gutted is not the word, would be worth a fortune now.AC43 said:
Gojira said:
J4CKO said:
Totally missing the point saying they werent very good, it didnt matter as it was the eighties and most cars were, objectively, crap.
This...Yep it is a steaming pile compared to -any- modern motor, but compared to the old BL rubbish I was driving at the time ( a ten-year-old Maxi!), it was deeply amazing
would I buy it now? No way, but I can understand exactly why someone would pay the asking price for it
To my surprise the XR2 was actually quite fun to bomb about in. I guess ford had begun to look forward at that point and as a result weren't so far off the pace any more.
However, they were no where near as bad as people make out either. In the late 90s I bought a brand new Punto 1.2 16 valve Sporting. It only had 86 BHP but was pretty useful on a backroad. Frequently on my way home from work, which involved a blast down a winding Dorset bumpy back road I would encounter a then 11-12 year old XR2 and honestly, I couldn't shake him off, despite going pretty much as fast as I dared on a narrow bumpy back road. Sure he had a bit more straight line speed, but the XR2 was pretty handy on a narrow bumpy back road.
I'd love one of these now tbh, if they weren't so expensive. Back to basics motoring, light kerbweight, sensible sized wheels and reasonable ride quality. In fact cars like this show where modern cars are lacking a sense of every day fun, quite honestly.
Edited by greenarrow on Sunday 3rd March 15:39
Edited by greenarrow on Sunday 3rd March 15:43
GTI16V said:
The CVH really was an absolute dog of an engine, and they didn't handle anywhere near as well as a 205 GTi.
Nothing really handled as well as the 205gti at that time except for the Renault 5GT Turbo though. As said, the XR2 was cheaper to buy and insure and simple to fix - guess that accounts for a lot of the ones owned on here.I remember they were buzzy little karts, used to skip over the bumps but up to 70 mph you could hang onto most stuff. Only 13" tyres too - does anything modern run on 185/60x13s?Seemed quite chunky under the arches.
60 in 8.7 seems slow to hot hatch drivers now...but the old naturally aspirated Swift Sport wasn't a lot quicker either. Just a fun, cheap little hatch ATEOTD
Edited by s m on Sunday 3rd March 15:52
Actually reading this article and others has made me realise the boat has sailed for me with 80s hot hatches. Having owned a 205 GTI and annoyingly sold it about 18 months before values soared, 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
So, I've been looking at modern "possible one day future classics" and I keep thinking about the little Ford Sportka. Probably because I've been having a blast driving my daughter's Mk1 Ka. In a way, the Ford Sportka was an updated Mk2 XR2. Bit more BHP, bit more kerbweight (but well under a ton), bigger wheels, but the same sense of fun. Pity they rust, but you can pick one up for £600 at the moment........
My mum had one until about 2000- think it was blue. Still remember the reg plate- D787EYX. Imagine it's been long consigned to the scrapheap in the sky.
I remember it was very rusty. It would fail it's MOT every year on corrosion, get patched up, rinse and repeat. It was also very loud, as the exhaust fell off on the A38 and the replacement was one of those glorious 90s ones that looked like a drainpipe with lots of circular holes in it.
I remember it was very rusty. It would fail it's MOT every year on corrosion, get patched up, rinse and repeat. It was also very loud, as the exhaust fell off on the A38 and the replacement was one of those glorious 90s ones that looked like a drainpipe with lots of circular holes in it.
sideways man said:
Downward said:
Why didn’t they use the 105bhp 1.6 engine as in the xr3 ?
It’s the same engine, but carburettor on the xr2, injection for the 105 bhp version. Guess they needed the fiesta to be slower/cheaper than the escort.
Road testers at the time panned it for the rough engine and lack of high rev enthusiasm.
How times change...
A lot of rose tinted rear view mirrors on here.
Back in the day these were wheezy, plasticky ill handling little cars.
As a few have eluded to it was cheaper than the 205, 5 and Uno, and so it should have been, the others were much more sophisticated. The Fiesta was probably heavier made than the others, but thats about it.
It was so popular as back then the others were what were known as ‘foreign’ cars, where anyone not driving BL, Ford or Vauxhall were either suspicious or thought they were better than you!
This is no Cosworth or Lotus Cortina.
Back in the day these were wheezy, plasticky ill handling little cars.
As a few have eluded to it was cheaper than the 205, 5 and Uno, and so it should have been, the others were much more sophisticated. The Fiesta was probably heavier made than the others, but thats about it.
It was so popular as back then the others were what were known as ‘foreign’ cars, where anyone not driving BL, Ford or Vauxhall were either suspicious or thought they were better than you!
This is no Cosworth or Lotus Cortina.
Gojira said:
J4CKO said:
Totally missing the point saying they werent very good, it didnt matter as it was the eighties and most cars were, objectively, crap.
This...Yep it is a steaming pile compared to -any- modern motor, but compared to the old BL rubbish I was driving at the time ( a ten-year-old Maxi!), it was deeply amazing
would I buy it now? No way, but I can understand exactly why someone would pay the asking price for it
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